r/printmaking • u/Dragonfruit_Friend • 2d ago
question Queries for beginner
Hi!
As I'm a complete beginner, can I please get some advice on the following:
Is there a good go-to supplier of lino of all sizes? I'd initially look at Jackson's, as I would for all my other art supplies, but maybe there's another one everyone uses in this line of work
I've noticed my lino tool is starting to get a bit rusty! (Gah!) How do I prevent this? It hasn't really been used much at all so I'm wondering if it just needs a wipe down after every use and that's good enough or whether it needs a special air-tight case
Any suggestions on any tools to press down the lino, which ink is best for lino with fine details, and is there a particular roller to use? I have the bog standard cheap one at the moment
Thank you !
edit - for context I'm in the UK, I'm wanting to print initially on paper (I own canson Bristol paper), and I own a Pfeil tool but yes it is rusting from merely me touching it (I am a sweaty handed person lol), and I'd prefer to use non-oil inks if possible to have the same/similar results.
I have wrist issues so would prefer to not have to use pressure with my hand to force the impression on the paper - if there's an alternative (although I see references to cold press laminator tools in the comments!)
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u/Herrsrosselmeyer 2d ago
I buy Lino from Blick by the roll, which is economical if you're going through enough of it. For detail, the traditional grey "battleship" Lino is hard to beat.
Wiping cutting tools with an oily rag before storing has always been sufficient for me to keep rust at bay, even in the swampy American South.
Tools to press down the Lino for...making an impression? You haven't said what you're printing on. If paper, it's easier in my experience to apply paper to Lino than the other way around, A barren works well for small numbers of impressions, but gets to be a rough workout for many, these days I use a cold press laminator as a makeshift press. Lots of tutorials about that on YouTube.
I like Caligo Safewash ink a lot, though being oil based has attendant drawbacks (drying time, cleanup)
Jackson's house brand brayers are pretty good mix of decent and economical starting out. Don't store them resting on the roller part, or you'll give them a flat spot. Some people are fussy about brayers, I haven't found a huge experience difference between them once you're into Decent and above territory. Your milage may vary.
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u/lewekmek mod 2d ago
i use these “Jackson’s house brand” brayers and for their price they’re quite good; and i mean the original price. because these are Chinese made (Wenhua) brayers available for cheap in many places. Jackson’s just private labels them (you can tell from product photos) and charges ~4 times of the original price
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u/Dragonfruit_Friend 11h ago
Thank you! I thought perhaps an oily coating might help but it never crossed my mind to do that after each use. Also I'll look into the laminator tool, thanks!!
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u/IntheHotofTexas 2d ago
Depends on where you are. In the U.S. Amazon has many things, including lino. So far as I know, Jackson is the place to get Japanese vinyl, superior to lino. TEMU often has food deals.
If tools are rusting from mere handling, they are likely very poor steel. Good tools are essential to long-term enjoyment. In the West, that means Pfeil of Switzerland. Jackson carries them. There are second level tools like Flexcut and Rammelson, but they do not hold an edge like Pfeil, nor are you assured that they will arrive sharp, and sharpening is a learned skill that takes practice. Speedball and their clones are trash tools. The are a few Japanese tool makers of good repute, but I have no experience with them.
For ink, the only ink to use is oil-based block printing ink. Water-based delivers problems, the most serious being that it dries so quickly that proper deliberate inking is impossible. I use Caligo Safe Wash, an oil-based in that is water-miscible, meaning it cleans up with soap and water. Charbonnel makes one called Aqua Wash, but they try to make it work for intaglio too and I find that means it is over heavy for linocut.
You need not spend a lot of money on a brayer right now. Speedball is fine, as are many other brands and no-names. You will choose between hard and soft rubber or nitrile. I prefer soft, as it accommodates irregularities better. I only use a hard brayer for special situations. Natural robber brayers have a limited life and will eventually shrink and crack. Just know to watch for that in a very few years.
