Linocut Prints Fine Art By Artist Doug Kemp Artist Collection

A linocut is a relief print that is produced like a woodcut, but that uses lino as the surface from which the design is cut, carved as a template that is used for the printing

In making a linocut, basically, you take your design and use the negative space to paint the same picture over and over. It is an easy and effective method.

There are two methods:

• Single block Linocut Prints
• Multiblock Linocut Prints

Single block Linocut Prints

1) Single block Linocut Prints. Here an initial cut pattern is printed for the whole (generally very limited) edition as the first part of the required image, and then the same block is further cut and printed again, registered with the original first printing.

This may be repeated a number of times. The final required image is therefore built up, and the edition is limited to the number of prints made at the start and the subsequent cuttings, since a constituent part of the image is lost each time. Picasso is known for using this method.

Multiblock Linocut Prints

2) Multiblock Linocut Prints. This is a more common technique, used by many artists. A separate block (commonly 3 to 5) is cut for the different colours in the required image and printed sequentially.

A downside is that there has to be careful registration of the blocks at each stage and consideration of any colour upon a previously laid colour might change the overall effect. Another issue is that there might be some slight changes in colours, even within the same edition, due to differential inking effects.

This can still occur in the Single block method, but generally to a lesser extent. Proof checking is critical, but some slight variation, even within the same edition, is acceptable and might be considered desirable by some people by getting a unique (ish) copy.

A major benefit of Multiblock is that many different colour versions of the same image can be made and account for all tastes.