★BLOCK PRINTING my own shirts!! ★ 

Not a bad first effort! Depending on the type of ink used, vegetable oil or a citrus-based solvent alternative usually does a good job at initially cleaning the block. (Water will likely remove the paper towel scraps.) The curling can be managed by mounting the linoleum to a block of MDF. Instead of a graphite transfer, you could make a reversed, toner-based print or xerox of the image, then place it face down on the lino and use a clear blender AD marker or a cotton ball with acetone on the back of the paper to transfer the toner image. (Some report that ironing the back also works.) Hope to see you revisit this- the printed shirts looked great!

You should heat up the linoleum when you carve it. I like to put a heating pad underneath or use a heat gun when I carve. It makes life much easier and smoother to gouge

It looks great even if behind the scenes was a little rough. I think the difficulty in carving, making your body hurt may have been due to dull blades. I don't see it mentioned a lot, but it makes a huge difference. Sharp blades will carve into that grey lino much easier. And in my opinion, the sharpness doesn't last long. I got tired of going to blick and buying the refills so now I sharpen myself. I always have new blades every once in a while. Without the blade helping you, it's like cutting fabric with dull scissors. You will also start getting little freys around the cut line.

I think your signature would be so cute on the sleeve! Love watching you jump in and try new things, kudos for sticking it out with the carving

If you want to avoid curling, I would recommend mounting the block onto something, but that might start to become an issue when you're printing if you're doing it with the fabric under the block. I think I'd recommend trying to heat it up with a hair dryer or warm cloth and then putting it back under something heavy again. Try to clean it with something oil based (think how you would clean up oil paint) and avoid water if you can with any block larger than 4x6, because water can cause it to crack over time (although I wouldn't worry about it cracking from just one wash! just don't do it repeatedly and you should be alright).

Not sure you'll actually see this given all your other advice comments, but you can use some of that grippy rubber drawer/shelf liner stuff, the kind that looks like a checkerboard and it's super soft - put that under your block while carving so it doesn't keep slipping. A cheap alternative to a bench hook.

When I was at uni, we used a solvent similar to the ones you use with oil paint to clean them! Like acetone or you can get citrus versions that are much safer to use indoors ❤ we used to wet a rag and just wipe it down with that 😊

For cutting the lino: use a board with two small wooden strips on top (like a picture frame but more sturdy). You can slide the lino against the strips. This keeps the lino in place and protects your fingers 😊 Try using a thin mdf board inside the tshirt For cleaning the lino: Try not to wet the back of the lino. Just hold it under the tap trying to avoid water running over the back of the lino.

Thank you for always giving me inspiration! I appreciate how you balance your ‘regular’ content with experimental videos! I subbed for your sketchbook tours but get most excited about these one offs 🎉

Hi I do limo cuts too and for the transfer i sometimes use a pastry roller 😅 I hope that’s the word you use in English 😅 especially for larger things it can be helpful 😊 you did a great job in terms of carving !! The real linoleum is very hard to carv and professionals sometimes use hairdryer to warm the material than it should be a little easier 😂 sending some love from Germany 😊

Also rolling pin seems to help a lot, and Spraying the shirt with water helps

You can heat up lino blocks that makes it soooooo much easier to carve (coming from someone who's butchered their hands as well)

i think it looks great! the texture of the lino works really well with the design. you can heat up the lino for a minute or two on top of a heater, makes carving a block like that easier!!

Definitely check out everyone else's comments. Seems you got great answers to most of your issues! I've been block printing onto fabric for about 10mo now and I've noticed the pink soft carve blocks give better coverage because they actually press into the fabric more than the traditional lino. Also, the first couple prints of any block are going to be light whether your printing on fabric or paper. It takes a couple test prints for the ink to build up enough to give good opaque coverage. Thin layers of ink are best to get crisp edges. Would love to see you continue with block printing!

I love them, for shirts, using screen printing may be easier than lino printing. Which you can use that same speedball ink on, and the colour tends to show up a bit better (more opaque). Also the white speedball fabric paint does work on black fabric! So you can definitely use it on black shirts.

