Monotype is a quick and simple printmaking process. Technically, only one impression is made with a monotype, so the work you create is a unique work on paper, although there is often the ability to create ‘ghost prints’ – slightly faded impressions of the work you have made on the glass once the first print is taken. There is no need for a press although one can be used, such as an etching or vertical pressure relief print press. The results can be surprising, subtle, dramatic and painterly – all depending on how you work with this adaptable and exciting method of image making.

Eve, The Nightmare, c.1899
Paul Gauguin
Monotype, 64.2 x 48.9 cm | 25.2 x 19.2 in.
Collection J. Paul Getty Museum

Optional Extras

What’s The Difference Between A Monotype and a Monoprint?

Approaches to Monotype:

No. 1: Monochrome Linear Monotypes

No. 2: Painterly Monotypes

No. 3: Stencils

Essential Tools for Monotype

L-R: Printmaking Rollers, Colour Shapers

Ink Slab

An ink slab is a smooth, non absorbent surface on to which you can roll out an even layer of ink. This glass ink slab is ideal because you can place guides beneath it when building up a monotype print in layers, to ensure the marks you make line up with what has already been printed. You could also use an old mirror or sheet of perspex, a Gelli Plate or these Grafix Monotype plates.

Roller

L-R: Japanese Soft Rubber Brayer, Essdee Soft Lino Roller, Essdee Standard Lino Roller, Speedball Soft Rubber Roller

You can start monotype printmaking with just one roller, but if you’re making a print with multiple colours, it can save a lot of time to have one for each colour. All of the rollers on this page are suitable for monotype, however I personally favour those with a metal bar over the cylinder as you can rest them on the metal bar when you’re not using it to help maintain the shape of the cylinder over time, and if the roller is loaded with ink, resting it on the metal bar will help stop it getting stuck to any nearby paper or rags. These Handover rollers are longlasting and are a good size for A5-A4 prints, if using multiple colours.

Ink

L-R: Caligo Safewash Relief Ink, Cranfield Traditional Relief Ink, Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink, Schmincke Relief and Intaglio Print Medium

I have known neat oil paint to be used for monotypes but it does not get picked up by paper as easily as printmaking ink. You need that added tack for a satisfying result. Therefore I recommend using a relief or etching ink, and if it takes too long to dry, add a couple of drops of Cobalt Siccative. Caligo Safe Wash Ink is ideal, or you could use a regular oil based or water based printmaking ink. Water based ink dries much more quickly, so is better suited to simple one layer prints. Another option is to add some block printing medium to oil paint, such as Schmincke Relief and Intaglio Printing Medium.

Paper

Fabriano Rosaspina Paper

Regular cartridge paper of around 130-150gsm is smooth and sufficiently flexible to make it easy to manipulate in the hand, and pick up fairly light hand-pressure, so it’s perfect for simple monotypes. If you begin to create multiple layered monotypes, or begin to work with thicker layers of ink, you might find that a heavier printmaking paper will hold more colour, such as Fabriano Rosaspina, Stonehenge or Zerkall. You could also use watercolour paper. Oil painting paper can also be used, but in general, papers that are uncoated or primed tend to hold more ink and will minimise ‘ink squash’.

Palette Knife

L-R: Jackson’s Extra Offset Crank Painting Knife, RGM Extra Large Palette Knife, Jackson’s XXL Painting Knife, Jakar Nylon Plastic Palette Knife

A palette knife is useful for mixing up the ink and putting it on to your ink slab (if you’re working from a tin). It can also be used to scratch into a layer of ink to create texture in an image. A metal palette knife can scratch a glass surface, so if you want to avoid this we advise using a plastic palette knife.

Rags

Rags are useful when clearing up but also they can be used to lift ink away when drawing into ink on an ink slab.

Drawing Tools

Pencil

The sharper and harder a pencil the crisper the line it will achieve, and to combine a sharp and hard pencil with a softer pencil such as a 7 or 8B will allow you to get a range of tones in a single colour monotype.

Brushes

L-R: Silver Brush Grand Prix Hog Bristle Brushes, Jackson’s Black Hog Brushes, Pro Arte Series B Hog Brushes, Bob Ross Brushes

Brushes can be used to paint marks on to an ink slab prior to taking a print – literally any brush can be used for this purpose. If you are using a brush on the back of a piece of paper to add a some imprint of ink to your monotype, it’s better to use a stiff haired brush as you need a greater amount of pressure – a Da Vinci Impasto brush or a hog hair brush is recommended.

Optional Extras

A colour shaper can be used to lift colour from a layer of ink in order to make an image – the stiff ones will lift colour away more easily than the softer tipped varieties. Princeton Catalyst tools can also be used for similar purposes, and offer some interesting mark making options with their unusual shapes.

A variety of marks made by different tools – a Catalyst tool was used for the bottom sweep of uniform lines.

L-R: Flexcut Cutting Tools, Pfeil Cutting Tools, Japanese Wood Carving Tool Set, Essdee Lino Carving Tool Set

You might consider stamping into a layer of ink to create texture, or combining your monotype with relief print. Speedycarve is best used with hand pressure rather than a printing press so is a good option for when you’re printing at home. If you are adding a relief printing element to this process and using Speedycarve, you will need at least one cutting tool – these Essdee cutting tools are a good starting point as you can explore a variety of blade shapes for an economical price.

Stencils allow you to mask off areas of a print or a layer of ink. If you’re looking for a jagged torn edge you can simply use tissue paper, or if you want a more controlled stencil you could use newsprint paper and a scalpel. Anything thicker is hard to make a good print from, so stencil card is not recommended in this instance. An etching press or similar is recommended as hand pressure isn’t usually enough to get good results.

Collagraph textures can be used to introduce a ready-made or found texture element to your print – netting, lace, doilies, leaves and bubble wrap are all great found materials that could be used for this purpose. This is often a great way to reuse waste materials.

What is the Difference Between Monotype and Monoprint?

A monotype is an entirely unique work of art. A monoprint forms part of a series of prints that each have some variation between them. The constant element throughout the series might be an intaglio or relief print that usually provides a foundation that the variable elements hinge upon. This could be a drypoint or copper plate etching, a linocut, or a collagraph, or a stamp. The way this is inked up or printed might vary from print to print, and there may be some monotype elements or hand coloured elements added to each print to make each monoprint in the series slightly different to the next.

Two Considerations To Remember When Making Monotype Prints

1. Once you have placed your paper over the inked up slab, do not slide it. If you need to reposition it, lift it carefully and lightly drop it into the correct place. This ensures that you do not smear and smudge the ink on to your image.

2. Your resulting image will be back to front, so this is particularly worth remembering if you wish to incorporate writing. You may have seen some back to front writing on monotypes by Tracey Emin – this is the reason why!

There are 3 main approaches to monotype printmaking.

No. 1: Monochrome Linear Monotypes – Placing Paper on an Inked up Slab and Drawing on the Reverse

This method is well suited to quick, one line drawings, as the pressure you apply with your drawing implement on the reverse of your paper will pick up the ink on the ink slab on to which you rest your paper. The most important considerations to remember is to not allow your paper to slide across the ink as the image will smudge, and avoid resting your hand on the paper as you might usually do when drawing, as this will add unwanted ink to your image. The sharper the tool you use the crisper the line.

How thin should the ink be?

If the ink is too thick you’ll get a very blotchy image, so the best practice is to make it as thin as possible and build it up if you need. Half a thumb nail’s blob on your roller is ideal for a 16 x 12 inch print, spread out in a rectangle on your ink slab. The ink needs to be thinner than if you were linocut printing, so you want to ensure there are no dimples on the surface of the colour and only the slightest of hissing sounds as you roll over the colour.

When placing your paper, drop it lightly on to the ink. If you need to move it, pinch it from two diagonally opposite corners and then lift and re-drop, rather than sliding it across the ink and picking up an ink smear. Then, use a sharp point to draw your image. A hard pencil is better than a soft one to get a crisp line, or you could use a biro.

It’s worth holding the paper in place using one finger in the corner of the paper – remember any pressure you put on the paper will pick up ink, so do not lean on the paper with your drawing hand.

You can always lift up the paper to see the lines at any point to see if the pressure you are applying with your drawing instrument is picking up enough of the ink. .If it isn’t consider using more pressure or adding more ink to your plate.

This is the resulting monotype of a succulent. It’s picked up enough of the ink to show the crisp lines of my drawing and a bit of the ink around the drawn lines, which is characteristic of the qualities of monotype.

If you would prefer to prepare your drawing prior to making your monotype using this approach, you can draw it out onto a piece of tracing paper, then place this over your printing paper and tape both over the ink around the edges with masking tape. If you flip the tracing paper over after drawing on it, when you go over the lines with a sharp point to make your print, the image will be created in the same orientation as your original drawing. If you don’t flip the tracing paper over, the resulting image will appear back to front from the original.

If your idea includes writing, make sure you write it back to front, in order for it to appear the right way around!

Using a Hard and a Soft Pencil

You can vary tone by using a soft and hard pencil to make a monotype. These images of the front and back of a drawing of a head show how a tonal pencil drawing can result in a monotype with a range of tones and the soft graininess that is characteristic of the process.

The tonal range of this monotype reflects the tonal range in the drawing on the back of the paper. This monotype was created on one layer of rolled out ink.

Using a mix of drawing tools

By using a range of different tools, you can explore mark making and tonal range. A brush will produce a softer mark, and a colour shaper is capable of a broader but just as dark mark as a pencil. It’s a good idea to dip whatever tool you use in paint or ink so you know where you have drawn.

I drew the outline of the Alstroemeria flowers using a hard pencil to begin with. After this I dipped a small flat hog hair brush into some Indian ink and added some shading. It is usual for the ink around painted and drawn lines to be picked up by the paper, so you can expect very soft looking marks. Having looked at the work I decided it needed colour, so I rolled out some violet oil paint mixed in with Schmincke medium and added some shading. I then did the same with some green oil paint to add some foliage. Hopefully what I have done will show how you can gradually build an image up with different colours. What’s great is that if you draw on the back of the paper, you have a record of where your marks are – unlike relief print, there’s no need to worry about accurate registration when you go to apply more marks.

Putting Different Colour Inks on the Slab

You can allow an element of surprise with regard to which parts of the drawing will appear in what colour… or you can be more premeditated by making the drawing first, then placing it beneath the ink slab when you ink up, and then retrieving the drawing from under the slab and going over the lines when the paper is placed over the thin layer of ink.

My portrait was based on a photo found via Google images, which I copied by eye. I ‘felt’ my way around the face while drawing, and the very faint lines I drew on the contours of the face picked up very small amounts of ink, which resulted in some shading effects, especially around the mask of the face. As I moved below the face to the subject’s neck and clothing, the colour changed according to what was rolled out on the ink slab. Varying the pressure of the line resulted in some tonal variations, which was particularly evident as I was working on thinner cartridge paper (130gsm).

No. 2: Painterly Monotypes – Painting the Image on the Slab

One way to start this approach is to apply a thin layer of ink and then use solvent or water (depending on which ink you are using) and a rag to lift areas away. You can also scratch into the ink with a paint brush or pencil. As you will see, the effects of this approach are more painterly than the previous, with plenty of potential for energetic image making.

Once you have your first layer printed, you can then place the print underneath your ink slab to use it as a template for painting on marks for an additional layer to your image, ensuring the position doesn’t change by drawing corners for where the paper is on the ink slab using an Oil Based All Surface Pencil.

I used black as my first colour as it was rolled out already and I wanted to minimise waste, but normally I would advise working with a lighter colour first and adding darker colours, as this can help you avoid getting too dark with your image too soon.

A one colour monotype, made by lifting colour from a rectangle of rolled out ink on the slab, with a rag dipped in solvent.

A monotype made up of two layers of colour. The second layer was made by painting loose strokes of ink with a hog brush on to the ink slab. Monotype brush marks appear more scratchy and energetic then if the marks were made directly on to the paper.

Of course, you can build your image simply by painting on to the ink slab with brushes; you don’t need to roll the ink out first. However it’s always worth making sure your ink is not very thick and impasto as it can make a very smudgy and hard to control mark.

This method tends to use a heavier application of colour, so it would be advisable to use a heavier paper. One with texture such as a rough or cold pressed watercolour paper can alter how marks appear and will help to hold more layers of colour.

No.3: Stencils

Stencils and found textures and patterns can introduce clean, crisp edges to a monotype. Stencils usually require the use of an etching or vertical pressure press, as textured materials may be too thick for the ink to come through to the paper if only applying pressure by hand.

The level of detail can be surprising when trying this process out, and can make some really interesting textures to use in a collage, as well as monoprint.

An interesting decorative layer such as this can form an interesting starting point for a multi-layered monoprint. To give an idea I then tore strips of tissue paper and placed them over the inked up slab. These are very primitive stencils, to block out strips of ink.

By no means a finished image, this has qualities that I feel could be brought into a landscape image – perhaps some trees at night? Hopefully by trying out some of these ideas the process will lead you into some interesting image making! Other interesting ready made stencils include leaves, lace, and doilies. In time regular monotype printmakers tend to develop an eye for potential stencils encountered in everyday life!

Monotype printmaking has the potential to make dynamic and complex prints, or atmospheric sketches with charming simplicity. The process is a natural introductory step for a painter to take into the world of printmaking as it bridges the gap between the painterly and the graphic. Because there is little specialist equipment required, it’s easy to give it a try, and the results can be satisfying and may tempt you to try more. Often a simple line monotype can carry intriguing qualities that a line drawing in pencil or pen may not possess, and then if you start adding layers, and textures, there’s the potential to create a truly unique work of art, or develop ideas that you may want to take back into an oil, acrylic or watercolour painting.

Printmaking at Jackson’s

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Transferring a prepared image to lino is a great way of ensuring you minimise the risk of making a mistake in the cutting stage of a linocut print. When making a multi-block print – one image with multiple colours, with a separate block being cut for each colour – the accuracy of where you place the image on the block is essential in achieving good registration between the colours.

There are a number of ways to transfer an image to lino, including using tracing paper and carbon paper, using heat, and using PVA glue. In this article I compare these three methods in order to determine which is the best.

Method 1: Toner print-out and baking paper

This method requires a photocopy or print out of your design using a toner based or laserjet printer (inkjet won’t work). It involves placing the image face down on your lino, fixing it in place with masking tape, then placing baking paper on top before giving the image a gentle iron.

Placing the drawing face down on the lino

Placing baking paper over the drawing and lino

Applying gentle heat with a low iron over the baking paper and image

This method required more heat and patience than I expected, but the results were reasonably successful. The image was largely visible, although some of the lines transferred more effectively than others. However the majority of the lines did transfer so all in all it was a quick way to transfer a drawing. If some of your lines do not transfer you may need to fill them in with a pigment pen afterwards.

Things to be aware of:

Do not let your lino get too hot. You may want to place a tea towel as well as baking paper over the print out to avoid this happening. If lino gets too hot the surface of it can start to form bubbles and the lino can dry out making it prone to cracking during the cutting stage.
There’s no need to invert the image before you transfer it – as it will transfer back to front, meaning that it will then print the right way around once you have carved it.

Pros:

From the three methods presented here, it is the fastest.

It is fairly accurate, so long as your design doesn’t slip and move position.

Cons:

It doesn’t always work consistently across a whole design, which can lead to inaccuracies.

It is easy to overheat lino.

Method 2: Tracing Paper and Carbon Paper

This method involves making a tracing of your design, and using carbon paper to transfer the image by hand to the lino.

First of all you trace your design onto tracing paper.

The traced design

Then, place carbon paper face down on the lino

Then, place the tracing face down over the carbon paper, and using a hard and sharp pencil, go over the lines again. The pressure will deposit carbon onto the lino.

It is always worth lifting a corner soon after starting to transfer your image to ensure the carbon paper is working!

The transferred image

Pros:

It’s easy to get the whole image successfully transferred to the lino.

You feel in control of the process.

Cons:

This method relies on the accuracy of your hand and eye when tracing the image and going over the lines, and there is room for inaccuracy or errors.

It is the most time consuming method, as you have to go over the image line by line.

Carbon can smudge a little once transferred to lino so you need to try and minimise handling of the surface of the lino once the image has been transferred.

This is probably the best way to transfer images if making a multi block print, as you can choose which lines to transfer on your tracing. You can use the same tracing for each of your blocks, which will help to achieve accurate registration.

Method 3: PVA Glue transfer

There are a few variations of this method mentioned online – some say inkjet prints work, others say only use laserjet print outs. I tried both and for me, neither worked! However that’s not to say the method won’t work for you, as the process does work with certain printer inks.

In any case, the process involves brushing on a layer of acrylic medium or PVA glue to your lino, and another layer on the image-side of your print out. Then placing the image on to your lino and smoothing it out to remove air bubbles. I found a roller and a palette knife very useful for this.

Because of the natural curve that most lino has (caused by the huge rolls they are stored in prior to being cut into smaller sizes), you may find that if you flatten and smooth the paper down while the lino is on a flat surface, you inevitably flatten the lino as well, and wrinkles may form in your paper. To avoid this happening its a good idea to follow the curve of the lino where you can as you glue the paper in place.

After 15-20 minutes, when the acrylic medium or glue has started to harden, you can start to rub the paper away, using a damp finger or a barely wet cloth.

Admittedly I used too much water when removing the paper, and consequently ended up removing the image as well. However where some of the image did appear to stick on the surface of the lino, it was very easily wiped away with very little rubbing.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has consistent success with this method to hear what tips you may have learned over time to guarantee results. I found it to be a temperamental method, and even if the image had successfully transferred, it would be done so within a layer of glue on the surface of the linoleum, which would be susceptible to cracking or flaking off as you get to the cutting stage.

Summary

While carbon and tracing paper image transfer can be time consuming, it is fairly failsafe, and you feel in full control. Using acrylic medium or ironing can have inconsistent and slightly unreliable results, but when they work, they can save a lot of time – also, the lines are transferred exactly as they appear on your print out – you do not have to reply on the accuracy of your hand and eye when tracing the design to tracing paper. These two methods are more reliable than the PVA glue method.

Relief and Lino Printing at Jacksonsart.com

Further Reading on Printmaking on the Jackson’s Art Blog

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Artists are continuing to work in spite of not being able to go to their studios because of the pandemic lockdown. They have adapted their practices and set up temporary home studios. With the challenges of less space, domestic furniture, other family members, lack of equipment and trying not to get paint on the curtains, artists are adapting their working methods and the work they are making during this uncertain period. To get an idea of how everyone is managing I asked two artists a few questions about how they chose what materials and equipment to take from their studios, how they have set it all up at home and if their work has changed. I also answered the same questions myself.

