Starting a new series, this time in color. Not bad!

Am I going to get a crazy grain pattern if I carve into this?

Is it better to carve your key plate on the side with more knots or the side that is more even?

Hello all! I made a couple of woodcuts a year ago and am still occupied with trying to get a reasonable print from them. Since I don't have a press I've finally succumbed to the temptations of using a thin hosho mulberry paper, which I struggled with at first because my spoon kept tearing the paper and the print was still patchy. Now I use a rag (don't know if that's a thing bit it felt like a stroke of genius at the time) and that works waay better. Highly recommend hosho + rag for those of you without a press, so many printing problems vanished immediately.

However there's a couple things I'm wondering about to up my game...

-Obvs the hosho is susceptible to creasing- what is the best way to smooth it out after printing?

-How do you post in a roll, since this is too big to post flat? (I'm thinking roll with stiff paper or glassine and a bit of washi to keep in place? Would rather not mount into cartridge with wallpaper paste, I already find the printing process incredibly tedious, I'm all about the cutting)

-general printmaking question: how the feck do you keep clean as you go?? Every one of my print papers has smudges outside of the printing square. Half the time I can't even source where they're coming from, although I'm wiping down everything and using a water based ink.

This is one of my first cuts, I come from a sgraffito background so it all feels like a natural extension of my practice. I learned so much from it and the next one will be better!

Hi! I’m new to sugar lift printmaking (and etching in general, for that matter). I’m having lots of fun, but also having a lot of trouble with the hard ground. Seems like no matter how much I dry the sugar/ink solution, the hard ground roller will pick some up and distribute it to unwanted parts of the plate. Does this happen to anyone else? If so, how do you deal with it?

I’m considering buying some liquid hard ground. I can’t find any locally, so I’d be paying additional shipping fees for hazardous materials. Do any of you have any recommendations?

Also, I’m reading about using Straw Hat Varnish for a ground, mostly recommended from the UK. I’m in the U.S. (California). I’ve been going to my local art stores asking for Straw Hat Varnish and they all seem to think I’m crazy. Is it an art supply that goes by a different name in the U.S.? The hat stores here don’t even know what I’m talking about.

Anyways, thanks for your help if you have any. I’m new to this community and looking forward to seeing what you guys have going on!

A few years ago I decided to take as much plastic out of my art making as possible.

Currently I am working through an idea where I make editionable prints that replicate my handwriting.

I had thought about using drawing fluid and screen filler to do this. But. The screen filler I can find is all plastic based.

Question: Does anyone know of a plant based drawing fluid/screen filler method? Is there another printing method that is plant based/non-plastic that can recreate my handwriting?

If you were using both sides of baltic birch to make a print, would you print you key plate on the worse or better side? (What I mean by worse side is the one with knots/more uneven grain)

Tiles are Gorilla-glued together.

I have always used mineral spirits to clean brayers etc. using oil based ink. Has anyone used acetone, or do I need to make a trip to the store? (I have some acetone, but haven’t used it for cleanup)

Background tips would be apreciated too

Does anyone have any recommendations for sourcing wood to make woodcuts? Obviously I can order blocks from Blick and similar sites, but I was wondering if anyone had other ideas they've tried. Blick works fine for me for the most part but I sometimes want a higher quality wood piece, however I'm on a tight budget.

One idea I had was buying old wooden furniture/items from thrift stores and repurposing wood from those to use for prints. I'd love to hear what other people do to obtain higher quality (and larger size) wood blocks, ideally without breaking the bank.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Multi-block linocut printed on Fabriano Colore red paper (185gsm), using Tinta Coyote (mexican ink brand, water-based and as far as I can tell non-toxic and sustainable). This one is around 10x6.5in! print run of around 6-8 (still deciding...) 🦇

4"x6" on battleship gray, printed with speedball relief ink on copier paper I had lying around. Still a work in progress, please provide feedback on where to improve. I think I got really old linoleum, because carving it was a nightmare, even after warming it with a hair dryer. Ordered some fresh linoleum online from Blick, and it feels so much softer. Excited for my next plate. This sub is really inspiring. Thanks all for sharing your work.

Hello, newbie here.

Can you not overlap ink colours? I tried to put a dark blue background and do red words over top as another layer. I pictured it would be opaque but you can still clearly see the blue through it. Is that just because the blue is a bit darker of a colour? How do people do reduction prints then?

I am using caligo Safewash oil based relief ink.

Thank you!!

Hello fellow printmakers! :)

I was wondering some things and I thought this subreddit would maybe have some good answers! For reference, I currently just started a new job as an art facilitator at a day program working with adults with various disabilities.

With this new job, I've really been wanting to incorporate printmaking and all of it's beautiful art form with the participants at my workplace—specifically have them make linocut prints. The thing is though, while I'm sure some of them could handle themselves with normal printmaking tools, there are many others who I would worry about them using such potentially dangerous tools. Does anybody have any ideas to still make linocuts without the use of normal carvers?

I just bought my first woodblock after only working with linoleum and I heard around here that we're supposed to prepare the wood. So I have a couple of questions about the process I was hoping someone could help me with:

1 - I know we have to sand the wood once or twice. Which grit of sandpaper should I use and how many times should I sand?

2 - I saw someone mentioning using steel wool after the sandpaper, should I? I never used steel wool for sanding anything.

3 - I heard we're supposed to finish the carving surface with Shellac, when using it, do I need to do multiple coatings? How long does it take to dry before I can start carving?

4 - I like to draw my designs straight on the block + the transfer methods I have acess to don't involve glueing paper to the block, so should I draw/transfer before or after I sand and finish the wood?

5 - Is this whole process only for the carving surface or do I need to do it for the whole block?

6 - Lastly, I'm printing with the Caligo safe-wash, oil-based Ink. How do I clean the block? I'm afraid of soaking the wood in water.

I'm not sure it will help, but I'm working with Argentine Cedar, it's a hardwood commonly used for woodcutting in South America.

Thank you for any help!

I'm disabled and I have a hard time applying enough consistent pressure by hand to get clean prints out. I think the best results I have ever gotten was when I tried standing on a piece of wood on top of the carved lino block 😂... I was trying to see if there were any DIY options for a press since this is just a hobby and I can't afford any of the hundreds-of-dollars presses online. I saw a lot of people building presses out of wood, but I also don't have any sort of wood working tools.

I saw this blog post about converting a panini press into a print press: https://www.lilblueboo.com/2017/01/how-to-make-a-printing-press-from-a-panini-press.html

Does anyone have thoughts on if this would work or not, or has anyone done this themselves? It seems to work in the blog post itself but I wanted a second opinion before I went out and got a second-hand panini press for myself. Thanks!

Hey yall! Im new to the printing world, and I got this ink honestly quite a while ago. It says it doesn't need to be heat set, and will be cured on fabric in about a week, after which it'll be able to be washed. My question is is there a way to speed up the process? Can I try heat setting it? Or do I just gotta get the heat set one if I want it cured faster lmao.

Hi all! I’ve been making lino printed cards for personal use for a couple years now and am interested in selling some. I’ve just been using card stock and ink from thrift shops and cutting the card stock with a guillotine paper cutter.

What are best practices for making cards for retail? I’m specifically curious about card stock weight and if I should finish the prints with any sort of sealant.

The blades were just as old so I didn’t get the cleanest line work.