Lino-Cut Printmaking Process - Tips and Tricks - EHollingsheadArt 

Thanks so much!! So glad you found it helpful. More videos coming for sure!

Taking your time is crucial for sure!! Haha I would consider myself a pretty patient person!

Yeah!!! Such a good method!!

Yay!! Absolutely jump in - I hope you have fun creating!

I am so glad you find it helpful!

Thank you!! I am so glad you found it helpful

Thank you so much Inge!

Ditto!

I'm so glad you found it helpful!!

Thanks very much 🙂

Thanks so much!

Thanks for watching!

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!

Yay! So glad you liked it - thank you!

Thank you!!

Hey! Yes - I've been there too with that harder lino lol. You usually end up using it in school because it is soooo much cheaper than this softer stuff! I am using a soft-cut linoleum that I get from Curry's art store (I believe you can also get it from Blick if you are in the USA!) The Curry's website calls it "Essdee Softcut Lino" and it comes in bulk packs!

The only thing to be aware of with softcut is that it's a kind of plastic, unlike lino, so if you care about that then be mindful !

At what temperature would you warm the lino and how long for?

@@sylviareck-xy3kn Heat oven and pan to 350. Turn off oven, remove pan. Place lino on hot pan. Test w/fingers if transferring heat is softening plate. Place back in oven until it reaches desired softness.

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Thank you so much for watching Christine!

So glad you found it helpful!!

Thank you so much!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! Glad you find it helpful :)

Thanks so much!!

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it

Thank you so much for watching Ivana!

Thanks so much for watching Robert!

Thank you! So glad you found it helpful!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you!

Thank you!!

Thank you so much for watching Kathy! Etching is so enjoyable too - have a blast experimenting with lino-cut!

Have the best time carving and printing! It really is such an enjoyable process

Carving wood and lino are both soooo satisfying! Best of luck to you with your projects!!

Thank you!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it

Love teaching lino to my high school students too! So glad you like it!

Thanks!! Glad you find it helpful!

Thank you! So glad you find it helpful

Thank you! So glad you found it helpful

Thank you!!

Thank you!

Woah - lightbulbs is so unexpected! It's always so interesting to see and hear about the different ways people do things!

I am glad you found it helpful!! Thank you!

Thank you!

It's the best thing I've done with my carving process. Really changed the way my carvings turned out!!

Sounds like an awesome find with all the blades you got with it! Making lino-cuts is such an enjoyable process!! Have fun!!!

@ehollingsheadart6601 thank you for the encouragement. It looks very interesting. The kind of hobby you just put some good 70s prog rock on the headset, crack open a nice beer, and zone out while making something cool. I'll be back to your videos to learn as soon as I get some material to work with. Keep up the good content. Cheers.

It's the best!!! Have fun and enjoy!

I highly recommend. I started 10 years ago and am still so obsessed with the possibilities

I remember my first lino-cut lol it was a disaster!! It gets better every time you do one for sure!!

​@@ehollingsheadart oh this makes me feel better. My first one was horrific and I've been scared to try again 😂

Thanks very much!

Thank you so much Patti!

Embossing is soooo satisfying. I just got a press so that might be something I experiment with!

I also plan on doing some paper-making next summer!

Thanks very much for watching! I definitely think you can apply many of these techniques to woodcut. I have a couple of woodcuts I am about to work on - I'll have to make a video!

Yes! It boils down to how you want it to look in the end. Sometimes I carve away my pencil lines and sometimes I carve around them to preserve them! Just depends where you want your lights and darks! I highly recommend giving it a go! Haha it's the best!!!

Hi! I use a black sharpie marker for that :)

Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it 😊 I used a small V gouge for carving the majority of this one, and a larger U gouge to remove large areas!!

I am using the Speedball carving tool! Love it. Flexcut tools are also great if you want to invest in some high quality carving tools!

Hey Kathy!! No issues with the sharpie making the ink adhere to the carving properly! It doesn't make it slipper since sharpies are alcohol based - the alcohol evaporates and just leavea behind the pigment. If I'm printing with any other colour that isn't black, I will wash my block first to remove excess sharpie or the first print I make will be a dud but will take the excess sharpie pigments off the carving!!

@@ehollingsheadart thank you! I'm so excited to try this on my latest lino block! Thanks so much for your reply and great video

I find holding it this way gives me more precision, so it might be good for some finer details I think! The tool has a rounded end that is meant to rest inside the palm of your hand as your fingers wrap around it. Like the palm of your hand gives you the force to move forward and then the way your fingers grasp it gives you precision. Depends on your preferred style and possibly some other things!

In this video I am using the lino-cutting gouge tool that speedball makes! I also really like flexcut tools too!

This is a great question! I should do a video on this. I use a slip strop made by FlexCut tools

Thanks for watching!! The linoleum that I use is rubber - which is a natural product! You can also make wood-cuts in the same way, which would be the most eco-friendly carving surface!

I am using the #1 V gouge!!!