Looks awesome!! I really am curious at what else of fun things you can try! I’m falling back in love with lino again now tooo! In art school we used heat guns to soften the lino a bit before carving to soften the lino a bit but I don’t know if that applies to all kinds of lino, but who knows it helps 🙈 love your art keep it up!! ❤

oh an alternative to covering the back with graphite to transfer the sketch is using carbon or graphite paper! or soft pastels... soft pastels have a larger area so it doesnt take as long to cover the entire paper surface :D

Hey! I actually just started block printing myself and like you. I started with an easy carve and then moved to linoleum. (They are very hard to carve. I felt it too haha) I found for mine (printing on cotton totes) I had to 'prime' my block by making a few prints on paper before they started coming out better. Also to avoid the cardboard pattern. I use an exacto cutting mat and a towel under that (to add a little bounce back cushion). I use a baren. And press and slide it. (You can twist it in a grinding like motion too but be careful) Definitely take breaks though! Lots of arm strength needed haha. As for cleaning. I haven't seen a problem with flattening it out after it dries but I'll let you know more after a few washes 😅 Hope this all helps. I'm really new to it too! But I've researched a lot as well. ❤

My art teacher had us iron our lino blocks to warm them up and make them a little bit easier to carve, and it really helped!

they look awesome!😍 you could try to clean it with a toothbrush and dishsoap. I wipe mine with a damp cloth dish soap/ water mixture. the block doesn't need to be 100 % clean.

I remember carving my first real lino blocks in high school, and yes it was very difficult and... painful lol. Yknow, they make these thick oven gloves (not mitts, actual gloves that are oven safe, fingers and all), and I'll use one while I'm shredding cheese so I don't shred my hands on accident. They're called the "Ove' Glove", but I just have an off-brand one and it works great. They have grippy lines on them too and are relatively cheap! Could be an interesting idea for you to protect your hand while you're carving on this material! Edit: Or maybe even one of those rubbery garden gloves that are more form fitting to your hands! Just something to put between the blade and your hand.

use a bigger wooden spoon, like you would use for cooking, or a rolling pin for burnishing! and mounting your print on plywood/plexiglass(something firm but smooth) and using a layer of the same when you’re applying pressure like you did with the box!

you should get a bench hook! it keeps the linoleum in place while cutting! also the tool you use to carve is called a gouge:))

Wipe with a sponge and dry immediately, don't soak it. That is my best guess

to get rid of the cardboard imprint, use something with no texture like mdf or acrylic to go inside the tshirts instead

You could try a toothsbrush for the paper towel issue. Maybe if you wet the toothbrush, the curling will not be so bad because the water will only be on certain spots? Just an Idea, i don't know if it will actually work :) But your work is really amazing!!!!

I loveeee the shirts! Wish there was one in my size! Love the stripes from at cardboard also ❤

i have a tip for you, if you put an oven mitten on your hand that is not cutting if the cutting tool hits it it wont go trough the mitten:)

this was super interesting and helpful! thanks for aharing the process^^

Hey. Great work love it I just wanted to say for Lino block image transfer I find that using a red soft pastel on the back rather than graphite and then use hairspray or some fixative as then it is red on grey rather than grey on grey plus it’s a better transfer like it doesn’t need as much pressure so it will transfer all over every time instead of patches that don’t transfer with graphite

About the tissue on the Lino block. Use a abused semi-crusty paint brush preferably a round or filbert the flat brushes for me have once ripped up parts of the design or you can get a nylon brush like a wire brush but softer and they be careful go slow when rubbing it off

The definition of blood and sweat lol !

Hi! me and my sis loved this video so much! It's so sad that this is not a hit video but I just loved it because it's so cool seeing you trying new things, it's so rich for you and your channel ❤ it's a flop that I live in Brazil and is harder for me to buy things from you! But I have been following your channel for some years now and it have been amazing! thank you, hope you're doing good and I wish you the best

I would try batting (quilting) or possibly foam board, instead of the cardboard inside of the shirt, if you don't want those cardboard lines. The foam board is somewhat delicate and can acquire indentations if not handled carefully. I'm considering a piece of plywood (heavy 3/4 inch) slightly larger than the dimension of the linoleum, to "walk on", for larger linoleum cuts.

When I’m high school we did Lino printing, and we heated the linoleum before carving which made it much easier to carve through. Maybe you could use an iron .

