Making a Linocut Print
1In many school art rooms, students make prints with blocks of linoleum, a soft material that can be carved. This kind of art is called a linocut. Artists have made linocut prints for more than a hundred years, and the main steps have stayed much the same.
2A linocut is a relief print. In relief printing, the picture is raised, or sticks up above the rest of the surface. Only the raised parts touch the ink, so only those parts show up on the paper. A rubber stamp works in the same way.
3First, an artist draws a design on the block. Next comes carving. Artists use a gouge, which is a tool with a small, curved or V-shaped blade that scoops out thin strips of linoleum. Every part that is carved away will stay the color of the paper on the print. Carvers push the gouge away from their hands to stay safe. Many also use a bench hook, a flat board with edges that hooks over the table and keeps the block from sliding.
4Letters and numbers can be tricky. A print is a mirror image of the block. In other words, everything comes out flipped from left to right, the way your face looks in a mirror. To print a word correctly, an artist must carve it backward.
5When the carving is done, it is time to ink. The artist squeezes a little ink onto a tray and spreads it out with a brayer. A brayer is a small hand roller, a bit like a tiny paint roller. The artist rolls the brayer back and forth until the ink looks smooth, and then rolls it across the block.
6Next, the artist lays paper on the inked block and burnishes it. To burnish, the artist rubs firmly over the back of the paper, often with a wooden spoon, so the ink presses into the paper. Slowly peeling the paper back shows the finished print.
7Most artists do not stop at one copy. They make an edition, a set of prints that all come from the same block and look alike. Artists often write a number on each print in an edition. For example, 3/20 near the bottom means it was the third print in a set of twenty.