Linocut for Artists & Designers

531 Pages·2016·52.45 MB·English

by  Nick Morley

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Nick Morley
THE CROWOOD PRESS
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First published in 2016 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book first published in 2016
© Nick Morley 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 78500 146 8
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Acknowledgements
Massive thanks to my partner Catherine, for her encouragement and understanding, and
for laughing at my jokes and spotting missing commas. Also to my photographer Hazeleigh
Prebble, for his unending patience, beautiful photographs and willingness to stand on
chairs to find the best angle. To Ian Youngs for laying out the pages elegantly and juggling
all the images and words to fit nicely. To Steve Edwards, Wuon-Gean Ho and Andrew Watt
for teaching me new techniques. To all the artists and designers who have contributed to
this book and created such inspiring works. To everyone at East London Printmakers and
Resort Studios in Margate for their encouragement. Last but not least to my parents Anne
and Neal for encouraging me to become an artist in the first place and supporting me every
step of the way.
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CONTENTS
Introduction

1 Materials and Equipment
2 Getting Started
3 Printing on a Press
4 Black and White
5 Colour
6 Fine Art Prints, Illustration and Graphics
7 Fabric Printing, Paper Products and Artists’ Books
8 Advanced Techniques
Suppliers
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Index
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INTRODUCTION
Linocut
Linocut is a versatile and popular printmaking process which
attracts both professional and amateur artists and designers. It is
easy to learn and simple enough to do at home. The materials you
will need are widely available and can be bought cheaply. However,
many people who start making linocuts give up because they cannot
control the tools and are unsatisfied with the quality of their prints.
In some cases they will end up with cut fingers and this is enough to
put them off for life. With some inside knowledge and a few simple
tips all this can be avoided and you will be able to make beautiful
prints. This book will show you how.
What is linocut?
Linocut is a form of relief printing. This is the family of techniques
which includes woodcut, wood engraving, letterpress, rubber
stamping and potato printing. To make a relief print, ink is applied
to the surface of the prepared block and then transferred under
pressure onto another surface, usually paper. The print is a mirror
image of the block.
A linocut print is simply a relief print made from a block of
linoleum. To make a traditional linocut, any unwanted areas of
linoleum are carved away with gouges and the block is inked up
with an ink roller. The ink is only transferred to the raised, uncarved
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