The real Lino blocks are really hard to carve, I did one in an art class and we used hot plates to soften the link before we carved it a heat gun would probably be great for big things like this :)

I love the shirts. I love that they're imperfect. Sadly, I'm a lg on a good day, and I prefer an XL. But, I would buy one in a second.

You can heat up the block to make it softer Also you can use a rolling pin to press the block into the shirt

i’m pretty sure staining the lino makes it easier to see if you’ve carved deep enough in that area? just in case you decide to try cutting lino again

Definitely think that the little red handled blades are annoying as heck. I recommend getting a power grip knife set and strop and honing compound so u dont have to buy expensive replacement blades

okay advice: the block can go in water... its always gonna curl to my knowledge... i avoid tissue to dry it and use a face or hand towel that isnt to fibrous and do as you did put heavy weight to dry it flat... for now you can use a wet toothbrush to get the paper out. everytime you clean or star with a fresh block the first print is gonna come out trash. the 2nd or 3rd print is the one you wanna use so the block absorbs more in and gives a cleaner print, i know you said you didnt want to buy anything so if your family doesnt mind a rolling pin may be good to transfer the print. and even if you have to by one they arent to expensive

What a fun process! Is the tee youre wearing now done in bleach? I wonder if you could block print with bleach as well as ink?

Ha! Literally a couple of days ago I was wondering were you still going to do!

I did a printmaking class in college and our second project was a linoleum block and our main rule was don’t cut towards yourself and it was so awkward and I ended up slicing my hand sooo many times 🤦🏻‍♀️ I definitely preferred our screen printing projects

Some no slip drawer liner, put it on top of that and it'll stop it sliding around

You could wash it and weigh it down flat while it dries maybe

IDK know if anyone mentioned yet....I've seen others use a heat gun to warm up Lino for easier cutting.

I made a 5x7 piece in linoleum (same brand as yours I think) of my cockatiel yelling, and I messed my hand up so bad I couldn’t use it for like a week. I cringed when you pulled out such a big sheet, like I knew that was going to hurt.

They are sold out on Etsy alreadyyyyy😢😢😢😢 I wanted one so bad!! These are super super super cool!! Love it

Where did you get your work table? It's exactly what I am looking for.

Try non-slip mats to keep it from sliding around, that way you don't have to put a shit ton of pressure on the block to keep it from sliding. Also, Blick doesn't have the best carving tools from what I've heard, so if you do wanna keep doing this, maybe try some other brands.

Better to use rubber for the stamp if using on fabric and easier to carve

This is such a cool idea! How long will the prints last on a T-shirt do you think?? 🤔

Sleeve printed logo or signature would be very cool. You are selling these too cheap. Even as first attempt they're cool. And hand printed. I'm im plus size or I'd definitely want one they should be at least twice that price but actually 3times. Love that the design covers a lot of the shirt. In general I don't wear white tshirts due to seeing through. But I get that they're inexpensive

I highly recommend getting a bench hook so you don’t cut yourself

They look so cool, I don't even mind the "imperfections" of the first shirt printing since linos look cool with extra texture. I think I've seen people use baby wipes for lino blocks but I may be confusing it with gelli plates. Art Prof has great academic level information for free on various art topics including linos: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EBHhZGOMojo.html. So bummed I didn't go to your last market to snag a sweet shirt!

not a solution, but use a THIN KABOB STICK to touch it up and never repeat that, again! at least, you'll have salvaged your shirt mistakes.....

Print press would help with getting more equal and better pressure. Colour wise i think the one you had on was a lot better colours than the ones that u made in the video.

Maybe you can scrub the dampened paper towel off with a toothbrush?

Are use baby wipes or alcohol pads, no paper towels.

I really hate that kind of block, I bought a bunch because it was cheaper but the inks don't really stick very well and trying to cut it down is weird with the burlap on the back. I wish it was better quality but they are cheap

why don't you try some type of solvent or like alcohol to remove the ink and clean it versus drenching it in water

Let's Talk LESS +more FOCUS and creative work.

Did they sell?

the part that got me was the "I haven't cut myself since......the last I cut myself"

If you manage to salvage the block print, I would like to buy a t-shirt, unfortunately the sizes available won’t fit me T^T

Just wash it and dry it flat

I’d say don’t be so self deprecating about your work publicly, and it would sell better

too much talk