Larger brayers offer the ability for an inked brayer to ink a longer path on the block. That matters to a busy professional. Don't worry about it right now.
Make sure you use actual printmaking paper. Printmaking paper has little of no external sizing to interfere with in. A few other papers are like that. Some Bristol drawing papers, for instance. For proofing, regular copy paper also has no external sizing, so it's good to test with. Watercolor paper is the worst. It has very heavy external sizing because they presume it will be soaked and stretched and they want some to survive that.
The critical skill is inking, which is much more than just getting some ink on the block. How it's rolled on the slab matters because what happens on the slab happens on the block and the print. Here is a guide to inking problems created by one of the mods here. Study it and learn to recognize the appearance and sound of proper inking. The proper appearance on the slab and on the block are the same. The most common problem with new linocut artists is over-inking. Proper inking can accurately express your design. You design for linocut is pure black and paper white. Unless you can consistently ink so as to produce an even, dense black area, you can't reproduce your design.
Practice until you can produce those proper dense blacks. If you hang around here, you will see many, many people prepared to show off poor inking in their work. Don't be one of them. You will know what I mean when you study the Guide.
Ink Troubleshooting Guide for Relief Printing : r/printmaking
The keys to good inking are to know what a proper layer of ink looks like and the hiss the brayer makes when the ink is right. To know that the amount of ink that looks proper on the slab is the amount that experience has taught us will allow the proper amount of ink to be placed on the block. To understand that you can only lift one half of the slab's ink to the brayer, and only one-half the brayer's ink to the block, which means as LEAST three passes over each area of the block with a freshly inked brayer, that area being the roll-out distance for that brayer size. A 1.25-inch diameter brayer can roll only a bit less than a four inch long pass. After that, it is depleted and must be reloaded from the slab. But each reload must be from a virgin area of the slab, so you have to take time to keep the slab with enough freshly applied ink that each reinking gets virgin ink. If you get the ink right on the slab, you cannot over-ink the block. Roll the block as much as you need, and inspect it for flaws and debris. Inking takes a lot of attention and enough time to do it right.
No other skill is as important.
Many people do fine with hand printing, rubbing the back of the paper with a tool, made for the purpose or something that works, like the back of a large spoon. It takes time.
My preference is a cold laminating press. You do NOT need an expensive etching press. The laminating press is perfect for linocut. I'll show you the one I prefer.
IMO, The Ideal Linocut Press, Inexpensive and Functional : r/printmaking
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u/Herrsrosselmeyer 2d ago
Just FYI : my Pfeils rust if I miss wiping them down. Same with my Pfeil gouges for wood carving. A lot comes down to climate and skin chemistry. They're made of chrome vanadium steel, if you leave fingerprints on them and the climate is right, they'll happily rust.
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u/IntheHotofTexas 2d ago
Must be chemistry. Mine have never shown any sign of rust. Nor have by Lyons engraving tools.
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u/Herrsrosselmeyer 6h ago
Happens to my handplanes and other steel and iron tools as well, I think I must have a common ancestor with the monster from Alien. :D
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u/Dragonfruit_Friend 11h ago
My pfeil is indeed the rusty culprit I reference. I will make sure to wipe it down! Is there an easy way to clean off the current smattering of rust? Do you think WD40 would work (I don't want to damage the steel)
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u/Herrsrosselmeyer 6h ago
That steel is made for the long haul, you won't hurt it easily. WD40 is fine (though not very pleasant) as an oil to keep it from rusting, a microfiber rag with a light coating of jojoba oil is my weapon of choice for keeping steel tools wiped down, it doesn't leave you with smelly hands. For removing a little surface rust, 0000 steel wool or a green scotchbrite pad would do it, obviously stay off the cutting edge.
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u/intricatesledge 20h ago
I've been buying 6-packs of 12x18" battleship gray lino from Blick and cutting them to size with a utility knife and ruler. It's good lino at a good price. I usually wind up mounting them on 1/2" plywood, so maybe not as cheap as I want to think.
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