Making Art During Lockdown

Sally Hirst

Sally Hirst is a professional artist who teaches painting and printmaking workshops in the UK and Spain. She wrote an article for us earlier this year: Sally Hirst Compares Cold Wax Mediums. Sally has set up a temporary studio in her small flat to continue her painting and printmaking practice. Sally is also learning how to do live streaming so she can make some workshops to share online.

What percentage of your studio did you bring to your home?

2%. My studio is 36sq meters and now I’m reduced to just 3sq meters.

Sally Hirst’s studio

How did you decide what you would be doing, so you could decide what to take?

I thought about what I could feasibly bring, what media and scale I could work on in such a small space. I had a few small paintings I wanted to finish so they came and the materials I needed to do that, but I also saw it as an opportunity to do things I haven’t done for a while, small scale mark-making, simple bookbinding. I also decided I wanted to deliver some online workshops so I need to think about – What could I make for videos, What will people want to learn. At least my situation puts me in the same position as many of my students, so if they can do it so can I.

The first of the two trolley-loads Sally took from her studio.

Was it difficult to fit it in your home?

I live in a small two-bedroom flat with no garden. In our spare bedroom which is 2.5m x 4m we have two single beds. As we are not expecting visitors in the foreseeable future I stacked one bed on top of another. In this bed-size space I have put a long pasting table (60 x 180) and a chair. I can store things underneath the table and I’ve put a cover over and cardboard on the stacked bed so I can use it as an additional surface.

Sally’s temporary studio

What tips do you have for setting up a temporary/emergency home studio?

Imagine you are going on a retreat, what would you take, what could you get in a suitcase or a small car? Take it as an opportunity to play, to explore, to work small, and to stop thinking ‘finished paintings’. On a practical level consider those around you. This is also my husband’s home. I will try to keep my wet work and dirty cloths away from communal areas, keep paint off the carpets, and brushes out of the bathroom sink!

What do you wish you had brought from the studio, but didn’t think of?

Ah, it’s still too early to have found that out! There’s a large tin of chocolate biscuits that would have come in handy!

How have you managed without the thing you forgot, did you order it delivered or try a new way of doing things?

I realise that working on paper would take up less space than my usual panels, so I ordered some from Jacksons. I’m also planning some online workshops, in my studio there’s everything to hand, so I have thought carefully about what people can get easily get hold of and purchased a few ‘sets’ of things to develop projects around.

Has working at home changed what you make?

I’m hoping it will encourage me to explore ideas around scale, make more work on paper, be less precious, live for the moment. My galleries have closed, no-one is buying so this is a self-imposed residency!

Where are you putting wet artworks to dry?

I already had some shallow picture shelves up on the wall (Ikea) so I have cleared them. But I will be spilling out into the hallway and pinning work up in the shower with masking tape.

The picture ledges she will use for wet work are above her table.

Anything else you’d like to add?

The situation we find ourselves in means we have to adapt and change. I’m used to having space, used to teaching live, that is all upside down now and I have to adapt. I’m currently learning how to live stream sessions on Facebook. We will come through this with new work, new skills and new approaches to our work and our lives.

Sally will be posting the live sessions on her Facebook page Sally Hirst Artist and Tutor.

http://www.sallyhirst.co.uk

Nick Morley

Nick Morley is an artist printmaker and tutor who runs Hello Print Studio in Margate. He is also the author of Linocut for Artists and Designers. Responding to the stay-at-home directive, Nick has temporarily moved his studio to his home. Nick is also putting videos on YouTube to share some workshops online.

What percentage of your studio did you bring to your home?

About 2%. I have left behind all my big presses, books, big ink rollers, etc.

How did you decide what you would be doing, so you could decide what to take?

I figured I’d make some new work and reprint some old blocks. I did two trips on my bike so I was limited to what would fit in my panniers. I took as much lino and paper as I could carry and my tools of course, plus a little X-cut press which I use when I do workshops off-site.

Was it difficult to fit it in your home?

I am very fortunate that we have a loft with a skylight so it’s actually quite spacious. I have had to move some boxes around to make room though. With a four year old in the house, it’s good to have a separate space I can use.

What tips do you have for setting up a temporary/emergency home studio?

I guess you have to adapt what you are making. I’m lucky because to make linocuts you don’t need very much space or equipment.

What do you wish you had brought from the studio, but didn’t think of?

Hopefully, I have everything I need! Let’s see how long the stack of paper lasts…

Has working at home changed what you make?

I can’t make any big prints. And I can’t run workshops, so I’ve started making YouTube tutorials. I’ve only managed two so far as I’m mainly working in the evenings and learning how to edit films on my phone took a couple of days. I’ve done one about drawing a design on the block and one about carving lino. I’m planning to post lots more in the coming weeks.

Here is the link to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Linocutboy

Where are you putting wet artworks to dry?

I’m going to string up some pegs in the rafters.

Read our interview with Nick Morley from a few years ago.

www.linocutboy.com
www.helloprintstudio.com

Julie Caves

Two weeks ago I began self-isolating and to continue my painting practice I set up a temporary studio in my lounge. I have been painting every day that I haven’t been working remotely on the Jackson’s Blog.

What percentage of your studio did you bring to your home?

I’ll go with 2%, also. My studio isn’t huge but I have over 20 years of paintings (finished, abandoned, in progress) stored in there so it is pretty crowded. I brought 3 Ikea bags of paints, brushes, mediums and gesso. A box of small painting surfaces – mountboard offcuts I had primed, unfinished small paintings, oil painting paper and little canvases. A box of A3 gatorboards to use as shelves to lay flat in spare places with paintings on them to dry. And my Half Box French Easel.

How did you decide what you would be doing, so you could decide what to take?

Like Sally, I thought about what was going to be possible in the space I was going to have. My lounge is really small, so I thought I would make small paintings. Because they would be small I didn’t need any large brushes except one for priming. The bare minimum of colours and mediums, solvent, brush soap, palette knives, palette, apron, and gloves.

Was it difficult to fit it in your home?

Thinking about making a mess is something I don’t do at the studio but I am conscious of it here. I planned on draping something over the chair but got oil paint on it before I even started. I then slid the seat cushion into a bin bag and that has worked really well. I had planned on folding the french box easel each night but I only need to slide it over the box I’m using as a side table for my palette – the legs slip in the gap and it all fits well.

The legs of the half box french easel slide into the gap next to the chair so it puts away neatly. The seat cushion is inside the bin bag. Materials are under the kitchen table.

What tips do you have for setting up a temporary/emergency home studio?

If you are an oil painter think about ventilation. I had planned for this, so have a fan going in the open window. Plan to adapt, try something new. See how much you can do with how little. Plan to focus on one thing for a while and really get to know it – a colour of paint, a subject, an idea like contrast or using a variety of greys.

What do you wish you had brought from the studio, but didn’t think of?

Some paintings for #artistssupportpledge on Instagram, I moved my studio to my flat right when the initiative was started. So I’ve been putting some of the new work on.

How have you managed without the thing you forgot, did you order it delivered or try a new way of doing things?

I had an order delivered of oil ground and oil medium. And somehow I had managed to not bring a Cadmium Red, so I got that. If I run out of materials, I have a few inks, watercolours and sketchbooks that I already had at home for sketching in the evening, and I can switch to using those.

Has working at home changed what you make?

I already work quite small sometimes. But I am exclusively working small now and on thin boards. I’m sad to say I have better natural light here at home so my paintings seem sunnier but that could also be that it is Spring!

Where are you putting wet artworks to dry?

I have laid A3 gatorboards across every flat surface in the living room and have small paintings all around the place drying.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Being limited means you can explore an area more thoroughly because it is smaller. So I think I may benefit from the concentration and focus, not being distracted by too many options. There are also lots of positives around personal comfort and convenience: it’s warm, there is no commute, there is fresh air and I don’t have to pack a lunch. Being in lockdown also means I am here for deliveries!

juliecaves.com

My small set up in the lounge facing the kitchen.

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Method 1: Toner print-out and baking paper

Placing the drawing face down on the lino

Placing baking paper over the drawing and lino

Applying gentle heat with a low iron over the baking paper and image

Things to be aware of:

Do not let your lino get too hot. You may want to place a tea towel as well as baking paper over the print out to avoid this happening. If lino gets too hot the surface of it can start to form bubbles and the lino can dry out making it prone to cracking during the cutting stage.
There’s no need to invert the image before you transfer it – as it will transfer back to front, meaning that it will then print the right way around once you have carved it.

Pros:

From the three methods presented here, it is the fastest.

It is fairly accurate, so long as your design doesn’t slip and move position.

Cons:

It doesn’t always work consistently across a whole design, which can lead to inaccuracies.

It is easy to overheat lino.

Method 2: Tracing Paper and Carbon Paper

This method involves making a tracing of your design, and using carbon paper to transfer the image by hand to the lino.

First of all you trace your design onto tracing paper.

The traced design

Then, place carbon paper face down on the lino

Then, place the tracing face down over the carbon paper, and using a hard and sharp pencil, go over the lines again. The pressure will deposit carbon onto the lino.

It is always worth lifting a corner soon after starting to transfer your image to ensure the carbon paper is working!

The transferred image

Pros:

It’s easy to get the whole image successfully transferred to the lino.

You feel in control of the process.

Cons:

This method relies on the accuracy of your hand and eye when tracing the image and going over the lines, and there is room for inaccuracy or errors.

It is the most time consuming method, as you have to go over the image line by line.

Carbon can smudge a little once transferred to lino so you need to try and minimise handling of the surface of the lino once the image has been transferred.

Method 3: PVA Glue transfer

After 15-20 minutes, when the acrylic medium or glue has started to harden, you can start to rub the paper away, using a damp finger or a barely wet cloth.

Summary

Relief and Lino Printing at Jacksonsart.com

Further Reading on Printmaking on the Jackson’s Art Blog

The post The Best Way to Transfer Images to Lino appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

The term ‘non-toxic printmaking’ has become synonymous with the search for safer printmaking practices and techniques that have a less harmful environmental impact. While it is difficult to use totally non-toxic materials, an awareness of health aspects while printmaking will allow you to make informed decisions on the materials that you use. There has been an enormous development in safer printmaking materials, and many printmaking studios around the world have adapted or developed to work with safer procedures. Below we list some of the stages of intaglio printmaking that require particular care, and suggest ways to make them safer.

Protection

At the very heart of etching is the use of corrosive materials to bite into a metal plate, and so in all cases, it is vital to protect your skin and your eyes. Nitrile gauntlets will protect you from solvents and mordants, while lighter weight nitrile gloves or barrier cream can prove invaluable when inking your plate. Goggles are also necessary for protecting your eyes from any inadvertent splashes of either acid, salts or solvents. For those who feel a little apprehensive about the chemicals required for etching, Jackson’s transparent plates are ideal for drypoint etching, which involves scratching into a plate with a sharp etching tool. This comparatively safer method of printmaking is often an introduction to the world of intaglio, and a precursor to an exploration into etching. These plates can also be used for monotype and are recyclable.

Metal Salt Etching

Ntiric acid or potassium chlorate (sometimes referred to as Dutch Mordant) is traditionally used to bite into the lines drawn onto the metal etching plate. However metal salt etching offers an alternative, safer method of biting into brass and copper plates. Ferric Chloride is used in the solution instead. Also known as Perchlorate of iron, this solution emits far less hazardous fumes than many acids, and can be used in a professional printmaking environment, as well as in an artist’s personal studio. It is sold as a solution which may require further dilution with water in very specific quantities, depending on the metal. It can be used with citric acid to make ‘Edinburgh Etch’ (© F.K. 1997), known to be the safest and best perfoming etchant for copper plate, brass and steel.

For salt etching zinc, aluminium or mild steel, a solution comprising copper sulphate and sodium chloride mixture in equal parts can be used. This is known as the Saline Sulphate etch. It is particularly effective on zinc, and does not require aeration or heating.

Safer Solvents

While traditional turpentine and white spirit are often used in printmaking studios to clean plates and ink slabs at the end of an oil based printmaking session, they emit heady fumes and can easily cause dermatological and respiratory issues. Fortunately these days, there are many safer alternatives available which help to keep the inhalation of fumes and contact with harsh solvents to a minimum. Solvents such as Gamsol and Pure-Sol (pictured above) as well as Zest-It Printmaker’s Cleaner and Sennelier Green for Oil offer alternatives that are low or even no-odour, emitting fewer fumes and are kinder to sensitive skin. These are essential for home studios and communal printmaking spaces in particular.

Degreasing

A top tip for degreasing without using toxic materials is offered by Andrew Baldwin of Trefeglwys Print Studios, Powys (developer of B.I.G etching grounds) who suggests that you can degrease a plate prior to applying your resist with vinegar and a little whiting. Make sure all the whiting is removed from both sides of the plate while you are drying it – which should be done by blotting away all excess water with clean newsprint. Another alternative to vinegar which can also be used for degreasing is soy sauce.

Acrylic Resists

Prior to immersing a plate in acid, its back and edges need to be protected with a resist. In the past, a variety of materials have been applied by printmakers for this purpose, such as an asphaltum solution, metal enamels and wax. Many traditional etching grounds contained arsenic, lead, mercury and many other toxic elements which you could easily breathe in while using, as well as absorb into your skin when handling. Lascaux now offer an acrylic based plate backing resist which once dry is highly effective in resisting the effects of both acid and salt. After use it can easily be removed from the back of the plate using Lacaux’s specially formulated remover. Also in the range are a vast number of resists that mimic the qualities of specific types of etching, such as aquatint, soft ground etching and hard ground etching. If you wish to avoid working with acrylics, B.I.G Etching Ground is another non toxic ink based ground with a longer open time. It is made from a forumlation of resin, oil and pigments. With B.I.G it’s possible to experiment with many different effects on their etching plate. Techniques ranging from soft and hard ground, photo etching, marbling, relief etching, sandpaper aquatints and coffee lift can all be explored, and once applied the ground can be heat set in an oven. Once you have finished working, B.I.G can be washed away with non toxic cleaners.

For Cleaning Acrylic Resist Etching

Zest-it Printmakers Washdown is a non-toxic, non-flammable solvent for use with acrylics. It can be used with acrylic based inks and will remove most types of acrylic stop out fluid and grounds. To remove hardened acrylic resists, the plate will need to soak in the Washdown prior to wiping away with a rag. It can also be used for acrylic ink and paint. Because of the strength of this product, barrier cream or nitrile gloves are recommended.

Alternatively, a cleaning solution for acrylic resists can be made with Soda Crystals and water. A weaker solution can also be used to neutralise spent Ferric Chloride and Copper Sulphate etching baths.

Water Washable Oil Based Ink

Water washable oil based ink allow you to benefit from the longer open time and density of oil based ink, without needing to rely on solvents for the clean up operation. For etching there are a number of different inks available, including Charbonnel Aqua Wash etching ink and Caligo Safe Wash etching ink. Akua Intaglio Ink is soy based an will also clean up with just soap and water.

Visit the Intaglio and Etching Department at Jacksonsart.com

The post Safer Intaglio Printmaking appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Woodcut printmaking is a wonderfully versatile medium with a rich history and you need relatively few tools and materials to get started. In this article we describe how to get started making woodcut prints, explaining the various materials and tools you need to create your first print at home.

What does woodcut printmaking involve?

What’s the difference between Japanese and European woodcut printmaking?

Essential tools for woodcut printmaking

Colour in Woodcut Printmaking:

Inking up a single block with multiple colours

Printing with multiple blocks

Printing with one block (reduction method)

What does woodcut printmaking involve?

Woodcut printmaking involves carving an image from the surface of a block of wood, rolling ink onto it and taking an impression or print. It is the oldest form of ‘relief printmaking’ – printing from the surface of a block. There are two distinguishable approaches to woodcut printmaking, one that is thought of as being in the western tradition, and the other as being in the eastern tradition. Eastern woodcut printmaking techniques date back to 9th Century China, while Western Woodcut printing was developed with the invention of the printing press in 14th Century Germany.

What’s the difference between Japanese and European Woodcut Printmaking?

The key difference between Japanese and European woodcut printmaking is the printing method. In western printmaking, oil or water based relief ink is rolled onto the block, and printed onto heavyweight cotton paper, traditionally with a press. In Mokuhanga or Japanese woodblock printing, water based paint, ink or pigments are brushed onto the woodblock with sosaku or inking brushes, then printed with hand pressure, using a disc made of string and bamboo leaf called a ‘baren’, onto very thin and strong paper. A press is never used, and colour is built up by printing by layer upon layer. See our article on Japanese woodcut printmaking for more information on the technique. Some of the most famous woodcut artists include Katsushika Hokusai and Katsushika Hokusai in the east and Albrecht Durer and Kathe Kollwitz in the west.

Mokuhanga Woodcut Printmaking Process

The Great Wave, ca. 1830-1832 | Katsushika Hokusai | Woodblock print | 25.7 x 37.9 cm | H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

Saint Christopher, 1511 | Albrecht Durer | 21 x 21 cm | Gift of Junius Spencer Morgan, 1919

Essential Tools for Woodcut Printmaking

Soft Pencil and Tracing paper or Carbon Paper

Drawing your design on to the wood block as a guide before cutting can make the process of cutting the wood easier. Remember your image will print back to front, so for text or other designs where the orientation is important, the image can be traced onto tracing paper from a sketch then flipped and copied onto the block using tracing paper with carbon paper or a soft pencil rubbing. By rubbing the soft pencil over the lines you wish to transfer, then flipping the tracing paper, the pencil line can be transferred. You can find this technique explained further here.

The Woodblock

Jackson’s Baltic Birch 9 mm Plywood Wood Block
Japanese Magnolia 10 mm Side Grain Wood Block

There are a variety of woods to choose from, and blocks are specially prepared for woodcut printmaking to ensure even and consistent printing. The wood used in Jackson’s Baltic Birch plywood is dense and fine grained, which allows it to be cut into cleanly and evenly providing you’re using sharp tools. It is 9 mm thick so will not split or weaken as it is carved providing you cut into it at a standard depth of around 2-3 mm, and is available in five sizes, ranging from 106 x 145 mm to 605 x 915 mm.

