Linocut Block Printing Part 1

I’ve been thinking about linocut printing on textiles for a while and decided to give it a go.  There are so many things you can make with block-printed fabric -- clothing, wall hangings, pillow covers, basically anything you can make with fabric you buy. In this post I’ll show you my process for cutting the block, and next week I’ll show you the inking and printing process.

There are a wide variety of surfaces to use for your block.  I found a mid-price starter material in the Blick catalog (don’t know what the Blick catalog is?  You must get one!  Dick Blick Art Materials is one of the best art suppliers that I know.  Find them at DickBlick.com).  Rather than start off with traditional, and trickier, Battleship Grey Linoleum, I used Blick wonder-Cut Linoleum.  It comes in pre-cut pieces and was relatively inexpensive. The surface looks like finely grained cork, but it’s much sturdier and harder in density. I bought a 12-pack of 5” x 7” for $11.99, and cut down one of the pieces to fit my shape.

You won’t need many more tools for the cutting process, only a linoleum cutter (I used a Speedball linoleum cutter), various shaped cutter blades, paper, tape and pencil.

 

I cut my shape from a cricut pattern onto cardstock.  Then I loosely taped it to the lino so it wouldn’t move around while I traced the image.  You’ll notice in this picture that the lino looks warped.  That’s because it’s not mounted on a block

Using a soft pencil, I filled in the design onto the lino.

After I had everything traced, I began gouging out what would eventually be the negative space.  I used a narrow v-shaped blade to best cut these small shapes.

Be sure to make deep and even gouges so that the ink will stay evenly out of the negative space.  Don’t try to do it all in one motion.  You’ll need patience in order to make multiple gouges to get the shape nicely deep and sharp.

 

Whatever you do, do not try to slap a mosquito on the hand holding the cutter, while holding the cutter!!!  I bled for hours, those blades are sharp!

When I finished cutting the inside of the design, I switched to a broader cutting blade to clear away the rest of the block.  Remember, anything that you don’t want inked needs to be cut away.

The final block, ready to be inked and print.  As you can see, my cuts are about ¼” deep.

This step of the process takes patience, but I found that by doing it right, the ink will transfer very neatly.

Come back next week and I’ll show you how the printing turned out.