​@@ehollingsheadartI really struggled to get fine enough lines even with the #1 - is it just a case of getting a feel for it? 😅

Thank you!

Thank you for watching! I am using the Essdee Softcut Lino!

Absolutely! Some people definitely find that method helpful! For myself, I find the ink sorta sicks the paper down and I deal with very few prints that have shifted around. Can also use a pin and system (turnes burton pins) as well! I have a video about registration that you might find helpful and it talks about registering a 2 block print :) more to come!

@@ehollingsheadart Thanks! Subscribed :)

The sharpie does not effect the ink or printing! You can use a bit of rubbing alcohol to remove as much as possible if you wanted to! But i've never had any issues

Hey Jana! You can absolutely draw directly onto the lino (even this rubbery kind). My sketches are always so messy so I like to plan it out on paper first and transfer an exact design onto my lino since I find extra lines and sketching a bit confusing to work around!

Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it

This is the best when working with hard linoleum!!! Thanks for reminding me of this

Lino sheets you get online are very soft and easy to carve. No need to heat them.

Thank you! Glad you liked it. I wash my carvings with cold water - if I am using a water soluable oil based ink I will add a drop of dish soap. I prefer glass because none of the ink gets absorbed into it. Keeps my ink from drying out but I also don't waste any of it. It's also a very flat surface which allows for an even distribution of ink onto the brayer (roller) :)

The absolute BEST paper for printing without a press are Japanese papers! They are thin enough that the ink will transfer very easily with minimal pressure, but also very strong and won't rip very easily.

Hi there! I just use cold water and a gentle soap to clean my linoelum. I use a water soluable oil based ink that doesn't need any thinners or harsh chemicals to remove it!

Not really! I give it some time to dry before touching it which helps!

Hey! I am using a soft-cut lino. The brand is Essdee! You can most definitely print onto fabric!

@@ehollingsheadart Thank you! How many prints can you get from one carving? I'm just learning about this cool style of art. Do you just clean the ink off with a solvent so you can use the block again later?

I use water soluble oil based inks - it just takes soap and water to clean them up! If you use oil based ink, you would need a solvent to remove them. Soft-cut lino shouldn't be used with solvents, as the solvents dry out the rubber and it cracks. Water soluble oils are great because once they dry they don't go anywhere, but clean up with ease. You can also print onto fabric using fabric ink for silkscreen prints (you set it using an iron). I've printed one carving over 500 times and counting! Others that I've made out of different materials (not soft-cut lino) have lasted around 100 prints before they warped or cracked!

also, how many prints can you get out of a lino? I've only done etching on plexi so far.

I love this subject, seahorse!

and did you need to wait, the sharpie seems it will stick on my hand, high humidity here lol

Hey Dana! The original drawing is drawn in the orientation that I want my final image to be! When I flip the drawing over pencil side down onto my linoleum it will be backwards on my block and therefore, will print the original way it was drawn :) I can get 100's of prints from a lino-cut. My most printed block has made me around 300 prints so far and is still exactly like new. The sharpie always transfers onto my hands lol but I do wait a minute or two before putting my hands on it after I first apply it, and it transfers less than if I start carving right after I draw with the sharpie onto my carving!

Thank you!! I do roll a fresh layer of ink onto the block in between every print. Doing this is key for getting consistent prints! If you find your details are flooding when you add more ink, try adding an even thinner layer. If your ink is goopy on your palette/wherever you roll it out, it tends to flood the print. Multiple thin layers of ink roll onto a carving much better :) Sometimes, if it is hot and dry especially, I do a handful of prints and then I wash my block off when I find the ink is getting dry or details are filling in! :) Hope this is helpful!

P.s. I usually print around 20 prints at a time so I have enough on hand. Can usually do all 20 without having to wash my block!

I am going to talk about papers in another video! 😊

Omg it is the best!!!!!

It's definitely a "the more you do it, the better it will get" sort of thing, without a doubt!! Keep going :) I am working on a video for beginners as well

$35 CAN!

Hey Phillip! Thanks for watching. More videos coming soon :)

You can get a job doing this! You would be considered an Artist 🙂 you can work independently (like I do) and sell your work, or you could get hired by others to do commissions!

@@ehollingsheadart yeah i was thinking about i also visual impaired as well i just wanted to know . Will be just like cloth designs is and more your can besides decoration

@@ehollingsheadart and thank you so much for your time as well

Maybe someday!!

Thank you! I carve with really sharp blades so I tend to forget about keeping my hands out of the way since I barely have to push to get it to carve! However....I will be doing a video specifically for use in the classroom soon! Where I talk about knife safety and then show more basic carving and printing methods! :)

Oh absolutely!! Especially using hard linoleum. I use a really soft linoleum and my blades are sharp so I'm not pushing very hard to carve. Haven't stabbed myself in at least 8 years (since switching to soft lino instead of hard!) But yes, avoid carving toward your hands!!

Thank you! So glad you like it :)