Hi Printmakers!

I am not a printmaker myself but my partner is! She’s been doing it for about a year and really enjoys it. So far she’s been doing rubber/linoleum block printing. She has a good amount of inks of different kinds, paper, blocks, and a decent set of carving tools.

She’s mentioned wanting some sort of glass sheet to help with the printing but to be honest I didn’t really understand what it was for or if it was called something specific.

For Christmas I’d love to get her a cool tool that might help take her printmaking to the next level but I don’t know much about the craft other than the very basics. Would this group have any potential suggestions for me? I’d say the budget is less than preferably less than $50 but I’d be curious if printmakers here are really excited about any tool, even if it’s more than that!

Thank you all in advance and keep up the great work I’ve seen on this sub! Y’all are so skilled and talented!

Wondering if anyone has advice about mixing and then storing a large batch of ink. Basically I am looking to do a series and want each work to be the same shade of gray. I likely will not be printing all blocks in the series at once, so was wondering if anyone has successfully mixed up a large batch of color then stored it to be reworkable for months?

I have stored extra ink in aluminum foil/wax paper with success but never large quantities of ink. I am thinking it would be as simple as just mix the gray straight into a can of Caligo, place a round of wax paper on top to prevent skin from forming, and close the can per usual? Would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!

Have you found it to be true in the world of block/relief printing? Do I just need sharper tools??

I've had a hard time getting into linocut because the tools I've been using are just not working well. This is making it difficult to determine if it's a skill issue, or tool issue. The Essdee "3-in-1" set is what I've been using, along with a variety of straight wood handled carvers. Some vintage that should probably be sharpened, and some brand new deadstock japanese (Yasutomo "Niji") ones I found at a garage sale. (those came with a tiny white whetstone!)

I have tried traditional battleship grey lino with the burlap backing, the pink and the blue softer stuff, and even some white that seem somewhere in between the blue and the pink as far as softness. I feel like maybe the tools are quite dull and won't cut well? They don't slide very easily across the material, sometimes they randomly dig in very deeply mid stroke, sometimes they just slip across the surface. (yes, I am holding them at the correct angle) I also have a shoulder that acts up, so having to use what seems like extra pressure with the lower end tools is not great.

I really want to get more into it, but I also don't want to drop cash on tools that I don't actually end up using, by finding out that it wasn't the tool but that I'm just not good at it. Sure practice makes perfect, but the practice seems to not be happening at all because the tools are frustrating. I managed to make one small (like 2 inch by 4 inch) block and then gave up because it was so frustrating to get it cut.

So tell me. Have you made great works using the student grade tools, or am I struggling because they're just not good tools?

edit I did warm up the battleship grey lino with a heat gun held way above the sheet like you're supposed to, but these tools are just too dull even with prepped linoleum!

A follow up to my post from last month - Not the best registration haha but a good try I suppose! This was very fun to do :)

Hello there, just a small sunday post to share a piece from a series i made about people and their journey.

Each illustration depicts a traveler and their animals. This one is a girl from the west, going to rescue her brother from the green lord. There a 8 more illustrations and 8 more stories going with this one.

In terms of process, each traveler was designed on a blockprint, that was transferred to a typon that was then used for a screenprint. The og idea for the book was to work 100% analog. Idk if i’ll do it with such restrictions in the end but i keep the idea in mind, probably for a project on a smaller scale.

Have a nice one! Pyramid out

I'm looking to make simple stamps. I was looking at various kits online (amazon) and was wondering if this is a good way to get started, or if I should be buying tools/pads/inks individually based on manufacturers.

I don't see this as becoming a major hobby, just an occasional thing, so I don't need top-of-the-line tools, but would prefer to avoid cheap, disposable stuff that crowds so many online marketplaces.

Any recommendations, or even links (if allowed) to sites that go into detail about the subject are much appreciated.

Its my first time doing this and i dont know why i cannot make the black look even and saturated. Am i using wrong paper? Should i apply more pressure, more paint?

I'm using pink Speedball and I nicked a pretty crucial line off, right in the middle of my image. It's probably an 0.5 by 2mm area. What would you do to repair it?

Hi all! After discovering this transfer method, I was so excited. No more messy wet paper rubbings for me! I bought some standard 8.5x11 sized sticker paper and tried my hand. Unfortunately, every single time I print my image (I’ve tried this upwards of 10 times with different images/sizes etc) the delicate toner image gets scraped off by what I assume are the rollers that move the paper through. I might’ve just tried to clean up the design with sharpie after transfer, but my printer will often take off very delicate or intricate details and it would be too tedious. I’m currently using an HP LaserJet Pro M102w.

Scrape lines pictured :(

Anyone have solutions or an alternative printer model that creates clean images with no scraping? I really want to make this method work for me.

I’m wanting to upgrade from my soft Speedball brayer and could use some help picking which Takach brayer may work best for me.

I generally prefer a little firmer brayer (the 20D of the speedball is a little soft for my preference and print clarity I’m trying to get).

And here’s where it’s a little tricky: I’d love a do-it-all option for relief printing delicate carvings on both fabric using rubber blocks, as well as paper reliefs using woodblocks.

I’ve heard a couple people refer to the 35D as “medium-firm” making me wonder if 60D would be too firm, but I’ve also never handled these exact durometers to know for sure and so would greatly appreciate more input. Thanks in advance!

A sticky demon dwelling in one’s lungs. One of the very first screenprints i’ve made

In revelations 6 “they (the four horseman of the apocalypse) were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with death,” every day I think about the war escalating in Ukraine, wondering how and when it is going to end, if the US or other countries are going to get involved, and the recent news of Russia lowering its threshold to use nuclear weapons.

At a surface level I’m afraid it seems like the public here in the US isn’t concerned. The horses representing the four horses of the apocalypse were drawn by referring to late 1800s circus advertisements.

This is a two block wood print over a variable cyanotype print. I used bleach and baking soda to lighten sections of the cyanotype.

Well, that's done. Carving CMYK halftone portraits by hand is amazing, but also incredibly time-consuming. This 6" by 9" printed on 90lbs. Stonehenge Legion White paper using Cranfield Caligo safe wash relief inks (specifically CYMK and extender). Dot density is 100 DPI; 10x10 per inch.

All the dots!

I’m a college student interested in printing for a while now and want to buy my own press, I’ve seen some good presses for lino blocks within my budget online. the problem is I’m not sure if I can use a press for my dry point etchings and other techniques? Any guidance on this would help a lot

i don’t have any pictures of the plate, but this was the result of the second go of this design - accidentally squished the first one because i messed with the pressure too much on the press in my college’s studio ;-; but here is the finished product!! i’m working on a reductive linocut right now

I decided to find out if the Speedball gel plate worked with acrylics. (It is designed for use with Akua inks, not acrylics. ) Here is my comparison chart with different media. I hope someone finds it informative!