The Jackson’s Japanese Magnolia block is 10 mm thick and can be carved on both sides, which is great when you are still experimenting. Magnolia is softer and smoother than plywood, which makes it better for printing large areas of colour. It’s available in two sizes.

The Japanese Katsura block is 13 mm thick, and can be carved on both sides. It is excellent quality and is great for finer detailed carving. Although designed for Mokuhanga they can also be used with water and oil based ink.

Carving Tools

Flexcut Micro Palm Carving Tool Set, Set Of 4
Pfeil Linoleum And Block Cutters
Japanese Woodcarving Tool, Set Of 5 With Sharpening Stone
Essdee Lino Carving Tool Set, Handle With 5 Blades

Good, sharp tools will minimise the risk of them slipping across the surface. A simple, inexpensive set of woodcutting tools is a good way to start. The basic Jacksons woodcut set contains five knives in different sizes, with sturdy wooden handles which are easy to grip. The different blade types create different marks in the wood – from the V shaped tool for detailed lines to the large U shaped tool for clear areas around your design. There are also sets of 8, 10 and 12 that will provide more choice of tool sizes. Those sizes are described using the blade type and width in mm – e.g. V-Straight Parting Chisel 6 mm.Investing in more expensive carving tools can be cost effective in the long run, as good quality tools can last a lifetime if properly cared for. Pfeil make a range of tools suitable for both linocut and woodcut in various sizes, individually and in sets. Their mushroom shaped handles are designed to fit into the palm of your hand. The tools each have a number – e.g. 1/8 which refers to the curvature and the width of the blade in mm. Flexcut are another excellent quality option and are available in a range of sets, from micro for fine detail to wide for clearing areas and larger work.

Sharpening Tools

Flexcut: Stripstrop: Carving Tool Sharpening Kit

India Sharpening Stone Double Sided Bench Stone, 25x51x204 mm
Round India Sharpening Stone Double Sided Oilstone, 25 mm Depth, 100 mm Diameter
Sharpening Stone Japanese Deluxe Multiform Waterstone 1000 Grit
Flexcut Slipstrop Carving Tool Sharpening Kit

It is essential that woodcut tools are kept sharp, otherwise they will slip and slide over the surface of the wood. Colin Blanchard wrote an article on sharpening tools, which is a comprehensive guide. For retaining sharpness, the Flexcut slipstrop is excellent for maintaining your tools.

Roller or Brayer

Essdee Black Handle Professional Ink Rollers 60 Shore
Cold Wax Academy Soft Rollers / Brayers
Speedball Soft Rubber Rollers / Brayers
Japanese Hard Rubber Roller / Brayer

In woodcut printmaking, a roller or brayer is used to roll a thin layer of ink over the surface of the wood. They are made from durathene or tough rubber and have a sturdy handle. The shore value on some rollers refers to their softness – hard is over 50 shore and soft under 50 shore. For woodcut, a softer roller is recommended to obtain better coverage on uneven blocks. The Esdee soft lino rollers and Japanese soft rubber rollers come in a variety of widths. The recommendation is to choose a roller that will cover the whole width of the wood block, but when starting out a middle sized roller (7-10cm) is a good idea. If looked after well, it will last for years, so it is important to clean your roller thoroughly after use.

Ink

L-R: Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink Ultramarine, Cranfield Tradional Relief Ink Burnt Sienna, Schmincke Lino Print Ink Ivory Black, Schmincke Lino Print Ink Chromium Oxide Green, Schmincke Lino Print Ink Indian Yellow

Cranfield Traditional Relief Ink 500 g Cool Yellow
Cranfield Traditional Relief Ink 75 ml : Light Green
Cranfield Safe Wash Etching Inks
Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink 20 ml Set Of 5

Inks for woodcut printmaking are known as relief printing inks, and they are designed to roll out evenly and print without the ink sticking to the block which would result in an uneven print. There are three main categories based on the binder that is used with the pigment.

Water-based Ink

Water based inks use natural binders such as gum Arabic, and are water soluble. They are very easy to clean up, and tend to dry quickly, so are a good choice for younger printers or those printing at home. Schminke aqua linoprint is artist quality ink which comes in three sizes and a wide variety of colours.

Water Soluble Oil-based Ink

These oil based inks are just as colour rich and buttery as any other, but will clean up with soap and water, without any need for solvents such as white spirit or turpentine. This makes them easier to use if you print at home or wish to avoid harsh solvents. Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Inks are one such range of water washable oil based inks that are good for printing at home or at the studio.

Oil-based Ink

Oil based inks have an enduring popularity within the printmaking community, and their rich, smooth colour still make them the choice of many printmakers. You can clean up without harsh solvents, by using vegetable oil and newspaper or a rag, then a plant-based solvent like Zest-it or gamsol. Follow this with a glass washer or multi-purpose spray if the surface is still greasy. Cranfield Traditional Relief Inks come in a range of sizes and 62 colours.

Zest-it Printmakers Cleaner 125 ml and Gamblin Gamsol Odourless Mineral Spirit 125 ml

Inking Slab

Jackson’s Inking Slab

To ensure an even distribution of ink on your roller, the ink is first rolled into a thin layer on a smooth, non-absorbent and even surface before inking the woodblock. This can be an inking slab, glass chopping board or acrylic sheet.

Printing Press or a Baren

Japanese Baren

To print a woodblock, pressure is required to transfer the image from the wood to the paper. This can be done by hand with a baren – a flat round disc with a handle. It is used to rub the back of the paper which is placed face down on the inked up woodblock, to print the image. A Japanese baren is a coil of string backed onto a round piece of card or board, and then wrapped in a bamboo leaf, the ends of which are twisted and tied together on the reverse to make a handle. The very finest barens cost hundreds of pounds, but the cheapest cost as little as £5-10. The back of a spoon can be used, but a baren is flatter so will cover a larger area. A spoon only has a small point of contact because it is curved, but it can be useful if you want to apply more pressure on a specific area within your print. The Speedball baren is a sturdy alternative, made from plastic and padded with foam. Japanese hard plastic barens have little raised bumps on the surface which are another alternative.

Fome Manual Lino/Wood Press and Pooki Press

It is possible to produce prints more consistently and quickly with a printing press, especially if it is a large edition. The Pooki Press is a great little relief printing press which is sturdy but very portable. It will print up to A3 and is also suitable for lino and vinyl. The Fome Manual Lino/Wood Press is another great starter press that is easy to move around. Some etching presses can also be used in woodcut printmaking, so long as the cylinder can be raised to accommodate the thickness of the block you are printing. If unsure, you can check with the manufacturer.

Paper

Paper can make a noticeable difference to how a print turns out. For relief printing, the paper must be tough enough to withstand the printing process and smooth enough to ensure the ink is picked up evenly. For test prints and experiments, newsprint or a basic cartridge or printer paper is sufficient – anything that doesn’t have too much tooth.

European and American papers for relief printing are smooth and heavyweight and tend to be made from cotton or wood cellulose, whereas Japanese papers are thin and light but incredibly strong. They are often made from other plant fibers. Read our article on printmaking papers for further more information.

Colour In Woodcut Printmaking

There are three main ways to introduce colours to your prints:

Inking up a single block with multiple colours:

This can be achieved by applying different colours onto different areas of the block using a roller for each colour. The downside of this method is that fine detail is difficult to achieve with a roller. It is easier to do with Mokuhanga, where brushes are used to apply ink.

Printing with multiple blocks:

Using this method, a separate block is required for each colour. For example, if the design requires 4 colours, four blocks will be carved with the shapes for that colour. The blocks will be printed on top of each other to form the complete image. The white (or other colour) of the paper will form an extra colour. Care must be taken when printing to place each woodblock in exactly the right place on the paper. This is known as ‘registration’ and ensures the whole image fits together at the end of the printing process. Ternes Burton registration pins are a favourite of many printmakers as a reliable system. See our article on creating multi-block prints for further information.

Printing with one block (reduction method):

This method uses one block which is carved then printed in the first colour, carved again then printed in the second colour, carved and printed in the third colour and so on until the edition is printed. Care must be taken over registration of the block for each colour. This method is also known s the ‘suicide print’ as a mistake in cutting can spoil a whole edition of prints, while a mistake in printing the final layers can reduce the number of prints you can produce!

There is something deeply satisfying about the process of woodcut printmaking – working with an organic sustainable material, the carving process, the rolling of ink, the surprise when your image is turned into a print – all make it a unique experience. With just a few simple tools you can experiment, play and print your own editions.

Printmaking at Jackson’s

Slama Press Options

The press comes in two sizes, and you can also buy extra disks to provide additional weight (recommended for techniques where higher pressure is required such as intaglio printing or on very thick paper) The small press, for prints up to A4 size, is 75mm Diameter : 50 x 6mm Balls. The large press, for larger size prints, comes in two size options Model 60 which is 118mm Diameter with 60 x 10mm Balls or Model 150 which is also 118mm Diameter : but has 150 x 6mm Balls. The Model 60 is recommended on lighter weight paper (up to 250 gm) and the 150 is for heavier weight paper. For a detailed discussion on printmaking papers, see our article Everything You Need to Know About Printmaking Paper.

Testing the Sláma Printmaking Press

For this article, I tested the large press (Model 60) on A5, A4 and A3 prints. It is worth pointing out that Sláma recommends using the smaller press on prints up to A4, but I didn’t find it difficult to print a small relief print with the large size press. I found printing with the Sláma Press really intuitive and easy. I unpacked the box and it was ready to go. It is incredibly sturdy, with a robust wooden handle and shiny metal body, and is easily carried around or stored in its box. It is much more portable than a standard press, and there is also no need for blankets. All you need is your printing plate, paper and the Sláma Press. Relief Printing With The Fome Etching Press is a useful comparison if you are considering whether to buy a traditional printmaking press or the Sláma.

Relief Printing With The Sláma Press

I tried out the press using a small A5 woodcut block using thin Japanese Awagama washi and a larger (A4) linocut block on Somerset Satin printmaking paper. My inks were Cranfield Safe Wash Relief Inks, mixed with a little extender to loosen them up.

Printing A Woodcut Block On Japanese Style Paper

I would normally use a cheap Japanese style baren for the small woodcut block, with thin Japanese style paper (see our article Hilary Daltry Re: Woodcut Prints Without A Press for details) As the print block has a smaller surface area and the paper is thin, there is not as much pressure required. Hand printing also makes it possible to vary the pressure in different areas of the print and to lift the paper slightly to check the print as you go. I found the Sláma Press printed the woodblock extremely well onto Japanese paper (I used Awagami Kitakata) with minimum effort. Rather than rubbing the back of a print vigorously with a standard baren, the ball bearings slide across the paper, giving a much smoother experience.

Printing A Linocut Block With The Sláma Press

A slightly larger linocut block would normally be printed on my desktop press. I find a press gives better coverage for lino prints than a baren – especially if they are larger than A5 and on Western style heavyweight printmaking paper. Using a handheld baren or spoon can be hard work and can result in an uneven print, especially on large prints or heavier weight paper. For more information on linocut printing, see our article Linocut Printmaking For Beginners – What You Need To Get Started.

The Sláma printed the lino block onto heavyweight printmaking paper (I used Somerset Satin) very evenly, with minimal pressure. I found I had to be quite methodical about moving the press over the back of the paper, working over the whole surface in a circular motion. I was able to lift the paper slightly every so often, to check coverage. The ball bearings were quite noisy, but I actually quite liked that, as it felt like it was working! The linocut block printed very well, with a very even coverage of ink, despite the heavier weight of the paper, and I did really enjoy using it.

I think the press would be a great alternative to a relief press for anyone who doesn’t always work in one place, or is short of space. The ergonomic handle was comfortable to hold and the disc slid across the back of the paper without requiring much pressure.

Intaglio Printing With The Sláma Printmaking Press

The Sláma Press can also be used for intaglio printing, which requires more pressure than relief printing. I tested the press on a drypoint etching plate, printing from an metal plate (roughly A3) onto damp Somerset Satin paper, using AKUA intaglio inks. I normally use my huge converted mangle etching press to print drypoints, as a baren or relief press will not exert enough pressure. The damp paper has to be forced into the etched lines to pick up the ink, and an even consistency can be hard to achieve with a handheld press.

The drypoint print required slightly more pressure than the linocut and woodcut, but you can buy additional weights for the press if you plan to use it for intaglio techniques. More weight means less physical force is required when printing. As recommended on the Slama website, I placed some thin dry paper on top of the damp paper, to avoid damaging it. I held the paper in place with one hand, while printing with the other.

I was more sceptical about printing a drypoint print with the Sláma press than a relief one, as my experience so far is that a traditional press is required for successful prints. I was pleasantly surprised however, as the print did turn out well. In addition to inking the plate with paynes grey, I added some plate tone (the greens and yellows) in the background. All the colours printed well – the paper picked up the dark ink from the lines and the very faint lighter tones. I did find it useful that I was able to lift the print and check coverage as I printed, which is not possible to do with a traditional press. Sláma advise that their press is suitable for intaglio techniques with the exception of very deep etchings. For larger, more complex prints or large editions, some extra weights would make the process easier.

Conclusion

I was very impressed with the Sláma Press, and it performed well in all my experiments. As someone who prints with a variety of techniques, this really could be a ‘one stop shop’. I currently own three presses and numerous barens, all used in different scenarios. The advantages of the Sláma are its portability, its performance over a range of printing techniques, and its ease of use. Sláma themselves say it is great for children to print with, and I would certainly let slightly older children use this with supervision. It is also recommended for fabric printing and for lithography. When choosing the size, Sláma recommends buying the one that suits the majority of your printing. If you usually print A4 and below, the small is best (although it can also be used on larger prints from time to time) For larger prints, the large press is recommended, and the type of paper you prefer will determine which version you choose (Model 60 or Model 150) For a complete printing solution, Sláma suggests buying the small and large presses. The Sláma would be an excellent choice for anyone who works or teaches in a variety of locations, or is short on space for a more traditional press.

What is Etching?

Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique, where acid or other corrosive chemicals are used to incise lines or marks into a metal plate. An acid resistant ground (or resist) is applied to the surface of the plate, and an image is scratched or drawn through the ground to expose the metal underneath it. The plate is then placed in an acid bath for a period where exposed marks are etched away. Ink is applied to the plate, and pushed into the etched lines before being placed in a press, where it is printed onto damp paper. The resulting prints often have rich, velvety lines and a range of tones which stand alone or can be combined with a range of other printmaking techniques.

March of the Weavers, 1893-1897, published c. 1931
Kathe Kollwitz
Etching, 31.2 x 44.7 cm | 12 5 in x 17 5 in

The History of Etching

Etching began in the sixteenth century, but it wasn’t until the seventeenth century and the advances in chemistry that the technique really took off. Jacques Callot, a European printmaker, developed tools and techniques which really expanded the possibilities for artists. Rembrandt took etching to a new level, and it was a perfect medium for his dramatic tonal prints. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the technique was popular with artists as diverse as William Hogarth, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Francisco Goya. More modern artists that pushed the technique include Pablo Picasso, Käthe Kollwitz and Norman Ackoyd.

Descent from the Cross by Torchlight, 1654
Rembrandt van Rijn
Etching and drypoint; first of four states, 23.8 × 17.8 cm | 9.3 in × 7 in

Materials to Get Started in Etching

Here’s a selection of materials to get you started in etching. Open-access print studios provide many of the facilities such as presses and etching baths, and may also have technicians on hand for support.

Etching plate

L – R:
Jackson’s Economy Zinc Etching Plates 0.8mm Thick,
Jackson’s Polished Copper Etching Plates 0.9mm Thick

Etching plates are most commonly made from zinc or copper. Copper plates are the traditional choice due to their even texture and longevity – this is particularly important for large editions. Polished copper plates are protected with a plastic film, and require degreasing with vinegar and whiting or calcium carbonate prior to use. Zinc is a slightly softer metal and therefore not as durable, but it is a good, less expensive choice for beginners and students. Zinc economy plates will require polishing with a metal polish and degreasing.

Etching Grounds or Resists

Traditionally, an etching plate was etched with acid so required an acid resistant ground made from beeswax and asphaltum with a solvent. In the 1990s, printmakers began developing less toxic methods of etching using safer materials.

The etching plate can be covered with a hard ground or a soft ground. A hard ground is applied to the plate with a roller, and the image is scratched into the surface with an etching needle or other mark making tool. Soft ground is applied with a brush and since it never really hardens, can be used to make soft painterly marks, or to create impressions from objects (for example leaves, textured stencils etc).

Acrylic/Ink Resists

Lascaux Etching Mediums

The Lascaux acrylic resist etching system is a full range of solvent free, watersoluble and non-toxic products that can be used instead of traditional acid based products. It includes a plate backing resist (for protecting the back of the plate from the etching solution), hard and soft resists and stop out resist which can be painted onto a plate to create an image, make corrections or prevent areas from being etched. B.I.G Etching Ground is a non-toxic ink based resist. This ground makes it possible to experiment with many different effects on an etching plate, and it can act as a soft or hard resist. The resist can be heat set in an oven, and is available in two colours. Plates can be cleaned up with non-toxic cleaners such as Zest-It Printmakers Washdown. See our blog on Safer Intaglio Printmaking for more information.

Traditional Etching Resists

L – R: Artools Hard Ball Ground 100 g, Artools Soft Black Ground (Roller Varnish) 100 g, Charbonnel Etching Ball Hard, Jackson’s Button Polish

Hard resists can be in solid or liquid form. Charbonnel Ultraflex is a liquid hard ground made with turpentine and wax. It is transparent with a satin finish when dry and can be applied to the plate with a brush or by pouring it directly onto the plate. Artools hard wax ground is a solid lump, which is rubbed directly onto a heated plate and spread with a dauber.

Soft resists are available as a varnish that can be applied to the plate with a roller or a traditional wax ground that is applied with a soft cloth. Button polish and straw hat varnish are shellac based varnishes that can be used to protect the back of the plate. Straw hat varnish has added dye making it easy to see where it has been applied.

Etching Tools

L – R: EC Lyons Burnisher/Scraper Combo Etching Tool, Arteina Etching Tool Dry Point Box Set, Arteina Box Set Roulette 5 mm, EC Lyons Etching Tool Diamond Point Etching Needle

Etching tools of various sizes can be used to make marks in the etching ground. Using a variety of etching needles allows you to create lines of varying widths and depths. It is like using a pen without ink, and they have metal points to scratch into the etching ground. The Arteina drypoint box set contains four steel tipped needles with different point sizes, and wooden handles which are comfortable to grip. The needles can also be purchased individually.

