Lino cutting is something many people have tried at school, where a design is carved into a linoleum block.  There are several ways to approach lino cutting and I offer one, two or three day courses depending on your experience/level of skill.

Day One:  An introduction to lino cutting.  This day involves learning basic lino cutting techniques, how to plan an appropriate design, how to ink the block and different methods of taking a final print, some of which can be used at home without a press.  Do bring along photos/ideas that we can hopefully adapt to create your own design(s).

Day Two:  Reduction lino cutting.  Reduction lino cutting is said to have been invented by Picasso and is also known as ‘suicide lino’ as it involves cutting away and printing a single block in stages until there is little if anything left.  During this workshop you will learn how to plan, cut, register and print a simple reduction lino cut in no more than 4 or 5 stages.  By the end of the day, you should have produced a small edition of identical, multi-coloured prints …

Day Three: Lino cutting and monoprinting.  It is possible to combine lino cutting and monoprinting to produce a variable edition of prints based on the same design.  There are no hard and fast rules and variations can include using different colour combinations, missing out stages during the reduction process and incorporating monoprinted elements, which often add a textured effect.  This method of producing prints is all about experimentation and responding to the images as they evolve.  A firm grasp of reduction lino cutting is needed for this workshop, along with a basic design idea.  The rest will develop during the day, by the end of which you should have a series of unique but connected images!

Images from earlier sessions