RIGHTANDBELOW
RIGHTChris’s
originalsketches
forthetwolinocuts
LEFTChrisWormell,
Robins’Reading,
linocut,23x23cm
DEVELOPINGTHEIDEA
Thesetwodesignsweremadefora
rangeofChristmascardsforBook
AidInternational,theUK’sleading
internationalbookdonationand
librarydevelopmentcharity.Every
year,thecharityaimstoshiparound
onemillionbrandnewbooksto
thousandsofcommunitieswhere
peoplehaveveryfewopportunitiesto
accessbooksandread.Theexclusive
cardsareavailabletopurchaseonline
andeachpacksoldenablesthe
charitytosenda newbooktopeople
aroundtheworldthatreallyneedthem.
I’mprobablyhappiestdrawing
animalssoit seemeda naturalchoice
forthesecards– animalswithbooks,
ofcourse!Polarbearsaresuitably
wintery,androbinsareaniconic
Christmasimage.I scribbledrough
ideasina sketchbookthendidmore
finished(thoughstillquiterough)
pencilsketches.I alsocollectedsome
referencematerial.Oncethesketches
wereapproved,I wentstraighttowork
onthefinishedimages.TOOLSANDMATERIALS
Therearespecialtoolsforlinocutting
whichbasicallyfallintotwotypes:
thosewitha ‘V’-shapedgougetype
bladeandthosewitha ‘U’-shaped
one.Thesecomeinmultipledifferent
sizesandthe‘U’-shapedbladecanbe
moreorlessshallow.Allhavedifferent
uses,whetherformakingbroadorfine
linesorclearingareasoftheblock.
I useseveraldifferenttoolsforall
theblocksI make.
Oneofmyfavouritepapersfor
makinglinocutprintsis a silkscreen
paper,Arches88.I alsolikeFabriano
printingpapers.WhenI ammakinga
printbyrubbingthebackofthepaper
witha largespoon(asI dowithblocks
toobigtofitintomypress),I findthat
Japanesepapersarepreferable.Theonedrawbackis thattheyare
usuallyquitethinandastheinking
onmylinoprintscanoftenbequite
heavy,thiscanbea problem.
Japanesepapercan’ttakethatmuch
ink,letalonefourseparaterubbings
aseachblockis appliedtotheprint.
I usedtobeabletogetsomequite
heavyweightJapanesepapersbut
noneofthoseseemtobeavailable
anymoreandtheonesI nowuseare
onlyjustaboutuptothejob.MAKINGTHECUT
Oldlinoleumtendstobeharder,so
newerlinois generallybetter,although
aslongasyouhaveverysharptools,
harderlinois oftenbetterforfiner
work.Learnhowtosharpenyourtools
andkeepthemassharpaspossible- it makesa hugedifference.
I preparelinobymountingit on
board– it’smucheasiertocutand
printlikethis.Also,mypressis set
toprint“type-high”blocksasI also
Keep tools as sharp
as possible... It makes
a huge difference
Artists & Illustrators 63