Marks can also be made with roulettes which create a range of textural marks as the wheel is rolled over the plates. Arteina box sets contain four sizes of roulettes in widths of 2 mm or 5 mm. They can also be purchased individually.

Scrapers and burnishers are used to make corrections to the etching plate. The scraper is for lowering the plate surface and scraping away burrs. The burnisher is used to smooth the plate surface and soften the lines. They can be bought as a dual purpose tool, or individually in various sizes.

Etchants

L – R: Citric Acid Powder, Ferric Chloride 40% (42 – 45 Baume) Saturated Solution, Copper Sulphate Crystals Technical Grade

An etchant is the substance used to etch the plate, or bite through the exposed lines or marks to create the image. Traditionally, nitric acid or a mixture of hydrochloric and potassium chloride (known as the Dutch Mordant) were used. However, both these solutions are extremely toxic, which led to the development of new, safer methods.

The ‘Edinburgh Etch’ (© F.K. 1997) method, developed in the 1990s, uses Ferric chloride, a metal salt which can be diluted or used alongside citric acid powder for copper plates. It is not recommended on zinc plates, where a solution of copper sulphate and table salt can be used. For more information, see our blog on Safer Intaglio Printmaking.

Etching Ink

Etching ink is stiff, highly pigmented and designed to stick to the grooves and indentations in the plate. There are a variety of different types and brands of etching ink, and they generally fall into two categories – traditional oil based ink and watersoluble etching ink.

Watersoluble Etching Ink

Charbonnel Aqua Wash Etching Inks

Watersoluble etching ink is oil or soy based and can be cleaned up with soap and water, unlike traditional oil based inks. This means they have the richness of colour associated with traditional etching inks, but can be cleaned up without solvents such as turpentine or white spirit. Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Etching Inks and Charbonnel Aqua Wash are both good quality oil based inks that are also suitable for other intaglio techniques, and are easily cleaned up with soap and water. Akua intaglio ink is a soy based ink which is also easily washed off with soap and water.

Oil-Based Etching Ink

L – R: Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink, Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Etching Ink, Gamblin Etching Ink

Traditional oil based etching ink contains a high level of pigment, mixed with polymerised linseed oil. Their rich colours make them particularly good for larger plates, and they have a buttery consistency that some printmakers love. Cranfield Traditional Etching Inks come in a wide range of colours and are also suitable for other techniques such as engraving, dry-point, mezzotint, etching and aquatint, as well as monotype.

Inking Slab

Jackson’s Inking Slab 30 x 40 cm

An inking slab is a smooth, non absorbent slab where you can mix and roll out ink prior to applying to the plate. Ink can be applied with a brush or a roller, depending on the etching ground used.

Etching Press

L – R: Fome School Etching Presses, Sláma Press Hand Printing Press

Traditional etching presses have a heavy metal roller attached to a metal bed that slides under it when you turn the handle. Fome etching presses are available in three sizes, have adjustable steel rollers and a metal plate. are small enough to sit on a desktop (they should be attached to the table to prevent slippage) To find out more about setting up a Fome press: Setting Up The Fome Etching Press. An alternative is the handheld Sláma Press, which uses the weight of steel balls to produce an even print. Both Fome and Sláma can also be used for relief printing.

Scrim/Tarlatan

Tarlatan 114 cm Wide Per Metre Sent Folded (Max 10 m Folded)

Scrim is useful for wiping the ink on intaglio plates. It is a fabric made from open weave cotton, stiffened with starch. You can buy it by the metre or in 50 m rolls.

Tissue Paper

Jackson’s Acid Free Tissue Paper 22 gsm 50 x 75 cm Pack Of 500

Prior to printing, the plate is polished with tissue paper to remove the last traces of ink from the areas that will not be printed.

Chemical Resistant Tray/Water Tray

L – R: Polypropylene Tray: 55 x 100 cm, 40 x 53 cm, 80 x 80 cm

A chemical resistant tray can be filled with the etchant solution and used as an ‘etching bath’ to etch your plate and to soak paper in water prior to printing.

Paper for Etching

L – R: Somerset 300 gsm Printmaking Paper, Fabriano Rosaspina Printmaking Paper White

Papers used for etching need to be exceptionally strong, even when wet as the printing plate will be embossed into the paper alongside the etched image. They need to be compressible and supple as well as being dimensionally stable such that they won’t distort and affect registration. Heavyweight cotton papers such as Somerset and Fabriano Rosapina are ideal for intaglio techniques. Hahnemühle etching papers are made from 100% alpha cellulose, which makes them soft, pliable and very sensitive to detail.

Safety Equipment

L – R: Gauntlet Chemical Resistant, Safety Goggles Chemical Resistant One Size

Protecting your skin and eyes is essential when etching, as it requires the use of corrosive materials. Nitrile gauntlets are flock lined and chemical resistant when handling etchants and solvents, while lighter weight nitrile gloves or barrier cream helps protect your skin when inking the plate. Chemical resistant goggles are also essential to protect your eyes from splashes.

Cleaning Up

When cleaning up, harsh solvents can be avoided by using vegetable oil and newspaper or a rag, then wiping with a plant-based solvent like Zest-it Printmakers Cleaner.

L – R: Zest-it Printmakers Cleaner, Jackson’s Oil Mediums Low Odour Solvent, Gamblin Gamsol Odourless Mineral Spirit, Jackson’s Pure-Sol Low Odour Solvent Studio Safe With High Flash Point

What is Aquatint?

The aquatint process creates a range of tones from light washes to rich deep tones. It is often used in conjunction with line etching techniques to achieve varied and striking prints. The technique uses an acid resistant material like powdered rosin or acrylic hard resist which is applied to the plate prior to immersion in the acid bath. The acid corrodes the particles around the resist to produce patterns and tones. The longer the plate is immersed, the richer the tones. A variety of tones can be achieved by varying the amount of time different sections of the plate are etched before being masked with stop out. To see the process in action, see our interview with printmaker Jackie Newell.

What is Drypoint?

Drypoint is a simple intaglio technique that involves scratching the surface of a plate with a metal point, inking and printing. The lines will have a rough edge known as a burr, and this creates a lovely velvety quality to the prints. It does not use acid or any other corrosive chemical to create the design. Drypoints can be made with copper, aluminium or even transparent plastic. Etching ink is pushed into the grooves or marks and the surface is wiped before printing.

Etching is a five hundred year old printmaking technique with a rich history. The use of acids to create a chemical reaction and etch a design into a plate makes the process quite magical. There is an element of surprise in the printing process, and pulling a print is always exciting. The rich, velvety lines are unique and can be combined with other etching techniques such as aquatint or mezzotint, relief printing or even painting mediums such as watercolour. The creative possibilities are endless.

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Etching and Intaglio

Printmaking Equipment

The post Etching for Beginners – What You Need to Get Started appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Aqua Art Inks are recognised as amongst the finest inks for water based screenprinting and are manufactured in the UK by Screentec Print Essentials. Being manufactured from single pigments, the inks deliver intense, saturated colour and perform optimally for colour mixing. We are very excited to have added Screentec Aqua Art Water Based Screen Ink for paper and board to our developing screenprinting department. Here we will explore printing with a combination of high tech and low-tech stencils, and a tabletop printing set up.

Screentec Aqua Art Water Based Screen Ink 250 g and 500 g tubs

Designed for printing onto paper, cardboard, and fine art papers, with recommended weight over 100 gsm. Heavier papers will be more stable, especially if your print requires the laying down of multiple colours. However, we have successfully printed onto Japanese Kozo, a naturally stable paper of 46 gsm weight. Screentec recommends using 77-120T (200-305 USA) polyester mesh for most applications, with optimum results being achieved on a 90T mesh (230 USA).

Tabletop screen print set up with hinge clamps

For this session, I brought in my portable, homemade board with hinge clamps attached. The screens were 120T mesh with both photo emulsion stencils, and hand cut paper stencils and I used a square profile squeegee of 75 shore (green coloured blade). I used a combination of standard unmixed colours as well as fluorescents and metallics. The first registration system I used was the Ternes Burton pins and tabs, the second I have seen described as the ‘Mylar Flop’ method. This is where a transparent sheet of film is taped onto the print bed. You can try Mylar or drafting film, anything not too thin that you can wipe down with a wet sponge. If you print your image on to it, you can then position your previous colour underneath the film, then flip back and print. The ink can then simply be wiped off and the film is then ready for the next colour.

Mylar flop registration technique, printing with Aqua Art Violet

Colour Properties

I printed with inks straight from the tub to explore the vibrancy and impact of these single pigment colours. However, Screentec have designed the Aqua Art colour range to work as a mixing system. Single pigment colours will mix truer and more predictably than blended pigment colours. They will help you maintain control of your colour mixes and mean your mixed colours will be as luminous and intense as possible. This range serves as the building blocks to mix all your colours without compromising on vibrancy.

Pouring Aqua Art Gold Ink

The finely milled gold and silver metallics will print with high definition through a fine mesh with recommended optimum performance at 77T (200 USA) mesh. I have found the metallic properties can further be enhanced by printing over a dark base colour.

Aqua Art Orange over Aqua Art Yellow

I have included a couple of the fluorescent colours in one of my prints. These strong fluorescents are high impact and fun but not considered lightfast, so are best displayed away from direct sunlight or under UV glass. The pigments in the fluorescent inks work by absorbing ultraviolet energy, which our human eyes cannot see, and transmitting it as longer waves in the visible spectrum. Our eyes view fluorescent colours far more intensely as that ultraviolet energy glows. My mesh is 120T (305 USA) although Aqua Art fluorescents should yield best performance with 77-90T (200-230 USA) mesh count.

Aqua Art Gold over Aqua Art Violet

Aqua Art Inks also offer a set of halftone colours; Halftone Cyan, Halftone Yellow, Halftone Magenta and Halftone Black. These are your CYMK inks for the four-colour process. The ‘K’ represents the black which is used to ‘key’ the other stencils. We will cover this in more depth in an upcoming article, but simply put, the process involves combining varying amounts of the four inks to produce a full spectrum of colour.

Printing with Aqua Art Fluorescent Red

Colour Mixing

Incorporating a black and opaque white into your range will enable the mixing of lighter opaque colours as well as knocking back to subdue brights. I have found the high pigment load in these inks means that a small amount of colour is needed in proportion to white, so sticking with the principle ‘always add dark to light’ is especially apt.

Printing with a mix of Opaque White, Fluorescent Blue, and Silver

You can record your colour mix recipe for future reference, or if you don’t want to mix ink for the whole edition. Start by putting the colours you think you need into separate tubs and weigh each one. For simpler calculations you could do equal amounts e.g. 100 g of each. Once you have reached the desired colour, do a small test print through a screen. This is because it will look slightly different when printed, to what you see in the pot. If you need to bring in an additional colour to the blend, then put that in a pot and weigh before you take any out to add to your blend. Once you have got your desired colour, weigh each separate tub again and deduct from the original weight. This will give you a weight for each component colour that has gone into your blend. From this information you can calculate the proportions. Keep a record, just as potters keep records of their glaze mixes!

Overlays of Yellow, Fluorescent Red and Fluorescent Blue mix

Another way of creating secondary colours is by layering. Transparent overlays will create second or third colours in the overlapping areas. On the print below you will see Yellow, Orange and Process Blue overlapping to create secondary and tertiary green, purple.

Overlays of Yellow, Orange and Process Blue printed with paper cut stencils

Handling the Inks

Aqua Art Inks can be used straight from the tub after giving them a thorough mix. The viscosity of the inks varies a little between pigments as well as room temperature. Lower temperatures will increase the ink viscosity, and this can affect the flow of the ink. Higher temperatures decrease viscosity, with the potential to reduce print definition, affect thickness of the printed layer, as well as its opacity. Screentec recommends storing the inks in temperatures between 65 – 90°F (18 – 32°C) for optimum print performance. If you want to lower the viscosity, or thin the ink slightly, adding a little water (up to 5% by volume) will do this.

Pouring Fluorescent Red straight from the tub after mixing well

When water-based inks were brought in to replace solvent inks towards the end of last century, the issue of drying in became a new technical challenge for screen printers. Solvent based inks could be squeegeed across the screen and then left as the screen was lifted and the paper changed ready for the next print. Due to the drying characteristics of water-based inks, which are acrylic based, it became necessary to introduce what is called a flood coat. After the print coat, the screen is lifted slightly, and the ink squeegeed back across the screen to fill in all the apertures in the mesh. This ensures a thicker deposit of ink sits in the image slowing down its drying capacity. Paying attention to this aspect of printing with water-based inks is important, as dried in ink is stubborn to remove. The hotter and drier the atmosphere, the greater the potential for this to occur. I have been printing with Aqua Art in my own studio quite happily, so was surprised to find some drying in of the screen when printing at my local open access studio. I had my screens drying in the warming cabinet, a hot dry breeze through the studio and a vacuum bed on the go, so lots of warm air moving around. Added to that my screen had a fine 120T (305 USA) mesh.

Lifting the screen and preparing to flood the open areas with ink

After looking online for tips and chatting to Chris at Screentec I was able to return for a further session armed with the following useful advice for printing in hot, dry conditions:

Mix your ink thoroughly – sounds obvious but you do need all the ingredients working in unison to get the best performance.
Dampen your screen – I wasn’t sure about this one but have found it works well. I sponged over the screen with water then wiped off the excess before printing. It had no detrimental effect on the high-definition print. Some printers will mist the screen every 10 or so prints.
Add retarder – this is available if drying in is a concern, add 5-15% by volume.
Check your flood coat – pay attention to this and ensure your image is completely flooded with no gaps.
Re-open your screen – again this one looked risky but in fact I was able to wipe the underside of the screen with a damp cloth to re-open the image. After one print onto newsprint to remove any excess water, normal printing resumed without any detrimental effect on the image.

Aqua Art inks contain no bulking agents or fillers, resulting in an ink with a flowing consistency. Because of this you might want to think about how you handle the squeegee if printing by hand. Vacuum beds often have a squeegee arm that holds the squeegee for you as you push the arm across the screen to print. Keeping the squeegee sitting in the frame will avoid any ink dripping onto your bench top which can be messy and wasteful. My first solution was to place the inky squeegee in a large bowl to capture the drips, however, I have since found a nifty solution online. A pair of spring clamps (available from hardware and DIY stores) attached to the back edge of the screen frame. These support the squeegee when the frame is lifted between prints. This works brilliantly and is now my method of choice.

Detail captured perfectly with minimum spread. Photo stencil 120T (305 USA) mesh with Aqua Art Black

Clean Up

The great advantage of water-based inks is the ease with which you can clean up. You can scrape any excess ink from the frame and squeegee using a plastic or rubber blade, such as the larger Japanese Rubber Scraper, then return it to your container. Make sure you wash the screen out straight away to prevent the ink drying in. You can do this with cold water and a sponge, it is not necessary to have a washout booth with a pressure hose if you keep mindful of this. You might notice the amount of pigment coming off as you wash out the ink, you will get a good idea of the high pigment load in the Aqua Art range.

Scraping off excess Aqua Art Gold and returning to tub

Drying and Finish

The inks dry quite quickly, about 30 minutes, so a run can be dry by the time you have set up the next stencil and colour. Drying is by the process of evaporation so times will vary depending on the relative humidity. The ink dries to a dense, velvety matt finish.

Second colour Orange for photo stencil over Yellow

Value for Money

Screentec Aqua Art Inks are sold by weight and not volume, which can make a direct comparison to other brands a bit tricky. We can see though that the 250 g colours all almost fill the 250 ml container that they come in. When mixing the colours, the high pigment load is very noticeable, you get a lot of colour for your money. In particular, the metallic gold and silver represent outstanding value for money.

Aqua Art Ink Fluorescent Red 500 g

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Real Hackney Dave’s Screenprinting Process

Q & A with Real Hackney Dave about Using Screentec Inks in His Practice

How did you come to use Screentec Aqua Art Water-Based Screenprinting Ink?

Real Hackney Dave: I was working out of Print Club London and going through the process of working out my style, and was leaning towards fluorescent colours. I had tried all the various straight colours but wasn’t really feeling it. I borrowed some Fluorescent Pink off someone and loved the translucent quality but also the vibrancy, then I did what you have to do, just asked someone what the best one was! The great thing about artists and studio dwellers is they always seem willing to help and advise. Once my fellow artist told me about Screentec Aqua Art Water-Based Screenprinting Ink, I got in touch immediately and bish, bash, bosh, lots of lovely fluorescent colours arrived and I’ve never looked back.

What are the characteristics of the Screentec Ink that stand out compared to other screenprinting inks?

Real Hackney Dave: Screenprinting can be very scientific, too many different colours, too many different processes and often different colours behave in different ways and for me, that just makes everything way too complicated. With Screentec Aqua Art Water-Based Screen Inks, I love bright colours and I really like the transparency to be able to see through the colour to what’s below when I print onto things like maps and vintage love letters. It fits into my ‘universe’. I print onto things I find and use words to react and play with that subject matter, and the translucency helps that relationship.

Talk us through the colours in your collection of inks. What colours can you not do without?

Real Hackney Dave: If I don’t have Fluorescent Pink or Fluorescent Red I die. It’s dramatic, but true. I have lots and lots of other colours, but the main ones I use are red and pink. Any other colour I can do without, but not those two, they are like water and oxygen to me. Every single piece I create I judge it by saying to myself if I put this in a gallery with 200 other artists’ work, how would people know that this one is mine? Pink helps.

Do you experiment a lot with colour mixing, layering etc?

Real Hackney Dave: Not really, I’m a bit lazy like that. I spent a lot of time discovering what I’m not good at and what I’m ok at, and also spent time creating pieces that allowed me to feel comfortable about what my “universe” is… the colours, the style, the personality, the fonts etc. Now I know this, I have an area to play and experiment within, but I am also aware that changing what I do will be jarring. So when I come up with new ideas, I make sure they still feel like something that I would do. It keeps the challenge element of all artists under control and focussed. We all get bored too easily and look for new things, and having the discipline of a brand universe keeps you honest and also stops you doing stuff that confuses people.

Do you have any top tips for using the inks? Any working methods you would like to share?

