Got some new materials in the post today! One thing I’ve been having issues with is what materials to use, particularly with the lino material itself and the inks.
Lino Materials
For lino material first I used the rubbery “softcut” stuff, this was really easy to use. Then I ordered some more and accidentally ordered traditional linoleum. The traditional stuff was backed onto hessian so curved up when I washed it, which was super annoying, but otherwise seemed better quality.
After discovering there were different types of lino I started researching the different kinds. This blogpost was a good resource (also this lino section in general on the jacksons art site seems very useful). After looking into it, I decided to order mounted lino, which is traditional lino but mounted on a block so it won’t curve.
Inks
The first ink I got was extremely cheap water based ink and my prints barely printed at all, so then I ordered a better quality oil based ink. This one came out much better BUT it’s so hard to clean the lino (and all my materials) after using it, the ink gets everywhere. Particularly when I’m just doing this in a room in my rented flat and not an actual studio, it’s a lot of hassle trying not to get ink on anything. I’ve researched some better quality water-based inks so ordered them because they should be much easier to clean away.
My order
- These are the mounted lino blocks, I got 2 of them
- I also ordered a woodblock! “Japanese Katsura Side Grain Wood Block”, it’s gonna be much harder to do but I was curious to try it out
- A tray for rolling inks, so far I’ve been using a piece of plastic and I’ve had to be really careful to not get ink everywhere because it has no sides on it
- Cutting board
- The water based inks, these are my first coloured ones too so I can try out some colours
- A sharpening block for my tools (I have 2 tools at the moment a v-shaped one and a gouge)
Emily Cullen 