Adventures in Printmaking

Practice on newsprint paper.

When I first signed up for the Printmaking class, I thought it consisted of screen printing (the type used to make t-shirt designs) and various designs that could be made with screen printing. I read the description of the class, but did I really read it? Nope. Did I look up the types of printmaking that were listed? Not at all. Going into a class without a shred of knowledge about what you are going to learn, is either foolish or foolhardy. Apparently, I was both.

First project is linocut. The process of carving into a linoleum sheet, inking the linoleum, and running it through a press with paper to make a print. Did I enjoy the process? Sort of. Besides stabbing myself with the cutting tool, it is unusual transferring my preferred medium of pen and paper to a raised surface.

Lino sheet after the final cut.

Then there came the reduction print process. The initial drawings as you can see here are done in permanent ink as a guide. After every color inked, the parts to stay in that color had to be carved away on the linoleum sheet. It was painful to see the details and large chunks disappear. I clinched my teeth so hard my jaw hurt. This class should have come with a warning label.

Until I realized, that by the end, the drawing hardly changed. I didn’t do it on purpose, but perhaps my illustration heart made a design that would largely remain the same from the first color to the final print.

Printmaking Level: 1

Linocut proficency: Novice Unlocked

HP (Hit points or times stabbed in the making of this print): – 3 

Lesson Learned: Do research on future classes.