Real Hackney Dave: I use A LOT of fluorescent inks. I get 5 kilo pots I go through so much. The main thing I have learned is that the best results are when the ink is not too thick. I spray my stencil with a plastic plant waterer and wipe it down (especially on hot days) to stop the ink drying in the stencil. This occasionally happens when the ink is thick, so I add water to make sure it’s a good consistency.

And depending on how you print and what you print onto, sometimes putting a layer of opaque white down first really helps the colour to pop. When I print onto maps, I love being able to see the map through the ink, but sometimes it’s good to get 100% pink power.

The Real Hackney Dave in His Own Words

I came to screenprinting pretty late in life and have now become totally possessed by it. Anytime that I’m not in the studio printing, you will find me trawling around auction sites and flea markets looking for interesting found images and ephemera that I can try and print onto. In a past life, I spent over 35 years working in advertising, so I print onto things I find and use the techniques of mass communication and propaganda to create evocative pieces that connect in an emotive and humorous way.

I work with found images and materials, experimenting with the practice of screenprinting to push the boundaries of what it is and can be. I have printed onto copper plates, I’ve printed with pheromones, sprinkles, glitter and gold leaf. My work aims to cause a reaction in the viewer, the juxtaposition of familiar images with overlaid text or a smattering of controversy or the odd swear word to accentuate. I love to use the techniques of mass communication and advertising, pairing with found imagery and objects and assertive text that challenges the viewer.

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Printing a Collagraph

Collagraphs are a form of print taken from a collaged plate of often found materials. The materials, of varying texture, are stuck down onto card or wood and further worked into if desired. The plates can be sealed or unsealed, inked up as for intaglio or relief, or both on the same plate. Ink will cling to the contours, soak into any absorbent areas, or sit on smooth surfaces and printing can be either by hand or by etching press, therefore the variables are endless.

My small plate was made from torn pieces of paper stuck onto a piece of mount card with Jackson’s Acrylic Gel Medium. I scored the mount card and peeled away its surface layer to reveal the absorbent core as well as sticking down some string. In a few places I painted on a little gel medium, in particular sealing the glued-on circle of paper. The plate was inked with Akua Intaglio Ink, chosen as I know it is very soft with a high pigment load and I knew this would be easy to apply to and wipe from the plate. The paper was dampened Fabriano Unica, a very versatile 250 g printmaking paper. I thought I should use Sláma Press 60 with three weights added for pressure.

This was a challenge. I found it difficult to keep the paper from moving, the ink in this situation not acting in any way to adhere to the paper and stabilise it. This print, though well embossed when inspecting on the back, printed rather like a relief, with the ink taken mainly from the surface or smoother areas. In addition, I found the raised elements, in this case the string, interfered with the contact Sláma Press could make with the plate. To compare, I took the plate over to the little Fome Etching Press and took a ‘ghost’ print to see what ink remained.

If you look at the ghost print below you will see that most of the ink in the absorbent areas has been left behind by the Sláma Press, the darker areas are the torn edges and exposed core of the mount card. The ink from the raised and smooth areas has already been transferred to the paper by the Sláma Press.

On the basis of this basic test, I feel that if you treat your collagraph more as a relief printing project then the Sláma Press could work well but you will need to adapt your process to it rather than the other way round.

Line Etching and Aquatint

Emma, in her article, tested Sláma Press on a drypoint plate, and in fact I have also tried it and it works very well indeed. It is worth remembering here that in drypoint you are using a sharp tool to move the plate material up into a raised burr that will hold your ink. In etching you are biting troughs down into the plate that will hold your ink. This creates a different challenge for the Sláma Press.

I tried a variety of plates I had made for printing on an etching press, beginning with a fine copper plate etching with elements of acrylic aquatint. I chose a smoother paper, the Stonehenge Fine Art Paper, which is a lovely 100% cotton printmaking paper. My thinking being that there would be minimal texture to ‘interfere’ with the fine lines, and again chose the Sláma Press 60 with three of the added weights for pressure.

Above shows a traditional oil based black, Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink Aquatint Black. I did start with a sheet of tracing paper between the dampened Stonehenge paper and the press, but then removed it as I found the Stonehenge paper to be pretty strong. It has picked up the fine lines well but not completely, and the aquatint areas I would say mostly. I also found the paper stayed put on the metal plate, which I think is down to a certain amount of adhesion between the dampened paper and the smooth metal.

Cranfield Caligo Safewash Etching Black on Stonehenge Fine Art Paper White

The same plate is printed with the Caligo Safewash Etching Black on the Stonehenge paper. The water soluble oil inks can bleed a little more, the paper here coming from the same damp pack.

Cranfield Caligo Safewash Etching Black on Stonehenge Fine Art Paper Warm White

By way of comparison, here is a zinc plate etching printed with the same Caligo Safewash Etching Black and the Stonehenge paper. This zinc plate has deeper lines than the copper plate etching. This time I have used The Sláma 60 with no additional weights to good effect on a small plate.

Cranfield Caligo Safewash Etching Black on Fabriano Unica White printed on the Fome Etching Press

And then the same etching printed with Caligo Safewash Etching Ink and Fabriano Unica paper on the Fome 250 mm Etching Press. You can see how much crisper the lines are. The action is so different and as a result you obtain a very different feeling with the Sláma press, somehow a much softer looking print.

Deep Line Etching

Sláma Press describe the limitations of printing a deep line etching and here is one to demonstrate that. Below is a zinc plate etching where deep lines have been bitten and you can see how Sláma Press is picking up the ink from the top edges of each line but missing the ink from the centre. It illustrates how Sláma Press will butt up against the sides of these deep marks but cannot squeeze the paper down enough to pick up all the ink.

Cranfield Caligo Safewash Etching Black on Fabriano Unica White

Monoprint

Monoprinting is considered a planographic form of printing, where the ink sits on the surface of the plate in the same way that ink sits on a relief plate. The ink can then be drawn into, or impressed into with textured objects as with gel printing plates.

I used a Jackson’s Transparent Printing Plate to make the first print and two inks I had to hand, the Charbonnel Aqua Wash Prussian Blue and the Caligo Safewash Relief Raw Umber. The plate was a Jackson’s Transparent Printing Plate. I have usually printed a mono print from this type of firm plate on an etching press, rolling on quite a thin layer of ink and then creating the image by drawing and wiping into the ink to move it around or lift it away.

Working in this way, I took a print on dry Snowdon Cartridge 130 gsm with the Sláma Press 150 with a single 1 kg weight added. I thought I wouldn’t require quite as much pressure this time. I did find that the press didn’t transfer quite as much ink as I had hoped, although it handled very well, gliding across the smooth plate and paper easily. I did however obtain a really good transfer by rolling the ink onto the plate in a slightly thicker layer.

Monoprint with Charbonnel Aqua Wash Prussian Blue and Caligo Safewash Relief Raw Umber on Snowdon Cartridge 130 gsm” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Snowdon Cartridge Paper

Ghost print of the above taken on the Fome Etching Press.

After printing there was still quite a bit of ink remaining on the plate which can be seen on the ghost print I took on the etching press afterwards. So, with this little adaption of working with a slightly heavier layer of ink, the Sláma Press works extremely well, but be prepared for more ink squish in this situation.

Given the array of substrates that can be used for monoprinting, there is scope for a great deal of experimentation. Thinking about how Sláma Press was initially developed with linocut in mind, I imagine lino as a monoprint plate would be a great option, especially as it can be cut into shapes or its surface carved and incorporated into your work.

Gel Plate Printing

Monoprinting on the gel plate however was a different story. Printing with Speedball Professional Relief Inks it could be argued that merely the palm of your hand is all that is needed to transfer the ink from plate to paper, but given that the question was raised, I thought I would test it out. I used a Gelli Plate 6 x 6 inch and some Speedball Professional Relief Inks

Since the plate was small and quite thick (5 mm) I thought a heavier paper would avoid any bending and creasing over the plate edges. Both the Sláma 150 and the Sláma 60, without any additional weights, gave identical results. Prints were taken on a lovely smooth hot pressed Fabriano Artistico and a slightly more textured Somerset Velvet. A very even transfer of ink was made onto both papers and the movement of the Sláma Press over the plate and paper was very easy, the slight bounce of the Gelli Plate contributing to this. Printing with this gel plate brought to mind a video of Sláma Press printing onto fabric. Many of the soft lino type plates such as Speedy Carve and Essdee Softcut could be used to create an image that could be transferred onto fabric, and it feels like the Sláma Press would be a good choice of tool for this.

Gel print from Gelli Plate with Speedball Professional Relief Inks onto Fabriano Artistico.

Gel print from Gelli Plate with Speedball Professional Relief Inks onto Somerset Velvet.

Mokulito (Wood Lithography)

Another planographic technique is lithography and we had a question after Emma’s article; how would the Sláma Press work for lithography? I am afraid at the time of writing this I didn’t have access to lithographic stones or ball ground plates but in this case, I feel that if you are working with these you probably have access to a lithographic press. Instead, I took the opportunity to try out some wood lithography, otherwise known as mokulito.

Drawing onto plywood with lithographic materials.

Like traditional lithography, which is based on the principal that water and oil do not mix, mokulito involves drawing an image with grease carrying materials onto a wooden plate as opposed to a stone. Plywood has become the popular option given its economy and light weight. Developed 50 years ago in Japan as a non-toxic alternative to traditional lithography, the processing of the plate is much simpler, with an ‘etch’ of pure gum arabic the only solution required to fix the image.

Despite the slight difference in processing, mokulito prints in the same way as traditional lithography. The dampened paper will pick up the oily ink from the surface of the plate, while at the same time absorbing water from the non-ink areas. I have seen artists print mokulito on etching presses and by hand with ball bearing barens and even backs of spoons.

Inking mokulito plate

Despite having much to learn with this fascinating technique, I did manage to create something to test out the press and get surprisingly good results. Using Shina Plywood sanded with 1000 grit paper, I found the most successful drawing medium to be a lithographic drawing ink applied by dip pen or brush as well as particularly soft lithographic crayons. I won’t go into the process here, as I am just a beginner, but you can find lots of information and ‘how to’ videos on the internet. Suffice to say it is an economical and accessible ‘version’ of a lithography. Shall I name names here? I took the following prints with both the 60 and the 150 Sláma Press with a 1 kg weight added.

Mokulito print made with Shina plywood with lithographic drawing inks and crayons on Stonehenge Fine Art Warm White.

The paper was dampened Stonehenge Fine Art Paper and the ink was a traditional oil-based relief ink softened with some plate oil. In the second image you can see the black areas deepening, this increases as you repeat ink and I understand only small editions are possible. I found the Sláma Press transferred the ink faithfully to the paper, of course the wood has a slight springiness to it which I feel helped.

I hope this article goes some way to answering the questions raised. Adapting to this very versatile printmaking tool could open up a whole world of possibilities for the printmaker who cannot accommodate a large press or desires a portable option for taking prints of all sizes.

Julia Trickey Tests Jackson’s Curated Sets: Botanical Watercolour

Having been an artist and tutor of botanical art for over 20 years, I have become very comfortable with the materials that I use. So when Jackson’s approached me to try their Botanical Art Curated Set, I saw this as an opportunity to put myself in the place of my students trying out equipment for the first time, as well as a chance to explore different watercolour hues, paper and brushes.

The set contains:

Jackson’s Kite Synthetic Kolinsky Brush Round No. 8
Jackson’s Raven Synthetic Brush Mop No. 2
St Cuthberts Mill Botanical Ultra Smooth Glued Watercolour Pad A4 300 gsm
Isaro Watercolour Paint 7 ml Set 10 Jackson’s Selection Colours: Isaro Yellow Light, Scarlet Red, Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue, Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Burnt Sienna, Isaro Pink, Payne’s Grey, Orange Oxide
Jackson’s Paper Guide

Jackson’s Curated Sets: Botanical Watercolour

The set arrived beautifully packaged and I was pleased to see that the Isaro paints were tubes rather than pans, as I personally can get much richer hues quickly with tube paint. The transparent lid of the paint tin means that you can see at a glance what colours are included and the labels accurately reflect the colour of the paints (not always the case!).

I tend to use a very limited palette, so I was gratified that the set included three colours similar to those I use as primary colours – Phthalo Blue, Rose Isaro and Isaro Yellow Light, I was also pleased to see that all but one (Paynes Grey) are single pigment. Some of the colours are semi-transparent and granulate which don’t work so well for me at the early stages of a painting, as I like to start with wet layers and don’t like the granulating effect, but these colours were ok when applied dry.

I chose an oak leaf as my subject, inspired by its autumnal colours – yellow, green and brown. I would normally mix my own browns but due to the range of earth colours in the set I didn’t need to spend so long doing this. That said, if I were choosing colours for this set I would substitute one or two of these earth colours with a premixed green and maybe a bright purple.

The paper – St Cuthberts Mill Botanical Ultra Smooth Glued Watercolour Pad – has a less absorbent surface than I am used to and I consequently found it rather slippy when applying the initial layers of wet-in-wet. However, the colours stayed bright when dry and I could quickly start adding drier details, without having to repeat the initial layers as I would normally do.

Though the brushes are much larger than botanical artists tend to use, I was determined to see what they could do. Having drawn my leaf out larger than life to fill the A4 paper provided, I used the Jackson’s Raven Synthetic Brush to wet the areas at the start of the project. Given the size of the brush this didn’t take long and, despite its size, I could wet into the smaller lobes of the leaf without issue, as it has a great point. I then swapped to the Jackson’s Kite Synthetic Kolinsky Brush to dab in the colour and then to work on the subsequent detail. I also used this brush to lift out highlights and narrow veins. The nature of the paper meant the paint lifted easily and, though I would normally use a much smaller brush, the tip of the brush was fine enough to add detail without too much issue, on this occasion.

The leaf portrait needs a lot more detail – botanical art is a slow process! And I would need to use this set for a while longer before deciding if I would substitute items for my usual equipment. But it was interesting to put it through its paces.

About Julia Trickey

Julia Trickey has been a botanical artist and tutor for over 20 years. She is particularly interested in capturing fading flowers and autumnal leaves in watercolour, often depicting them larger than life. She has received many awards for her work including four RHS gold medals and has exhibited and taught all around the world. Since the Pandemic she has been regularly hosting fellow botanical artists online, as they talk about their work, projects and passions.

Visit Julia’s website

Kit Boyd Tests Jackson’s Curated Sets: Lino Printmaking

This set comes in a stylish branded gift box, immediately giving it a sense of luxury, and useful to keep your tools and inks in if you are an itinerant printmaking soul, or just want to be tidy, unlike me, when you’ve cleaned up at the end of the day.

The set contains:

Fabriano Medioevalis 260 gsm 20 Blank Cards & Envelopes 17 x 23 cm Deckle Edge
Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink 75 m x 4, Black, Process Blue (Cyan), Rubine Red, Process Yellow
Pfeil Linoleum and Block Cutters: L 11/1 x 1, L 5/8 x 1
Essdee Professional Ink Roller (Black Handle) 5 cm
Essdee Lino Block 3 mm Softcut 100 x 150 mm x 3
Japanese Baren for Printing
Jackson’s Paper Guide

Jackson’s Lino Printmaking Curated Set

Internally the packaging is lovely, making it quite a pleasure to break the seal and unwrap the set to reveal what is inside among the biodegradable foam packaging.

The set comprises 2 Pfeil Linocut tools, always a good choice as they last for years and are so well made. The detail cutter is perfect for the size of the 3 lino sheets enclosed – A6 to print onto the enclosed cards, but the larger clearing tool is just a little too large – I’d only really use a tool of that size on a much larger piece of lino as on these size sheets you are likely to clip a bit of your detailed cutting.

I like the firm Essdee Ink Rollers as they take ink well and provide good coverage when inking the block, though it would have been nicer to have a slightly larger one the width of the plates, so that it would ink the block in one roll across. I used the one supplied with my other rollers when printing this linocut.

It’s the first time I have used these Caligo Washable Relief Inks, which while oil based, can be cleaned with soap and water. The colours are strong and easily mixable. The process yellow and blue produced a very clean bright green.

The black ink takes some time to dry compared to my usual relief inks – the black was still smudge-able 3 days after printing whereas my usual inks tend to need just 24 hours. The coloured inks, even when overprinted, dried more quickly. When printing the red yellow and blue over each other, they produce a strong dark tone.

The Fabriano Medioevalis Blank Cards and Envelopes are of a high quality with deckled edges and absorb the ink well, though the textured surface and thickness mean that you have to apply a lot of pressure with the baren to get a good impression to transfer. When I ran the cards through my press, the results were a lot better than with the hand pressed version. The Japanese Baren works very well if printing onto Japanese paper such as Hosho or a smoother Fabriano.

The Essdee Softcut Lino is very soft and is easily cut, but actually the Pfeil tools work far better on a standard firmer lino, and I found they slipped a little on this softer version. My Flexcut Tools with a squarer end seemed to work better on it, but I’d recommend just getting some Essdee Grey Lino to use instead. The Softcut is quite malleable and squashes a little too, under pressure, which means there is a propensity for the ink to spread.

I decided to make a three plate linocut as three were supplied and to use the colours in a pure form, and because I’m reviewing this at the end of November, to theme it around the coming season, so I’ve made a linocut called An Eye for Christmas, which is loosely based on an earlier linocut I made called Eye of the Green Man.

I sketched out my design on one piece of lino before drawing in indian ink and organically building up the design – it’s easier if you have a dark base so that when you cut the lino you can easily see what you have done.

Once cut, I made a card template and printed the key plate in black on one of the cards, and then transferred the image to the two other pieces of lino from the print and let them dry for a few days. These two lino sheets I intended to print in red and yellow and to use a blue for the key plate on top in the final print, rather than use black.

I quite like to wing it a bit when cutting the other layers rather than planning too much, just to have a bit of fun really and to make the process more organic.

For the yellow layer, I cut shooting stars top and bottom and for the red layer added a ribbon and some berries to go with the holly and ivy from the key plate. I’m usually much stricter when I design but felt the need to be more playful here.

I then inked them all up and printed in sequence – yellow, red, then blue. I printed them initially on Somerset Velvet 300 gsm (my usual printing paper) before I printed onto the cards. I use Ternes Burton Pins to register the prints and ensure that everything will be in the right place, though if you don’t have these you can create a simple template with card or greyboard by cutting out a rectangle for the lino to slot into, and make sure your paper and the lino are in the same place every time you print. You can see my greyboard template here in the photos and all you’d need to do is line up a corner of your paper to a corner of the template each time to ensure your registration.

