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Amanda Bates

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Posted
Gallery watchers may have spotted a couple of lino cuts / prints from me of late. This is a NEW thing. I bought myself the Fred Aldous block printing kit and had loads of fun, so I bought more lino. And I bought some plywood, too... Here's the plywood. Here's the print I made from it: And you know what? I remembered to reverse it! (Before I started cutting) Woodcut is harder than linocut. I didn't use the same tools - I already had some hand-carving chisels for wood. So... anyone else been block printing of late? Any tips? Tales? Pictures?
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Posted
I used the lino-cut technique at school 50 years ago, and haven't touched it since, but you sharpen my appetite - snag is, as always, money: I need some more paint, which has to come first. But I'll add this to the Want List.

Ian Kay

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Posted
Always like to see some hand printing. Plywood seems an unusual choice. It depends on its quality, I suppose, but a lot of DIY store ply is poor and also the grain runs counter on each subsequent layer. A traditional woodcut uses the end grain. I've not tried it but I've heard MDF board is quite good. I've only used lino and vinyl. Lino feels nicer to work with but needs to be kept warmed to cut controlled lines. Yes, remember to reverse, especially if you include text. I learnt that the long way. Thanks for sharing, Amanda.

John Kay

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Posted
Sorry iandk, a traditional woodcut is on the plank, it's called wood engraving when it's done on the end grain. It's a specialised thing that needs special tools,called scorpers and gravers, I used to own a set. The best end grain wood is box wood as used by Thomas Bewick and my namesake John Kay. Today it costs a fortune. John

Barry Ayton

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Posted
Looks damn fine to me. Looks like it's 280 years old...(not 290 though... *grins*) Q: How would a fine tip router work for wood-cut-printing? Something liek a Dremel tool with a mini router tip. it might give some finer detail in areas...

Edited
by Fluffbutt

Ian Kay

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Posted
I realise Amanda posted this last year, but if you're still around, Amanda, thinking of suggestions, you could've printed more and hand coloured them in different ways. I like to see that. Different papers too, maybe, though it's harder to appreciate the differences on the web.