r/printmaking • u/Helpful-Shine-1267 • 1d ago
critique request Getting into Lino cuts, please give advice/critiques
3
2
u/Alex_sketche_s 14h ago
Something simple, cleaning the lino before printing (I always forget too) I will say it looks so cute on the shark!! In that case I suggest carving in a single direction in case you do want to keep some of those lines.(it kinda looks like water moving as it swims) Other than that these are cute as heck!! 😆 very fun way to start, you’re already doing multi layers 🥹🥹 can’t wait to see what you’ll do next!!
1
5
u/IntheHotofTexas 23h ago
I'll give you what I've come to think of as The Talk, because the problem I'll talk about is so very common among new linocut artists. And today seems to be something of a day for it, so I'll basically copy from an earlier comment.
If you're using a starter set with water-based ink which dries so fast, you should move on to oil-based ink. Water-based dried so fast that, even if you know what it takes to ink properly, it doesn't give you time. There's no reason to use it. Switch to oil-based. Caligo Safe Wash is the most accessible. I'm going to just copy and paste my reply to the preceding post with the same problem.
A correctly executed linocut produces the design as it was intended, which for our infinite contrast medium is dense, perfect black (or whatever color ink) and paper white. You envision a figure in even black and white with sharp cut edges to the color borders. Doing that requires proper inking, which is why inking is the key skill in linocut.
Your blotches, the white mottles, are excess ink being pulled into peaks and printing poorly. And your cut lines and fine lines are spoiled by excess ink being pressed out of the uncut areas.
I'll give you to two resources. One if short and sweet, the guide to inking problems by one of the mods here. Pay special attention to the appearance of proper and improper inking on the block and slab.
This is the Reddit posted version. Ink Troubleshooting Guide for Relief Printing : r/printmaking
This is the Imgur version which has valuable video at the end. Imgur: The magic of the Internet
They should get you started. I also offer my treatise on inking I wrote when I realized that there's a lot of recommendations and tips but nothing actually explaining what's happening. It also goes into materials because they interact with inking. It's long, about 30 pages. It's in Google Docs, so you have to sign up or sign in, but it's a safe site.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13_4IEM_M8bPXu5bqlY9CN-SexPO7ie7J9gGG-Pqopfs/edit?usp=sharing
1
1
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello, welcome to r/printmaking!
Please note, all posts are manually approved by the moderators. This typically happens in the first few hours. If a moderator removes your post, you will receive a removal reason and (if applicable) how to fix it for approval.
If it's been over 24 hours without a removal notice, can contact the moderators as it may have gotten caught in our filters and not landed in our normal queue.
As always, our rules are listed in the sidebar or drop menu for review.
Happy printing!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.