Once the first proof was printed (nicely matching the Fabriano box!) I thought it needed to look more seasonal so I mixed a bright green from the yellow and the blue and printed the first plate in green instead. I think it looks a lot like Christmas now.

It was quite a joy to make something quite quickly and using solely what came in the box, though I did use some of my other clearing lino tools on the soft lino and my extra rollers for the three colours.

I’d definitely recommend this as a Curated Set for someone to get straight into printing, but perhaps with a side order for some standard Essdee Grey Lino which has more resistance and for me is much more pleasurable to cut. After all, linocutting is all about the pleasure of the process.

About Kit Boyd

Kit Boyd follows in the footsteps of Samuel Palmer and the Neoromantics of the 1940s. Although based in London, his images are often of the countryside or bucolic landscapes from his imagination. He has recently completed commissions for English Heritage and Penguin Random House for the cover of Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees, and his work often has an environmental message. This year his posters for the Darent Valley Community Rail Partnership in Kent have gone up at 6 stations from Sevenoaks to Swanley, including his homage to Samuel Palmer at Shoreham Station, encouraging people to travel by train.

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Ruth Murray Tests Jackson’s Curated Sets: Oil Painting

I am a figurative painter, working mostly with oil paints. I was very pleased to receive a Curated Oil Set from Jackson’s, which consisted of goodies that are similar (but not the same) to items I use.

The set contains:

Michael Harding Modern Master Set 6 x 40 ml
Chelsea Classical Studio Clarified Extra Pale Cold Pressed Linseed Oil
Two Belle Arti Canvas Panels
Jackson’s Extra Offset Crank Painting Knife
Four Jackson’s Black Hog Bristle Brushes

My preferred brand of oil paint is Michael Harding, after trying various brands over the years I have become quite loyal to it. Michael Harding is a UK brand that is favoured by lots of my painter friends too. They have a great range of colours and consistently have the perfect buttery texture.

The six colours I received were: Ultramarine Blue, Warm White, Italian Green Umber (all Series 1), Warm Light Yellow (Series 2), Alizarin Claret (Series 3) and Cadmium Red, which is a Series 5 colour – a real treat! The paints get more expensive the higher the Series number, and I usually only let myself buy up to Series 3.

It’s an interesting set of colours, I like to arrange my palette in a sort of rainbow, with a little bit of lots of different colours. I’ve slipped these new colours into my usual palette, Alizarin Claret sits nicely between two other paints I like – Crimson Lake and Quinacridone Rose. I find reds useful for making darker colours, particularly when mixed with greens and blues.

The canvas panels have a lovely smooth finish with no imperfections, they are pre-primed so you can paint on them directly without any preparation. I always work with a source image, and today I’ve chosen an image of my friend’s tortoises… very intriguing creatures and lots of Italian green umber in there!

The texture of all the paints is as I’d hoped, it glides on easily, not too oily or dry. The colour of the paints are really strong, and a little bit goes a long way so you can mix new colours with just a bit of paint. They are lovely paints to work with. The Italian Green Umber and the Alizarin Claret have a nice transparency when applied thinly too.

I am using the hog brushes and a little cold pressed linseed oil when I want to make the paint nice and slippery. On a small scale like this I usually work on primed, wooden panels so in contrast the canvas is fairly absorbent. Using the big round tipped brushes you can create a nice softness, and flatten any marks. I start with the bigger brushes, to block in base colours and then work over this.

The hog brushes are synthetic so softer than real hog hair brushes, which can sometimes leave scratchy marks. They seem nice and robust, holding their shape pretty well and not shedding any bristles. I do still find them a bit scratchy for my taste, I prefer real hair brushes such as black sable. They are softer, but do deteriorate after a few paintings. These will be useful to have in my tool box and I imagine will last a bit longer.

I don’t do a lot of sketching but these small scale paintings sometimes function that way for me. To work through ideas quickly before making larger work. This tortoise painting is now one of three similar paintings. I used the palette knife a little too, but will definitely use it more when painting in a more impasto style.

About Ruth Murray

Ruth Murray is a Manchester-based artist whose work reflects a deep interest in exploring portraiture, identity, and the presence of human concerns in natural settings and the social landscape.

Ruth graduated from the Royal College of Art and was the Derek Hill Scholar at the British School at Rome in 2008. Her notable exhibitions include Northern Stars at the A Foundation, Saatchi’s 4 New Sensations, The Creative Cities Collection at the Barbican and the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery. She was awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields grant in 2021, she won the Jackson’s Painting Prize in 2020 and she was shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize in 2019.

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Adrian Holmes Tests Jackson’s Curated Sets: Moku Hanga Printmaking

Last month when Jackson’s reached out and asked me to review some of their products I couldn’t refuse. I love trying new materials and I love any chance to make printing as accessible as possible. I have been using the exact same list of materials in the Japanese woodblock workshops I run here in the U.K and I’ve been putting these products to the test for the last six years, so for me it was a great way for me to finally get to review the products in little more detail.

The set contains:

Japanese Magnolia 10 mm Side Grain Wood Block 110 x 160 mm x 3
Awagami Washi Japanese Paper Printmaking Sample Pack, 21 x 26 cm, 20 Sheets
Japanese Woodcarving Tool Set of 5
Sosaku Japanese Inking Detail Brush Size 15 mm
Sosaku Japanese Block Inking Brush, Size 60 mm
Japanese Bamboo Baren Relief Printing, 10 cm
Akua Liquid Pigment, 4oz/118 ml x 4: Phthalo Blue Green, Jet Black, Red Oxide, Burnt Umber
Jackson’s Paper Guide

Firstly, when the curated set arrived, I got that little kid at Christmas feeling. The curated set is beautifully wrapped and comes in an elegantly designed box, giving it a real authentic artisan feel, but don’t judge a book by its cover, right? Opening the set, I was surprised at the range of materials offered in this gift package more than enough to get you started with making your own woodblock prints.

Jackson’s Curated Sets: Moku Hanga Printmaking

For me when teaching the basics of woodblock printing you need materials which are reliable, affordable but also true to the nature of what professional quality tools offer. These included a good set of carving, quality wood, a few solid brushes for applying the pigment, a baren for printing, a reliable set of pigments and last and maybe most importantly a set of Japanese papers on which to print. So, let’s dive in and talk through the different materials and products that Jackson’s has included in the curated set.

Carving Tools

Let’s begin with carving tools, one can spend a fortune on accruing the best tools before being able to carve or now here to begin. The pack contained a Set of 5 Japanese Woodcarving Tools, I’ve used these for many years in my introduction to Japanese woodblock course and they are a good beginner set. They come sharp and unlike a lot other cutting tools they have a nice wooden handle which is not only comfortable but is a good general size for different sized working hands.

A little tip is you can cut them down to suit your own hand size (just make sure you take the time to measure before you cut). They do tend to lose their edge after cutting harder woods such as magnolia, but can be sharpened to some effect using a proper whetstone. The pack comes with a small token stone, but I’d suggest getting yourself a whetstone suit for sharpening as this will make your life easier. All in all, a good introduction pack which is affordable and will allow you to become familiar with the Japanese style of carving.

Wood

Along with the good quality carving tools the kit provided 3 pieces of Japanese Magnolia 10 mm Side Grain Wood Block 110 x 160 mm. Magnolia wood is the perfect choice for carving as it is not only relatively easy to carve compared to other fruit wood like Cherry, but it also allows one to carve a relatively good amount of detail without chipping or splintering. I was also impressed with the quality and density of the wood provided, as some suppliers will offer a lower quality magnolia which has been of disappointment. It has a lovely grain which can be utilised and shown off in the actual print. These plates would be good for printing small greeting cards but a little bit small for anything adventurous. On the whole, a good choice in wood.

Brushes

Next up is the humble Maru Bake, printing brush Sosaku Japanese Block Inking Brush, Size 60 mm used to blend the pigment onto the woodblock. Depending on size it can come with a hefty price tag, so the Sosaku brushes provided by Jackson’s come at a really good price point, which is obviously something really important to consider. Having used these brushes for my workshops, and sometimes for a few test prints of my own, I can vouch for these being a good quality brush which disperses the pigment on the block well.

Like with all Japanese brushes you need to prep these brushes before use by singing the bristles on a hot plate and then rubbing the burnt fibres off. Traditionally with a sharkskin, but sandpaper is fine. The pack comes with both a 60 mm brush and a Sosaku Japanese Inking Detail Brush Size 15 mm or Tebake which is more like a stencil brush for smaller areas. They are both robust, sturdy, with a good density of bristles which is important to keep an even and clean brush stroke. The brush both holds a good amount of pigment and allows for the colour to be blended into the woodblock in an even and controlled way. A big thumbs up for the brushes and a great entry level brushes which will last for life if treated well.

Pigments

As with all printing, finding the right pigments which work for the artists is quite personal, but also can be a hard to navigate, long and difficult process. The gift pack came with Akua Liquid Pigment, a Phthalo Blue Green, Jet Black, Red Oxide, Burnt Umber and having tested them all with the brushes provided they held up well with a good finishing result.

To date my choice of pigments are raw powder pigments (Ganryo) or using the Holbein’s pigments from Japan, having found these to be such high-quality pigments I have rarely looked elsewhere so it was great to get to try these Akua pigments for free. They work very similar to Holbein’s pigments and have a similar vibrancy and colour fastness which is of high quality. Like Holbein, the Akua Liquid Pigment Inks are relatively slow drying which allows for an extended working time.

Akua’s consistency is slightly thinner than Holbein’s and requires adding a slight bit of gum arabic to thicken it up, but all four hues were vibrant, and I will definitely be exploring these further using them with Japanese woodblock printing. A good product and you get a good bang for your buck with the bottles containing 118 ml which will last a good time even if printing a lot.

Baren

The humble baren is an object which is probably, for the true Japanese woodblock printer, the most important tool in their arsenal which you can also spend a lot on. The baren in the pack is a good starter baren and will allow one to print a fair number of prints before wearing out. What it doesn’t have is the strength and stiffness that a slight more expensive barn will have.

Paper

Moku Hanga couldn’t be without a decent Japanese paper so I was excited to get to play with the Awagami Washi Japanese Paper, 21 x 26 cm, 20 Sheets in the gift box. I know from prior experience how good these papers are, and I do use them from time to time depending on the style of print I’m working on. They are made to a real high standard and crafted in southern Japan at the Awagami factory, known for its knowledge and 300 years of washi paper-making, so you know you’re in good hands.

What is nice about this pack of editioning papers is the variety. Having a selection of 10 different papers, all unique in texture and characteristics, gives you a chance to decide which paper is for you. The papers are made using traditional Japanese fibres such as Kozo and Gampi. For me personally, I found the Hosho and Shiramine paper to suit my printing style, as these are a little thicker and allow more pressure to be applied using the baren.

Overall, this curated set from Jackson’s is a well thought out set, and perfect gift for anyone looking to get into Japanese woodblock printing. The choice and quality of materials is bang on and the curated set has pretty much everything one needs to get started. All the products I tested held up to pretty rigorous testing and on the whole, were a pleasure to use. For me the paper and the pigments stole the show and look forward to exploring these more. I would without a doubt recommend this to my students and the wider woodblock community. The price point for this set was considerate for what was included. I don’t think you could find anything else on offer. Jackson’s quality of presentation is amazing and this would be a perfect for anyone keen to begin the journey in printmaking. A perfect Christmas gift which I would mind being sent.

About Adrian Holmes

Adrian Holmes is a printmaker devoted to Japanese printmaking and Sosaku hanga. He graduated from the University of Plymouth with a degree in Visual Arts. He fell in love with woodblock Japanese printmaking whilst living in Japan and he began to study the craft and its techniques. Both self-taught and working alongside Japanese woodblock artisans exploring the capabilities of the printing process, Adrian divides his time between his woodblock practice and teaching woodblock printmaking In the south west. Adrian is based at Krowji studios in Cornwall and teaches Japanese woodblock printmaking at both St Ives School of Painting and the West dean College of Arts.

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Adrian Holmes in his studio

Recommended Materials for Screenprinting

Daler Rowney Screen Printing Set

Additional Screen Printing Medium (optional)

Speedball Hinge Clamps

A board to screw your hinge clamps to (Plywood or MDF)

Newsprint

Scalpel

Cutting Mat

Paper to print on to (I used Fabriano Rosaspina but you can use any paper of around 190gsm or more)

Pots with airtight lids

Brown Parcel Tape

Pencil (to draw on to newsprint with)

Apron

Masking Tape

Small pieces of card (mountboard offcuts are perfect if you have any)

You will also need somewhere to put the prints to dry – a clear table top or a string hung up with pegs is ideal, if you don’t have a printmaker’s drying rack.

The Daler Rowney Screenprinting Beginner’s set is a great investment if you want to try the process at home or in your studio without needing to invest in a vacuum table or carousel. In the set you will get a good quality screen and squeegee along with a primary colour set of acrylics, screenprint medium for fabric and paper, and a bottle of drawing fluid. You also get a sturdy plastic palette knife, which is preferable to use with the screen to a metal palette knife which is more likely to tear a hole in the screen.

Before you start, I recommend that you take the time to apply a couple of coats of yacht varnish to your squeegee handle and the frame of your screen. This is because they are made from uncoated wood, and if you get to a point of screenprinting regularly, frequent washing of your equipment with water may eventually cause premature wearing of the wood. The yacht varnish will help prolong the lifespan of the squeegee and the screen.

In addition to the screenprinting set, Speedball’s screenprinting clamps, and a sturdy board you can use as a screenprinting table are two other pieces of equipment worth investing in. The board can just be any piece of primed or coated MDF or plywood that you can wipe wet paint from, that is a few centimetres bigger than your screen (at least). If you have a work bench in your studio that you don’t feel too precious about that has a smooth surface, you could easily use this, so long as you don’t mind screwing the clamps into the top of it! The clamps should be about 10cm in from either side of the screen and parallel to one another. If you have the means to chisel a square into your board so the lower part of the grip sits level with the surface of the board, this would help to maximise the printing area of the screen, but it’s not essential.

Once your clamps are in place you can put your screen in place to make your screenprinting table.

Measuring the gap between the screen and the board – this gap needs to be the same distance at both ends of the screen to achieve a nice even print. You might want to tape an offcut of mountboard at the opposite end of the clamps to achieve this.

When making a screenprint, you cannot pull a print that is the same size as your screen. This is because pulling a print involves a downwards and forwards pressure with your squeegee, which pushes the screen down to the surface you are printing on. As the frame holds the screen taut, there will always be a border around the inside edge of the screen that will not make the right amount of contact needed with the paper for a sucessful print. When you are starting out, I would always recommend starting with a small image as they are easier to print, and then as you improve your printing technique, you can think about making larger images. The rectangle I have drawn on this piece of newsprint cut to the same size as the screen is an indication of the kind of size of image I would advise you start with; it’s also the size of the image I made for this article. Try to keep your image/printing area as central on your screen as possible.

Newsprint is the perfect stencilling material for screenprint. It is thin but strong enough to withstand the paint/ink, and when it is used as a stencil in screenprint it usually sticks with ease to the screen, allowing you to use the same stencil for a number of prints – a limited edition, if you will! It is perfectly normal for it to take a few attempts before you get the technique of pulling a print right, so it’s always worth printing a number of images in case subsequent layers of colour don’t quite go to plan.

You can then start to cut your first stencil from the sheet of newsprint. I wanted to print a simple still life of oranges on a gingham table cloth in a number of layers, so I began by cutting horizontal stripes across the table area of the image using a craft knife.

Once I had done this I cut my printing paper to size. Fabriano Rosaspina is my paper of choice as it has a good weight to it which means it doesn’t wrinkle when printed on to. You could use any other fairly weighty printmaking paper or cartridge paper (190gsm+, and smooth). I cut the Rosaspina to the same size as the screen/piece of newsprint I used for my first stencil.

You’ll then need to tape some registration guides to your board. There would ideally be one to guide the length of your paper along one side, and then another to guide the bottom edge of your paper. A mountboard offcut or a piece of cardboard is perfect for this, taped down with masking tape. By ensuring your paper is placed against these two guides your printed image will be positioned in the same place on each sheet, which will in turn ensure correct registration for subsequent layers of colour.

Place your first sheet of paper to print on within your guides, and then put your first stencil on top of this. Your may choose to print on a sheet of newsprint or a scrap piece of paper first, so you can see if the stencil works and the printed layer looks how you would like it to.

You can then bring your screen down on to your stencil and paper.

Next, it is worth taping the edges of your screen with parcel tape, or special ‘blue’ tape for this purpose. This is done to the back of the screen and effectively provides a border that prevents the newsprint stencil from doing all the hard work. The tape is a waterproof mask for the edges of your print. It’s worth taping right up to the edges of the printing area, and then remembering to remove this tape when your image is finished. If you leave the tape on the screen for weeks on end the glue may start to clog the mesh.

Make sure you are using the right medium (i.e. for paper rather than fabric), and mix thoroughly so the ‘ink’ is consistent throughout. It’s good to keep your ink in an airtight pot in case you need it at a later date. If you need it to stay wet for a few days or even weeks, you might want to also add some retarder to the formula to slow the drying further, although the screen printing medium will also slow drying to a degree.

Next, you need to put a generous amount of colour on the edge closest to you, an even strip of colour along the edge of the width of the image area. Place the colour on the tape to make sure it doesn’t leak through to your paper just yet.

Then, you need to put something in between the screen and the board to ensure the screen is lifted while you flood the screen. A roll of masking tape is perfect!

Flooding the screen is the process of holding the squeegee to the screen and moving it in a wiping action from bottom to top of the screen, depositing ink evenly across the mesh. It takes practice to develop a technique to do this successfully across the screen, but I have found speed helps, with only a little downward pressure on the screen. It also helps to hold the squeegee at a more upright angle to the screen; not quite 90 degrees, but almost, holding the squeegee at an angle slightly away from you. For a small image such as this it isn’t absolutely vital the screen is fully flooded, but it does help with an even deposit of colour when you actually go to pull your print. Once you have flooded your screen you can then pull a print. It’s always best practice to flood the screen straight after pulling a print as this helps to stop ink drying in the mesh.

