relief printing

Thought I would share a tutorial about how to create a block or relief print. There are many different printmaking processes. Lino or wood block printing falls under the catergory of relief. Basically anything carved away from below the surface of the block won't print. My days of being a printmaking student at university are far behind me. This is my very first attempt to print without a press. And it is easy.

1. first you need all the equipment. I have chosen speedball products. Waterbased inks are ideal for home use (although I miss the smell of oil based inks).

• inks..start with one colour...buy more as you need.
• card or watercolour paper is ideal, but experiment on recylcled paper.
• small sheet of glass. I have used glass from an old photo frame
• Printing block. The speedball product is far easier to use than the old linoleum. But if you do use the brown lino, I recommend to heat it slightly so you can carve into it with ease.
• Cutting tools. Try being experimental and look for interesting tools around the home. I have had an old set of denistry tools for over 15 years and they work wonders for both relief and intaglio printing.
• A Brayer...or commonly known as the roller.
• Kitchen spoon

2. start by cutting your image. Draw or transfer an image directly onto the block. Carve away what you don't want to see. Make sure you clean away any residue before printing or you will end up with furry bits.

3. basic registration makes life easier. On a piece of paper, draw the size of the paper you are going to print on. Then place the block in the centre or where ever suits and draw around this with a pencil. This will give you a position for the block and an outline to see where you place the paper for each print you make.

4. On the glass (which is wider than the width of the brayer), squeeze out a small amout of ink across the top of the glass and also slightly wider than the brayer.

5. roll out the ink, making sure that you get an even coverage across your brayers surface. as you are rolling down, lift the brayer up and let it spin and then place it down again...this avoids one side of the brayer being covered in more ink than another.

6. ink your block. Knowing how much to have on sometimes takes pracitce. You'll know when you pull your first print.

7. Place your block onto the registration sheet. Avoid any dirty fingers at this stage.

8. Place your already prepared printing paper over the block and align it to the registration marks.

9. with the back of a kitchen spoon, carefully and evenly apply enough pressure to the paper and rub across the back until the print has been made.

10. Pull it back...that is it. Simple.

Below shows my work space and some recent hearts I have printed. I picked up this book, Papua New Guinea Prints at the National Art Gallery in Canberra, I find the line work so inspiring.

Comments

[celebrity videos]

Print more relief things. I love it.

[suzy]

Hello -
I am struggling with registraion STRUGGLING...Would you say that laying the block face down on the paper is the best method as other ways are losing me about 80% of the edition by the time I add all my colours...its devastating- BTW this is a wonderful page. :o) if anyone could email me with registration tips, troubleshooting I would be so grateful.

[Juddie]

Thank you for a great tutorial - you're a gem! Now I'm feeling very inspired and looking forward to giving it a try.....

Are the Speedball products relatively easy to find in Australia?

[Stacie]

Hello,

I am working on an invitation, and wanted to block print it (the type will be the paper color, and the background a solid color). I have a couple questions I thought you might be able to help with (or maybe one of your readers).

The artwork is such that I can't cut it myself. Do you know of anywhere I can have a custom plate made that would work similarly to a linoleum block?

The reason I want to block print these is to achieve an irregularity in the ink that is laid (I'll be using a toothy watercolor paper). But if there is a differentsolutin you would recommend, please let me know (I have also considered silk screening -- and gocco though the gocco image space is not large enough).

Thanks so much! If you want to e-mail a reply, that would be really great. scmccombs@gmail.com

[Printing Australia- flyers, brochures, pamphlets, postcards & fliers]

Great stuff- looks like fun!

[Kathy]

I just made my first print from the speedball block. I bought a brayer but maybe it's not necessary. I used an old set of lino cutting tools. Is there a set of knives specifically for the new soft speedball block? Wonderful prints and inspiration.

[tali]

ooh, you make it look so easy! how inspiring - i have to get me some materials and give it a go. thanks for sharing ^_^

[none]

interesting. But please tell me how do you make multi color print?

[yari]

It's wonderful how creative you can get with tools. Thanks for the ideas!

[yari]

It's wonderful how creative you can get with tools. Thanks for the ideas!

[yari]

They are great. Thanks for sharing. The Papua drawings are very interesting also.

[Heather Moore]

Thanks for this tutorial! I've got a piece of lino lying around at home and now I know exactly what to do with it!

[Sassafrass Winter Solstice]

Great information!

Thanks for sharing this tutorial. I have been in love with making relief prints for many years now and can never seem to find enough inspiration/information online to satiate my appetite.

Every resource that I find - I totally eat it up with delight. But yet still want more. So thank you for sharing your perspectives and creative ideas.

I love your suggest regarding the "old set of dentistry tools" I never would have thought of using cutting tools such as that. I especially love experimenting with linoleum printmaking -- and I might just try using your tip.

Thanks once again,
Fellow relief printer

Sassafrass Winter Solstice
SassafrassWinter.com

[simple me]

This is great! Thanks for the tutorial.
I have been planning to try and make some prints (I even have bought the tools a while ago) and now here I find a place of inspiration showing me how to go about it. Thanks!
Your prints are very pretty and I specially like the one with that bold black leaf.

[vera]

luv your prints. i currently use brown lino but have heard about alternatives such as the speedball product, but can you get this in Australia? :0) x

[leslie]

hey, this is great, thanks so much! and i LOVE the single leaf print, beautiful and simple.

[Bezzie]

You know what I used to do? When I'd have a drawing I wanted transfered to the block I would take the block, lay a piece of carbon paper down, take the drawing and put it face down. Then I'd take baby oil and oil the paper. This made it translucent. Then I'd trace my drawing and it would transfer to the block.

Great tutorial!!! Your prints are inspiring!

[patricia]

great tutorial! got a couple of tips here that are wonderful. thanks! :)

[Zoe]

This is great. I wanted to try this at home for such a long time (being a textile printer by trade) but just never got round to taking the plunge and buying the equipment...you know, doubts such as what if I can't do it and what if I can't think of anything to print???? Silly really...you've inspired me yet again to go for it so thank you!

Oh, and I started to give the crochet another go yesterday and it seemed to be a little easier considering Lexie was snatching it out of my hand every two seconds saying "that's mine!". Yes she's at that stage where she thinks that everything is hers and doesn't want to share anything. I showed her the photos of Ari & Milena with the babous and she got very annoyed that these two unknown children had "HER" teddies!!!

I love the simplicity of these prints.

[Alex]

Thank you so much for sharing your insights!
I would love to try it soon... a certain project should be finished in only three weeks... hope it's not too tricky.

[dawbis]

i am so inspired! wow!

[monica]

you do make it sound easy... except I can't draw to save my life. Really, even my kids have stopped asking me to draw for them and wait till dad comes home.

Sad.

But I love block printing...

Maybe some abstract shapes... I can do shapes..

[julie]

Wonderful!!!! what is that printing block made of? Thanks for sharing and showing!!

[Ali]

I love the idea of you carving with dentistry tools!

Do you have any suggestions for an alternative to water based printing inks (which I can't get hold of here)?

[Kate]

Great tutorial.Thankyou for sharing. Love your prints - fabulous!