Artists Alex and Becky Chipkin supply Tips & Tricks to help inspire you for their April 25 Printmaking Workshop: Workers of the World, Unite!
When learning printmaking, they say, keep in mind:
Simplify your image. You are working with two shades—dark and light. Everything cut away with the gouge will be white, and everything left on the linoleum will be black. If you would like to add more shades in between, consider using the technique of hatching instead of using a more complex multiple plate process.
Flip everything. Remember that everything you carve will be printed in reverse, like a stamp. Consider using tracing paper to sketch on. This way you can transfer your image onto the linoleum using the reverse side of your tracing paper. The result will be a backwards image on the linoleum. This is especially useful with text.
When inking up your brayer, always roll in one direction. Rolling it back and forth will not cover the whole surface of the brayer.
Always cut away from yourself. If you need to cut at a different angle, spin the plate. Never point your tool toward your hands.
Get wood cutting tools instead of linoleum tools. Wood cutting tools are meant to cut into harder surfaces; therefore they are hardier and will last longer.
Terms & Tools
Baren: Disc-shaped hand tool used to apply pressure in place of a printing press.
Block: Flat piece of linoleum or wood used as a matrix for creating a reproducible image.
Brayer: Cylindrical hard roller used to lift and transfer ink from the palette to the block surface.
Gouge: Cutting tool with a trough-shaped blade used to remove material.
Hatching: Shading achieved through the use of repeating parallel lines.
Tracing paper: Lightweight translucent paper that one can sketch directly onto.
Transfer paper: Paper with a graphite coating placed in between an image and a surface. The lines of the sketch are retraced, and the graphite is transferred to the surface underneath.
Also be sure to check them out on Instagram!