Once the screen has been flooded with colour, you can then pull your first print. Remember to remove the masking tape or other object holding the screen up! You need to hold the squeegee with both hands, pushing downwards with the same amount of pressure, and with some speed, pull the squeegee towards you at a 45 degree angle. This will push the ink that is flooding the mesh down onto your paper.

Once you have pulled your print you can lift the screen and see how the layer of colour has printed. If there’s any unwanted gaps you could try squeegeeing the screen again. When you’re happy you can remove the print from the board and put it somewhere to dry. Then place your masking fluid/object between the board and the edge of your screen frame and flood the screen ready to pull your next print.

Hopefully pulling the print will have pushed enough ink through the screen to act as an adhesive for the stencil, which should then stick to the underside of your screen and hold it in place for the rest of your prints.

You might want to use a chinagraph or All Surface pencil to mark on the screen frame where the hinges are attached, as this could help find the right position for the next layers for the print to achieve good registration.

Once you have printed all your first layers, scoop up as much of the remaining ink and put it back in your pot. It’s best to wash your screen as quickly as possible to avoid the ink clogging up the mesh. If you do it soon enough, you should be able to clean the screen simply with water and a clean sponge, but if that doesn’t do the job, you can use a scrubbing brush and a little washing up liquid. Try and keep the parcel tape where it is.

Allow all your equipment to dry fully (and your prints!) before working on the next layer.

When all the prints are dry you can cut your next stencil. As my aim was to print a gingham tablecloth, my next stencil consisted of strips of newsprint placed vertically across my horizontal stripes.

You then need to place your print with the new stencil placed on top within the registration guidelines and position the screen back in the hinge clamps so the print is visible through the parcel tape border.

Then it’s simply a case of repeating the printing process, flooding then pulling the print, ensuring there’s something holding the screen away from the board and paper when you flood the screen each time.

The more medium there is added to the ink, the more transparent the colour will appear, so you can see where the layers overlap in the print at this stage – the overlapped areas appear darker. There is no limit to the amount of medium you can add to the ink, but it’s best to always have more medium than paint in the ink.

Further Layers

For the next layers I wanted to print my fruit on the table, and the shadows they cast. You may find at various stages that tracing paper is useful for placing on the image so far and mapping out where the next layers need to go. You can then place your drawing face down on to a new sheet of newsprint and draw on the back of the lines to transfer the drawing, ready to cut with a scalpel. Or you could use carbon paper.

The process is repetitious for each layer of colour, of cutting out stencils from newsprint, placing them where you want the image to be masked, mixing your colour, adding screenprinting medium, putting it on the bottom edge of the screen before flooding the screen and pulling a print. Remember to always wash the screen as soon after as possible, scooping up as much excess ink as you can with a palette knife. The colour can last for weeks in an airtight container, and if you do need the ink to stay wet for a while you can always add some acrylic retarder to it. When you have finally finished your print remove the parcel tape soon after and give the whole screen a good scrub with water and washing up liquid to make sure it’s completely free of ink and ready for your next screenprint edition.

When you first start out with screen print, keep the image small and simple, with just a few layers. I recommend working with stencils to begin with as the clean up process is relatively easy, and it’s possible to make something simple and bold relatively easily. Once you build confidence by making a few prints like this, you might feel inclined to work on a larger scale and maybe even invest in a bigger screen.

Contributing Artists (A-Z by Surname):

Linocut Design Tips

Cabrach Deveron
Bryan Angus
Linocut print, 34 x 24 cm

Bryan Angus

“As my prints are usually tonal exercises playing with light, I find it really helpful to make an ink wash drawing defining how the lighting works on paper first. When I transfer on to the block, to make sure I get the same effect I re-create the initial drawing using acrylic ink washes to stain the block. That makes seeing where you have cut easier too.”

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Pulling The Shoals of Herring Linocut
Kat Flint

Kat Flint

“When designing for lino, a number of elements combine to make a piece visually interesting: the balance of light vs dark, variations in texture and cutting tool marks, the contrast of bold shapes vs fiddly details, the flow and thickness of lines and the overall shape of the composition from a distance… Play with these! Sketch quickly. Iterate freely. Refine and refine again. Also, if you’re not confident carving, draw your designs on to the block in a chunky pen – calligraphy brush pens with permanent ink are good. They naturally limit the level of detail in your design to something achievable while giving a nice variety to the line.”

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The Shoals of Herring
Kat Flint
Linocut, 67 x 47 cm

Angie Lewin in her Edinburgh Studio
Photo by Alun Callender

Angie Lewin

“Plan out your composition on paper first. Think about the counterpoint created by white line and texture cut out of black contrasting with black line and shapes printed on white paper. Draw onto the lino with waterproof ink so that, if you proof part way through, you won’t lose your drawing – or make an error with your cutting!”

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Autumn Teasels
Angie Lewin
Linocut, 29.5 x 36 cm

Rosanna Morris

“Designing for lino is all about balance. Creating harmony between the solid areas and the areas where you’ve taken away. I like to think of it as creating weight in my image and play a lot with paintbrushes and inks to get the balance right in my sketchbook before I transfer to lino.”

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The Revolution Is Fertile
Rosanna Morris
Linocut, 76 x 56 cm

Laura Boswell

“When you are drawing a design for a print, remember that the drawing is just a step in the process. It’s there to help you make a print, not to be the measure of the print’s success or an end in itself. If you struggle with simplifying drawings down for print, start by drawing the negative space around objects and work inwards: often very little information is needed for the image to work well in print. Don’t be afraid of empty space in your drawing – prints often benefit from a balance between busy and quiet areas.”

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White Rock, Black Rock
Laura Boswell
Linocut, 34 x 51.5 cm

Temple Threshold
Matthew Lintott
Woodblock Print, 96 x 60 cm

Matthew Lintott

“The process of how you transfer your design to the block can have a characteristic mark of its own. It doesn’t just have to be a faithful reproduction. Things can be lost or found in this step. Experiment with different methods and take note of how the design differs each time you transfer it.

Visit Matthew Lintott’s Website

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Working drawings by Helen Murgatroyd

Helen Murgatroyd

“I work directly from my observational drawings and when designing my prints I often take photocopies of my sketchbook pages, enlarging or reducing the size as required, and use a very primitive cut and stick method to work out the composition. I like the playfulness and physical nature of this basic technique which allows me to test out ideas before committing to the lino.”

Visit Helen Murgatroyd’s Website

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Second Prize for my Herbs!
Helen Murgatroyd
Linocut, 35 x 47cm

Trish Flynn

“I have discovered late in my life the pleasure of cutting lino with super sharp tools, but not only that discovering that once you have learned how to get your cutters very sharp, thereafter all that is necessary is to strop regularly to keep them honed. Just like my grandad did back in the day, stropping his razor on the leather hanging from the door so to shave.

With guidance from a wood carver I used 3 stones from rough to ultra smooth to get my tools sharp, I chucked out the tools with replaceable nibs as they can’t be sharpened.

I purchased a slipstrop inexpensively, which enable the stropping of v and round cutters with the compound provided. A piece of old leather belt glued to a piece of wood is fine for flat edges.

The best bit is the woodcarvers tip ‘work 30 minutes strop 30 times’ I expect there are many different viewpoints, but so far, so good for me!”

Follow Trish Flynn on Instagram

Linocut Cutting Tips

Lisa Takahashi

“Rule number one of course is never to cut towards your non-cutting hand. Get in the habit of rotating the lino block as you cut curves to always keep yourself safe.”

Visit Lisa Takahashi’s Website

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View From Barnard Castle
Lisa Takahashi
Linocut, 25 x 25 cm

Gail Brodholt

Gail Brodholt

“I find my best ideas come to me when I’m fully engrossed in the initial drawing for a new linocut, or during the cutting – or even while proofing. I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve completely forgotten some brilliant idea until it’s too late! So now I write down all my thoughts as I go along – just in case.”

Visit Gail Brodholt’s Website

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Hannah Forward

“Invest in good quality linocutting tools and get them resharpened when they need it. Good quality inks, linoleum and paper will also make a big difference to your final result.”

Visit Hannah Forward’s Website

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Tea
Hannah Forward
Linocut, 45 x 45 cm

Gemma Trickey

“Save ALL your lino scraps for testing an idea, practicing or warming up before you carve, or for tiny carvings (quick and always addictive). Similarly carve away large areas in your block last – they will be valuable areas to test carve on. Blocks of rubbery soft carve lino can be turned over and the other side repurposed.”

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The Lost Glasshouse
Gemma Trickey
Linocut, 77 x 54 cm

Big Mig
Ben Dickson
Linocut, 80 x 60 cm

Ben Dickson

“When you start by one medium sized quality v shaped tool and keep it sharp. Learn the joy of carving first. Keep it simple.”

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Mark Wilkinson

“Cover your block in an ink wash (or do as I do and simply use the fattest permanent marker you can get your hands on) before beginning to carve. This helps you to monitor your progress across the block by making your cuts really stand out. I generally transfer the image after covering the block in ink (although I have seen it done the other way around…)”

Visit Mark Wilkinson’s Website

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Vertigo
Mark Wilkinson
Linocut, 21 x 17.2 cm

Whitstable Market Stalls
Ben Sands
Linocut, 37 x 42 cm

Ben Sands

“Automatically, with practice, your mind sees that block as a field of solid black…. when you start cutting you start letting the light into the block and revealing the world which ultimately you are going to present to the public. Because you are letting light in all the time, every cut you make lets another streak of light in.”

Visit Ben Sands’ Website

Joshua Miles

“Invest in good quality tools. Keep your chisels sharp and choose the correct chisel to achieve your desired mark. Experimenting with mark making is essential in linocuts.”

Visit Joshua Miles’ Website

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Shiny Taxi
Joshua Miles
Linocut, 28 x 38 cm

Linocut Inking And Printing Tips

Jo Oakley

“Coming from the painter / printmaker point of view is to keep it simple. This is the joy of linocutting for me.”

Visit Jo Oakley’s Website

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Royal Festival Hall prints on the drying line in Amanda Ribbans’ studio

Amanda Ribbans

“You can mix virtually every colour with the process colours: magenta, cyan, yellow and black plus white. Adding extender to the ink and then layering the pure primary colours ‘diluted’ on top of each other will result in pleasing secondary colours.”

Visit Amanda Ribbans’ Website

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Victoria Willmott

“To achieve tonal effects on your prints you can vary how you press the lino onto paper. If printing without a press you can rub lightly in some areas and heavier in others using either the back of a spoon or just your palm. You can also place small pieces of newsprint over areas of your lino to take off a thin layer of ink before you print the block on a sheet of paper. Experiment yourself seeing how different areas of tone can be achieved. Once you’ve found the desired effect you can still produce a edition of your print or perhaps a variable edition where each print has a slight variation of print tone.”

Visit Victoria Willmott’s Website

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Wanderings
Victoria Willmott
Linocut, 42 x 30 cm

Lewis Merthyr Winding Gear 2
Ieuan Edwards
Linocut, 76 x 56 cm

Ieuan Edwards

“Hold your inked block towards a good light source to check for under/over inking and any stray bits of lino or fluff.”

Visit Ieuan Edwards’ Website

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The Swing – A Fairytale
Eric Gaskell
Linocut, 35 x 31 cm

Eric Gaskell

“Proof, proof, proof (even if it’s one colour) to check cutting, colour and registration as you progress. Don’t assume you know how it will all end, things can change.”

Visit Eric Gaskell’s Website

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Nick Morley

“When mixing two colours together, start with the lighter or weaker colour and add a small amount of the darker or stronger colour. Repeat until you have the right colour. For example, when mixing green, start with yellow and add a little bit of blue at a time. Test your mixed colour by scraping a thin layer onto paper with a spatula or ink knife.”

Visit Nick Morley’s Website

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Churchyard
Nick Morley
Linocut, 27 x 35 cm

John Pedder

“My big tip would be about getting rid of fingerprints. Because I’m quite messy I get rid of fingerprints on my prints with an ordinary rubber but in this cold weather the rubber can easily tear the paper so I always keep it in my pocket to allow my body temperature to keep it from getting too cold.”

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Mother And Child
John Pedder
Woodcut, 76 x 57 cm

Visit The Linoprint3 Exhibition Website

Watch A Special Q&A Event At The Exhibition Featuring Laura Boswell, Kat Flint, Sean Star Wars And Cranfield’s Michael Craine Via Laura Boswell’s YouTube Channel (After 12/2/2023)

The History of Printmaking with Metallic Ink

Throughout history, metallic inks or powders have been used in printmaking to enhance colours or add status to the print as an object. Gold, representing divine light or wealth and luxury, was added to sculptures, paintings, and manuscripts in the form of metal leaf.

In printmaking, metal pigments were used including copper, aluminium, and zinc. These were combined to form the alloys brass and tin which stood in for gold and silver. For millennia, the mineral mica has been used by artists and artisans for its shine and sparkle. Kirazuri (雲母摺り) is the Japanese method of printing with mica. Mixed in or added after, the iridescent mica powder created shimmering, luminous areas within the printed image. It could enhance a highlight or add glamour to a portrait’s background. In a sub-genre of Ukyo-e woodblock printmaking called Surimono, special prints were commissioned for private ownership that might include real metal pigments and mica to beautify a print and signify exclusivity.

What is Metallic Printmaking Ink Made From Today?

Unlike the mined mineral, today mica is manufactured from synthetic fluorphlogopite and coated with all manner of colourants and oxides to produce a myriad of glittery pigments and pearlescent powders which expands on the properties of the naturally occurring mineral. Metallic pigments from real metals don’t contain any inherent sparkle. Ground down to round particles they create an opaque, dull effect, but in the form of tiny flakes or ‘leaflets’, they can reflect light in multiple directions and create shine and reflectivity.

Close up of etching printed with Akua Intaglio Gold

Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink in Gold

Intaglio Printing in Silver and Gold Metallic Inks

Here at Jackson’s, we stock two types of metallic ink for Intaglio, Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink, and Akua Intaglio Ink. Each manufacturer has designed an ink to fit within their respective ranges. Cranfield use true metal flaked pigments in a linseed oil base to create a traditional oil-based intaglio ink. Due to the type of metal pigments Cranfield prefer, they have not formulated a Caligo Safe Wash etching version, of course there is no reason why the Traditional Etching metallics cannot be used alongside the Caligo Safe Wash inks, you will just need to adhere to the respective clean-up processes. Akua Intaglio inks are soya oil based and use metallised, or coated, mica pigments, maintaining the water washable properties of the ink. Side by side the inks appear and behave quite differently.

Cranfield Traditional Etching Silver RJE7500887 and Akua Intaglio Ink Metallic Silver.

Etching Inks are traditionally quite stiff with lots of pigment load and less tackiness than relief inks. This enables the ink to be pushed into the lines and for it to remain there while the excess is wiped off the plate’s surface. The incised lines can vary enormously and here I have used three plates to include a very fine etched line, a deeper, wider etched line, and an acrylic spray aquatint.

Cranfield Traditional Etching Ink in Gold and Akua Intaglio Ink in Metallic Gold printing the deep line etching plate.

Cranfield’s Traditional Etching Metallic Inks are a stiff ink, and feel a little tackier than other colours within the range. The metal pigments are inherently drying, therefore it is not recommended that you wipe on a warming plate or leave the ink sitting on the plate for an extended period. Cranfield suggest adding a very small amount of Easy Wipe compound to aid wiping. I did find if I added too much, it dulled the metallic appearance of the ink, so testing is advised. I found wiping with butter muslin after an initial scrim wipe helped a great deal. The colour and tone of the gold and silver were strong and held well in the finest of lines. The crisp leaf pigments of Cranfield Traditional Etching metallics reflect from the embossed printed line to create a gilded appearance. On a white paper the tones were strong with the gold giving a copper colour and the silver giving a deep metallic graphite colour.

Akua Intaglio ink is a very soft ink that makes plate wiping a dream, in fact no scrim is required – after scraping the excess ink off the plate, you can simply skip to a newsprint wipe for the rest. These inks differ in the fact that they appear as a glittery suspension in the oil carrier. The printed lines were softer with the metallic particles more visible. The metallic particles did tend to break free of the ink, so found their way onto the wiped plate surface and occasionally onto the non-print areas of the image. On the very fine etching the gold pigment had trouble getting into the lines of the plate, but overall, the ink gave a delicate print with a little more sparkle than the Cranfield.

Cleaning up both works in the same way as the other colours in their respective ranges, I did however find the Akua metallics harder to remove with just washing detergent and water so resorted to some printmakers cleaner to help.

Relief Printing in Silver Metallic Inks

Given the huge popularity of relief printing, there are many ink brands available, with several including metallics in their ranges. At Jackson’s we have metallic inks by Cranfield, Akua, Essdee and Schmincke that include traditional oil based, water-washable oil as well as water-based inks for paper. Unlike intaglio, relief printing transfers a larger amount of ink onto the paper, and because we apply it with a roller, a tackier ink is required. The relief block will transfer a flat layer of ink to the paper, so I thought it worth exploring the idea of using an undertone colour to see if any enhancement of the metallic quality could be achieved. The technique of placing undertones under metallics is universal, for example a red or yellow under gold and a black or blue under silver is thought to add richness to the metal leaf or metallic paint above. When using this idea in printmaking, accurate registration will be required.

Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink Silver on Awagami Kozo PAWZ4643 and Stonehenge Black

Schmincke Aqua Linoprint inks include silver, gold and copper and are manufactured using coloured pearl mica pigments. The silver is slightly tinted with graphite (PBk10) – Schmincke say without the grey component it would be pearlescent and a little too transparent to really look like silver. The inks are gum arabic based with a high pigment load. The silver has good opacity on both black and white paper, printing over a black undertone colour did not appear to increase the metallic quality, however a double layer of the silver retained the tone but enhanced the reflectivity of the ink. This second layer of silver was applied immediately over the first before it was dry. Schmincke’s three metallics, as well as the pearl medium can be mixed with “normal” Aqua Linoprint colours to obtain metallic variants of all the colours in the range.

Essdee Block Printing Silver on Awagami Kozo PAWZ4643 and Stonehenge Black

Essdee Block Printing Inks include a range of metallics and pearlescent colours utilising mica as opposed to metal pigments. They describe them as mineral pigment powders with metallic oxide coatings which provide a metallic colour and appearance. The silver ink prints as a handsome, sparkly pewter and a double layer again enhances the opacity and reflectivity of the ink. On black paper or a black undertone the ink appeared quite translucent with a subtle sparkle of mica particles.

