64 Artists & Illustrators
LINOCUT
make wood engravings, so lino blocks
need to be a greater depth. I make
up the extra depth by laying another
block of wood on top of the block I’m
printing. The only other thing I do to
prepare the block for cutting is to
paint a thin wash of black ink on top
of my drawing. This allows me to see
both the drawing and the cut marks
I make with the lino tool more clearly.
I usually cut the insides of things
before the outside profile so that I
can work up to the edges. Remember,
the cutting is not the same as the
drawing: the tools make different
marks to those of a pencil.
The impulse is just to cut out what
you’ve drawn and cut around the main
shapes, the outlines, first. I wouldn’t
approach it like this. The pencil
drawing should only be a guide and,
when cutting the block, think of it as
if you are re-making the image.COLOUR
I’m not aware of choosing a particular
palette. The colours seem to be there
in my head as I’m drawing the first
sketch. They generally need a bit of
adjustment though to get them right.
I print with oil-based relief printing
inks from Lawrence Art Supplies, but
the various printed layers of these
designs were put together digitally in
Photoshop and colours were adjusted
on the computer.
Getting colour just right is always a
matter of trial and error when making
a linocut print. When using multiple
colours, it may take days to get the
image just as you want it. When
producing an edition of prints, it is
obviously worth doing this, but if I’m
making a one-off illustration for an
client it usually isn’t – especially as
they ultimately only need a digital file
anyway. So, I scan in the variousprinted layers and put the image
together digitally, adjusting colour and
transparency without having to reprint.
I almost always limit myself to a
maximum of four blocks when making
a linocut print. One of these will be the
black outline block. Colours are then
distributed between the other three,
some with more than one colour.
The coloured blocks are printed first,
usually the opaque colours go down
first before the more transparent ones,
then the print is left to dry before the
black-inked block is printed.
The key to a great print is surely an
impossible question; if I knew what
the keys were, everything I did would
be successful! I do know that, in the
case of my own prints, a strong black
outline masks any number of flaws.
Chris’s linocut Christmas cards for
Book Aid International are available to
purchase at http://www.bookaid.org/christmasRIGHT Chris
Wormell, Polar
Bear Reading,
linocut, 23x23cm