What is Lino printing?Lino Printing is a form of block printing. It consists of drawing a pattern onto a piece of lino (a rubber like substance made of natural materials) and then carving out the desired areas that you don't wish to print with. Before finally inking up the plate with ink using a roller and printing with it onto whatever surface you desire. A Brief History of Lino printingLinoleum (more commonly known as Lino) was invented by Frederick Walton somewhere around the mid 1800s. In the late Victorian era it was used as floor coverings however it wasn’t untill the 1900s that Lino was picked up by artists and used to make reductive prints. Some of the more renown Lino printing artists of the 20th century include Walter Anderson, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Historical ArtistsVasily KandinskyVasily Kandinsky was a Russian artist born in 1866, known for his abstract paintings and printings. He is widely considered to be a pioneer of the abstract movement and is also credited with being an associate of the “Die Brücke” group, a group of German artists that helped to make Lino cutting an art form. This association (I infer) may have influenced Kandinsky to take up Lino printing in the first place. Emil OrlikEmil Orlik was a painter and print maker born to a family of master tailors in Prague 1870. He is mainly known for his Japanese woodcut inspired lino prints, a style he picked up around the 1900s after travellng to japan. Contemporary ArtistsAndrea LaurenAndrea Lauren is an english print maker and illustrator who employs lino printing to make variety of patterns for textiles. Her work heavily features her love nature, fairytales and storybooks, something that is apparent from her whimsical designs that wouldn’t look out of place in a children’s book. Analysis of WorkThis small collection of butterfly prints from 2016 is one of Andrea Lauren’s many lino prints. To create this piece Lauren layered two different stamps on top of each other, first to create the colour and then the black line over the top. Though it is quite simple compared to some of the other pieces I was looking at, the simplicity of it is rather refreshing and is something I would like to try out. It is not hard to see why Lauren choose lino printing as the medium for this piece, the minimalist approach definitely lends itself to being used in textile patterns and book illustrations. Something which I know Lauren does a lot of. Derrick CastleDerrick Castle is an illustrator and print maker who specialises in creating bespoke prints used primarily for packaging and clothing design. Much of his work seems to have a biker/ retro kind of theme to it. Also reminiscent of early posters. Analysis of WorkThis is a lino print by Derrick Castle titled Little Briar Rose, measuring about 12.5x19 inches. It was inspired by the Brothers Grimms’ classic story of the Sleeping Beauty but with a modern gothic twist to it. Looking at the image, I can see a collection of flowers, a snake and a skull surrounding what I assume to be the sleeping beauty. I believe Castle included these three objects to symbolise parts of the sleeping beauty’s story. The flowers for the fleeting beauty of youth, the snake for the curse that haunts her and the skull for the inevitability of death. All tangled up in her long overgrown hair as the sleeping beauty sleeps peacefully to her untimely death. Perfectly in-capturing the twisted beauty of the Grimm brothers original fairytale. My Lino PrintsEquipment used: 2 ink rollers (one dry, one to roll the ink) A plastic board to roll the ink on A selection of water based inks in different colours A selection of paper, tissue paper and sugar paper of varying colours In order to create my lino prints I first had to create the linocut. For the linocut I choose to do a flower from one of the postcards my tutor provided. To transfer the image onto the lino I first photo copied and flipped the original image, that way when it was traced onto the lino it would be the same as the original. And speaking of tracing to trace the design onto the lino we used carbon paper (a sheet of paper completely covered in ink so when you draw on top of it, whatever you draw is transferred onto whatever the carbon paper happens to be on). After that I then cut out my design using the standard lino cutting tools before inking up the lino and printing with it. First couple prints are all in black so we could see our designs more clearly. Second lot are a mixture of every lino printing technique we could find. Including printing onto different colours, with a combination of inks. I decided to choose colours I thought would compliment the prints design, in other words a lot of green and pink as it is of course a flower. In contrast however I also experimented with darker colours such as red and black to see how the complete opposite would look. To be honest I think both colour choices have their merits, though I think my favourite would probably be the green, black and red. Just because I like them darker (but still natural) tones. Future UseI may use this technique more in the future in my illustration work as it is a good way to mass produce patterns and clothing graphics, two things I can realistically see my self doing. As firstly I am interested in making either wallpaper or fabric patterns in a similar fashion to either William Morris or Andrea Lauren. And secondly I have already digitally designed patterns for clothing, I just haven't had the chance to physically design and also print the said graphics. Something which I could do with lino printing. Health and SafetyThe lino printing process has a couple of health and safety concerns, they are as follows: Cutting Tools - Sharp edges of blades can lead to bodily harm if your hand slips when digging into the lino. Prevented by always cutting away from the body and always keeping other hand away from cutting angle. Can also use a bench hook for extra support so you’re not tempting to support the lino (in a dangerous fashion) with your other hand. In the event of accidental stab-ature, wrap hand to stay blood flow, hold above head and seek medical attention. Ink - Can make floors slippy if dropped, keep away from edges of work surfaces. Can cause skin irritation if use for prolonged periods of time, recommended to use protective creams if regularly handled. Reference Links
https://greatnorthartshow.co.uk/the-history-and-process-of-linocut-print-from-paupers-to-picasso/
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/vasily-kandinsky https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WS-4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=when+did+wassily+kandinsky+start+lino+printing&source=bl&ots=ChyGsy2n1h&sig=ACfU3U2yCfZK_QYlg2DDAfEert3mA1ZDeA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJzfKF3L3zAhXM8OAKHRIPDVYQ6AF6BAgmEAM#v=onepage&q=when%20did%20wassily%20kandinsky%20start%20lino%20printing&f=false
https://www.jacobsamuelart.com/gallery/emil-orlik/ http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O875724/print-orlik-emil/
https://www.inkprintrepeat.com http://creativesafari.com/andrea-lauren/ https://instagram.com/inkprintrepeat?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.behance.net/gallery/26075707/Little-Briar-Rose-Block-Print
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