Akua Intaglio Ink in Metallic Silver on Awagami Kozo PAWZ4643 and Stonehenge Black

Akua Intaglio Inks are multipurpose, so as well as being excellent for intaglio and collagraph, they can be rolled out and used for monoprinting and relief. These water washable inks as mentioned before, contain coated mica pigments in a soya-oil base. The Akua silver printed with a gentle sheen and a delicate translucency. I found adding some opaque white was an option to add some opacity on black paper, however again, best results come from a double layer of ink enhancing its metallic appearance.

Cranfield Relief Ink Silver and Cranfield Traditional Letterpress Ink Carbon Black on Awagami Kozo PAWZ4643 and Stonehenge Black

Just like their etching range, Cranfield has chosen a traditional oil-based formulation for their metallic relief inks, with genuine flaked metal pigments. Printing by hand burnishing, although great on lighter papers, becomes more challenging on heavier weights. This higher tack ink will yield better results on heavier papers when printed using a press. The body of the ink holds up under printing pressure to give a crisp image and a double layer does increase the opacity for a true metal shine. It was with this ink that I found printing over a black undertone to work best with accurate registration achievable due to the added tackiness of the oil based formulation. The result gave a three-dimensional quality with the solid metallic silver really sitting in the foreground.

Whichever inks you choose for your relief printing, drying and clean up will vary not only between ranges, but within ranges also. Drying times need to account for temperature, humidity, absorption of paper and how thickly the ink is applied. When cleaning you need to watch out for mica particles breaking free of the ink and transferring to other surfaces.

Screenprinting with Metallic Inks

As always in printmaking, variables count, including paper type, ink layers, and in screen printing, the mesh count of the screen. Metallic inks have large particles of pigment and perform better with a coarser mesh count, a 77T (196US) mesh is recommended for screen printing metallics on paper. The inks can be printed through finer mesh, but the metallic impact will be reduced. Printing metallics over an undertone colour is much more common in screen printing. Although you will not see the undertone colour, it can add warmth or coolness, enriching the gold or silver above.

Aqua Art Matt Black, Aqua Art Silver over Black, Aqua Art Silver

Above you can see a silver ink half printed over a layer of undertone black and half directly on to paper. It is shinier over the black than where it sits directly on the paper. You can also print an initial layer of transparent base, then print your metallic over that. This will help the ink sit on the surface of the print and increase its reflectivity.

The two ready-to-use screen inks for paper we stock are Aqua Art Water Based Screen Ink and Daler Rowney System 3 Screenprinting Acrylic. The pigments used are metallised micas since both are water-based systems. The Aqua Art gold prints very opaque through a 77T(196US) mesh, so a single pull is sufficient to create a solid appearance of true metal. The colour enriching effect of the red undertone appears marginal as a result, however printing over a first layer of ink, be that an undertone or a transparent base, increases the reflectivity of the gold and enhances its metallic shine.

Aqua Art Gold over transparent base RAA50027 and undertone red on Stonehenge Black

Aqua Art Gold over transparent base

Aqua Art Gold over undertone red

Aqua Art Gold over transparent base and undertone red on Fabriano Artistico

The Daler Rowney gold acrylic for screen has a soft, sparkly appearance. The bright mica pigments reflect well on a dark background but on white there is some translucency to it. Squeegeeing a second ‘pull’ of ink through will help with this. However, when printing directly onto a white paper, a second layer printed when the first layer of gold is dry will really add opacity.

Daler Rowney Gold in a single layer over undertone red and transparent base

Daler Rowney Gold in a double layer over undertone red and transparent base

Given the translucency of the Daler Rowney ink, making use of an undertone base colour will significantly influence its final appearance and so widen the scope for printing many variations of gold.

Printmaking with metallic inks will always add an extra dimension to your work, whether you choose to make them shine as a foreground element or subtly enhance areas in a more naturalistic way, I hope the above article provides some useful pointers for exploring them.

Q & A with David Ferry, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

How long have you been the President of the RE? Can you talk about your path to getting there? Are you a printmaker yourself?

David: I became President in 2018 and prior to that was a member of the RE Council, which is a normal step towards Presidency. I studied Printmaking at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and was privileged to have as my mentors, Agathe Sorel, Stanley Jones and Peter Daglish amongst others. Their genuine enthusiasm for printmaking was infectious and life-long, and their legacy is an important and magical one. I am constantly surprised and excited by the printmaking act however simple or technologically complex. The alchemy of printmaking rests in the imagination of the maker.

What is the most predominant style of printmaking you see as the president of the RE?

David: Recently, I have seen a joyous return to narrative image making, with a celebration of colour coupled with a wide spectrum of printmaking process from woodcut to digital and everything in between. Printmaking is a forever evolving art process, there are no real rules, only the originality of the image. This has been proven throughout our previous International Original Print Exhibitions. Myself and our invited selectors are amazed by the enormous variety and voracity of spirit within the artists’ submissions.

Carousel
Amy Van den Bergh
Risograph print

Can you tell us about the history of the exhibition? How long has it been running and how has it evolved?

David: The initial concept for what was called the National Original Print Exhibition began in 2014, and this was the forerunner to our recently revived open submission exhibition, which we now call the International Original Print Exhibition. This renaming was to reflect our increasing global reach and we are delighted to have an increasing number of submissions from across the world.

As a member of the selection panel, can you tell us what will you be looking for the in the entries for the exhibition this year?

David: We will be looking for originality, verve, risk-taking with a celebration of printmaking in whatever form the submission takes. Each year the look and feel of the exhibition changes because we invite selectors from many fields of culture to be our selectors. This year we are proud to announce our guest selectors; Rob Ryan, Sharon Lloyd and Mark Golder who bring with them a personal dynamic and flavour to the whole mix.

What advice do you have for anyone thinking of submitting their work to be considered for the exhibition?

David: We accept submissions from all printmakers, irrespective of their experience in printmaking. Please do not think you have to be a master of process to enter. We welcome a complete kaleidoscope of intent and production and are always looking for the unexpected and the different. This approach is what makes the resulting exhibition at Bankside Gallery a hugely diverse and eclectic collection of images.

This years winner will receive a £250 Jackson’s Art Voucher

International Original Print Exhibition 2023

Selection Panel

This year’s selection panel are Artist Rob Ryan, Collector & Academic Dr Mark Golder, Co-Founder of FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality), Sharon Lloyd. They will be joined by RE President, David Ferry and Vice President Michelle Griffiths.

They will select the exhibition of works that will then take place at London’s Bankside Gallery from 21 September – 1 October 2023. This usually includes up to 200 works. Printmaking in every form is eligible and the exhibition frequently pushes the boundaries of what people expect from a printmaking show, with the inclusion of 3D work and digital animations and super-sized pieces.

Prizes

International Original Print Exhibition is supported by numerous prizegivers, offering editorial and exhibiting opportunities, studio time and artists materials. The RE gives a prize of a one-year Guest Membership to the Society to one exhibiting artist.

The winner will receive a £250 Jackson’s Art Voucher.

Dates

Competition deadline for entries: 3 July 2023

Exhibition of successful entries: 21 September – 1 October, 2023 at Bankside Gallery, Thames Riverside, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH

Private View and Prizegiving: Wednesday 20 September 6.00 pm – 8.00 pm

Applicants can find out more information and enter online here

Unveiling
Fiona Fouhy
Monotype print

Linocut: Learn in a Weekend – Linocut Carving Techniques

Text by Nick Morley | Photographs by Rita Platts

Carving lino can be very relaxing; some people find it almost addictive. Like any skill, it takes practice to build up your confidence. Before you tackle any of the projects I suggest you carve a test block to get used to the tools, and try out all the different techniques that follow. The projects each use one or more of these techniques. You can refer back to this section at any time if you need a reminder.

What You Will Need

• Lino block

• Permanent marker pen or acrylic paint

• Paper towel

• Cutting tools

• Non-slip mat

Start by making a test block to experiment with carving a variety of marks and to get a feel for the different tools. You can use the example on page 21 as a guide but feel free to try out your own ideas. Don’t worry about making your marks look like a coherent design, think of it more like a sampler which you can refer back to. Once you have finished carving your test block, print it by following the instructions in the Printing section.

Before you start, colour in the surface of the block with the marker pen or brush some acrylic paint diluted with water onto the surface and then wipe it off with a paper towel. You want just enough to stain the surface, without leaving any bumps or ridges of paint. This stage is optional, but makes it easier to see your carved marks. The parts of the lino you remove are going to be white, assuming you are printing on white paper. Colouring the block helps your brain get used to this, as the parts you carve out will appear lighter than the uncut areas.

Linocut Carving Techniques

Linocut Carving Safety

The tools are sharp, so to avoid cutting yourself, always carve away from your hands and away from your body. You will need to hold the lino with your second hand, so make sure you are holding it to the side or behind your cutting tool. Place a non-slip mat under the block when you are carving to stop it moving around.

Holding the Tools

Hold the tool so the handle is in the centre of your palm. Your fingers should be fairly relaxed, with your first finger pointing straight down the shaft. Make sure the tool is the right way up, with the cutting edge pointing straight down.

The angle you hold the tool at will determine whether the cutting tip moves forward in a level way as you push on the tool, or moves up or down. By raising or lowering your wrist you can control this. Raise your wrist slightly to make a steeper angle and the tool will go deeper into the lino. Lower your wrist to make a shallower angle to bring the cutting tip back up towards the surface. In between you should find the exact angle at which the tool travels forward in a continuous line. This angle may vary between tools.

The exact angle you need to hold the tool will vary slightly depending on which tool you are using.

Two common things can happen here. If the tool goes too deep it can start to tear the lino, or even get stuck completely. If this happens, lower your wrist slightly to bring the cutting tip up. On the other hand, if the tool keeps skidding and you feel that you’re not  in control, bring your wrist up slightly so the cutting  tip goes down. These adjustments are subtle and take  a little time to master, but it’s better to practise now  so you can control your cutting when you do your  first project.

You will find that you have to push harder with the larger tools, as you are removing more lino. Try to push the tool with your whole arm, using your body weight to generate the force. When you use the smaller tools or make shallower cuts, you need less force – a small movement of the wrist may be enough. Your cutting technique will develop over time, but do try to keep everything relaxed as much as possible … and remember to breathe!

Linocut Carving Techniques

Test Block Print Key

1. Varied widths of line made by different tools. Notice how the two ends of each line you carve are shaped by the tool. Top to bottom: 1 mm U, 3 mm U, 5 mm U, 1 mm V, large V (shallow cut), large V (deep cut).

2. Lines with a square end. Top to bottom: 3 mm U, 5 mm U, large V.

3. Curved lines. Top to bottom: 1 mm V, 1 mm U, 3 mm U.

4. Varied width line made with large V.

5. Circle made with 3 mm U.

6. Dots. Top to bottom: 1 mm U, 3 mm U, 5 mm U.

7. Semicircles made with 3 mm and 5 mm U. Triangles made with large V.

8. Stars made with large V.

9–10. Large V.

11. Large V carving with sideways and up-and-down motion.

12. Large U semicircles.

13. 1 mm U wavy lines.

14. Large V tapered lines.

15–17. 3 mm U.

18. 1 mm V.

19–21. 5 mm U.

Carving a straight line

Practise making straight, even lines of different lengths on your test block with each of your tools. An even width of line is best made with a U-shaped tool, with the size of tool determining the width. Use the large V-shaped tool to cut a variety of widths of line, including a very fine line.

Varied width of line

By varying the depth of the tool you can make the line wider or narrower. This is especially effective with the V-shaped tool. Raise and lower your wrist as you carve. Try a curved line by moving your wrist from side to side as well as up and down.

Making a line with a square end

Instead of lowering your wrist at the end of a line, stop the tool where you want the line to end, leaving the lino shaving attached to the block. Bring the cutting tip straight back about 2–3mm. Lift the cutting tip to bend the lino shaving up and over until it breaks off.

Linocut Carving Techniques

Carving a circle

To make a circle or a pronounced curve, rotate the block as you carve. This technique is easier with a U-shaped tool and without the non-slip mat. Lean into the tool and push the block against it with your other hand, being careful not to cut towards your fingers. Rotate the block as you cut, keeping your cutting hand steady.

Curved lines

Gentle curves can be made by moving your wrist or arm left and right as you cut forwards. More pronounced curves may require you to move your whole body. Try to keep your hand level as you move, so the cutting tip of the tool remains upright.

Linocut Carving Techniques

Little semicircles and triangles

To make a semicircle, hold the U-shaped tool at 45 degrees and stick it into the lino, then pull it back out halfway. Lift the tool to bend the piece of lino back on itself until it breaks off. Triangles can be made in the same way as semicircles, but using a large V-shaped tool.

Dots

You can make different-sized dots using each of the U-shaped tools. Hold the tool at 45 degrees and stick it into the lino a little way, then hold the tool steady while you rotate the block around it in a circle. The dots will not always be perfectly round, but with a little practice you can get them pretty close.

Linocut Carving Techniques

Stars

To make a star, carve inwards from the tip of each point of the star towards the centre using the large V-shaped tool. Hold the tool at a steep angle so the point goes down towards the centre of the star.

Japanese Double Sided Relief Printing Vinyl

by Vesta Dobreva-Stefanov

For the last 25 years I’ve been working as a pattern-maker in the fashion industry. Several months ago I’d never heard of Japanese vinyl, but now it is my passion.

My interest in block-printing started after seeing the work of an amazing artist Ali Baecker. I met her as a guest teacher through a website where I’m studying Surface Pattern Design.

My personal philosophy of self-realisation is that you need small victories that keep you running in the right direction to your big victory ahead. Block-printing is like a metaphor for this – you carve small pieces, you print them next to each other, sometimes in different patterns of relation, you experience instant gratification, but also while working on so many other tools in your life:

The tool of relaxation – once taken by the flow, you remember it deeply.
Brain-hand coordination.
Learning the skill of strategy – moving in special algorithms.
Controlling your patience.
The ability to let go, to forgive yourself for mistakes.
Raising your standards along the way.

And all that comes from a small block, good carving tool, an ink pad and a simple decision.

There is a great choice of materials on the market for block-printing. I can say, I’ve tried nearly all of them! They are categorised from soft to hard; soft, being like Speedball Speedy Carve and Essdee SoftCut, and hard, being linoleum.

I haven’t been able to source Japanese vinyl in the USA, so I was lucky I browsed Jackson’s website a couple of months ago and discovered it, and ordered some to test. From the first carve I knew this material loved me. Every carving stroke formed a visual delight in my mind. I got instantly hooked!

It combines the best of both worlds – it has some resistance, but not as the hard linoleum, and it doesn’t have the springiness of soft-carve. Other things I love about it:

It can be cut to shape with big scissors.
I can carve the tiniest lines of hatching and cross-hatching.
When I carve, there is a darker core inside, so my lines are visible clearly.
It washes perfectly with dishwashing soap and a sponge.
It takes a tape on the back side which I can use as a handle.
Also the price is very affordable, to the point of experimenting without painful cost.

Next time you’re thinking of getting a meaningful gift for loved ones, I recommend a small block of Japanese vinyl, two good quality carving tools, an ink pad, and a good audiobook.

The ability to design, execute and print your own idea gives me great happiness – the feeling of accomplishment and joy! And we, as human beings, should appreciate, share and inspire each other with our small and big accomplishments. Art is a moving target, but the process makes us a part of one tribe.

Follow Vesta on Instagram

Leave an informative and detailed review on Jackson’s Website and be in to win a £25 Jackson’s Voucher, and have your review published here.

Contents – In Conversation with David Valliere of Speedball

0:00 Introduction

0:16 How did the company begin?

1:43 Where did the name Speedball come from?

02:03 What is Speedball known for?

02:40 When and why did Speedball begin producing block and screen printing materials?

03:18 Why do you have so many different ink ranges for block and screen printing? And how do the different ranges differ?

05:55 You have a few different lino surfaces to choose from. What are the differences between these and who do they cater for?

07:00 You work closely with artists when formulating and innovating your products. Can you tell us about some key collaborations?

10:26 How many people are in the team today?

11:33 What does an average day look like at Speedball?

14:49 Credits

Contents

Essential Tools for Monotype

Ink Slab

Roller

Ink

Paper

Palette Knife

Rags

Drawing Tools

Pencil

Brushes

Optional Extras

What is the Difference Between Monotype and Monoprint?

Two Considerations To Remember When Making Monotype Prints

There are 3 main approaches to monotype printmaking.

No. 1: Monochrome Linear Monotypes – Placing Paper on an Inked up Slab and Drawing on the Reverse

How thin should the ink be?

Using a Hard and a Soft Pencil

Using a mix of drawing tools

Putting Different Colour Inks on the Slab

No. 2: Painterly Monotypes – Painting the Image on the Slab

No.3: Stencils

Method 1: Toner print-out and baking paper

Things to be aware of:

Pros:

Cons:

Method 2: Tracing Paper and Carbon Paper

Pros:

Cons:

Method 3: PVA Glue transfer

Summary

Making Art During Lockdown

Sally Hirst

Nick Morley

Julie Caves

Method 1: Toner print-out and baking paper

Things to be aware of:

Pros:

Cons:

Method 2: Tracing Paper and Carbon Paper

Pros:

Cons:

Method 3: PVA Glue transfer

Summary

Protection

Metal Salt Etching

Safer Solvents

Degreasing

Acrylic Resists

For Cleaning Acrylic Resist Etching

Water Washable Oil Based Ink

Contents

Colour in Woodcut Printmaking:

What does woodcut printmaking involve?

What’s the difference between Japanese and European Woodcut Printmaking?

Essential Tools for Woodcut Printmaking

Soft Pencil and Tracing paper or Carbon Paper

The Woodblock

Carving Tools

Sharpening Tools

Roller or Brayer

Ink

Water-based Ink

Water Soluble Oil-based Ink

Oil-based Ink

Inking Slab

Printing Press or a Baren

Paper

Colour In Woodcut Printmaking

Inking up a single block with multiple colours:

Printing with multiple blocks:

Printing with one block (reduction method):

Further Reading:

Slama Press Options

Testing the Sláma Printmaking Press

Relief Printing With The Sláma Press

Printing A Woodcut Block On Japanese Style Paper

Printing A Linocut Block With The Sláma Press

Intaglio Printing With The Sláma Printmaking Press

Conclusion