Chine de Colle Technique

Chine de Colle is a technique which involves sandwiching coloured paper between the ink and the paper on which you’re printing.  My students have experimented with this technique much more than I have, so with their permission, I will be making reference to their prints.

Below, you can see Sophie’s design of her cat Milo.  Making his eyes yellow brings life and energy to the print. 

Karen also makes extensive use of the Chine de Colle design.  She had the brilliant idea of using cut outs from magazines to provide not only colour but texture to her prints.  In the print below, she has kept the lines of her linocut  very light and delicate; and used a cut out of flowers from a magazine to emphasise the body of the bird and imitate its feathers. 

Jennifer created a lovely series of butterfly cards using the chine de colle technique.  Here she has used origami paper for the wings, creating a beautiful image, with the patterned orange wings contrasting perfectly with the deep blue of the ink.

Ruthie, a 10 year old linocutter, has experimented very successfully with this technique.  She created a linocut of a sheep with a large ‘blank’ area in the middle.  She then used origami paper to produce a multi coloured herd of sheep,  which have a real impact when framed together.

Here’s how to do it.

1.  Use a draft print of the linocut to produce a template for the area you want to be covered with coloured paper.  In this case it is the body of the sheep.  Cut out the piece of paper to the shape required.  Patterned paper works better if your linocut is quite simple.  Plain coloured paper works well in drawing attention to a particular part of the linocut.

2.  Ink up your linocut. 

3.  Place the coloured paper front side down onto the inked up lino.  Being careful not to shift the paper, put a few dots of glue on the back.

4.  Put the paper you are printing onto over the linocut and transfer the print as usual, either using a press or by burnishing it.  Carefully life the paper off the linocut.

 If you are interested in doing a workshop with Three Bears Prints, have a look at :
http://www.threebearsprints.com/workshops

How to Make a Linocut

This post will give you instructions on how to make a linocut - I'll show you step by step how I produced my 'Rabbits at Home' linocut.   Happy linocutting!

Rabbit Linocut

1.     Sketch out your design.  Take into account practical matters, such as the dimensions of your paper – the rabbits, for example, are standard postcard size.  Be mindful of contrasting black and white areas, and textured versus plain areas.  Try to achieve a good balance between these.

2. Tracing. Trace your design using a dark pencil.

3. Transfer your design. Turn the tracing paper over and place it onto your lino. Tape your lino into place with masking tape to ensure nothing shifts while you’re transferring it. If it shifts, you will never be able to match it up again.



4. Highlight your Design. Go over your pencil lines with a waterproof marker such as a ‘Sharpie’ marker.

5. How to Cut. The important thing to remember is that that the areas your remove from the lino will not print. What you leave behind will be printed up. This means that you have to think in reverse. Be very careful not to over-cut and remove too much lino. This makes it flat and uninteresting. Also, avoid cutting through any important inter-connecting lines. On the finished print, you’ll see that I accidentally cut off one of the sleeping rabbit’s ears where it joins onto the head!

6.  Cut out your Design.  Cut out the main subject first.  Carefully go round the outside and inside lines of the design first.  Then cut out the inner part, creating texture and contrast as you go.  Use small tools on detailed areas, larger tools to clear large parts.

7.  Check your Progress.  One useful way of checking your progress is to use a bingo marker.  Colour the area you have just been cutting, lay a scrap sheet of paper on top, and take rubbing with an old spoon or your fist.

8.  Prepare your Inks.  With your design cut out, you’re now ready to print!  Prepare your inks.  Make sure you have enough of the colour you are using for the size of your print run.  Roll out a thin film of ink.

9.  Ink up your lino.  Roll the roller through the film of ink one way until it is loaded with ink.  Roll it onto the lino one way.  Make sure the lino has a thin sticky film of ink all over it.

10. Print your Linocut.  If using a press:  slot your lino into place on a registration board.  Carefully lay your paper over the lino.  Place packing materials (such as newspaper and card) on top and roll the press over.  You may need to experiment until you get the pressure correct.  If hand-printing:  slot your lino into place on a registration board and carefully lay your paper over the lino.  Burnish it by rubbing the back of the paper with a spoon.

11. The Great Reveal.  It’s time for the great reveal!  Slowly lift the paper up from one corner.  If the ink is patchy, carefully replace the paper and have another go with the press/spoon.

12. Blot Print.  Using tissue or scrap paper, blot the print to remove any excess ink.  Hang it up to dry.  Edition your prints.  If you print 10, number each one as being a series of 10 – e.g. 1/10, 2/10…10/10.

13. THE FINISHED PRINT!  Ta da .....

Finished 'Rabbits at Home' linocut

Tour of my Tool Kit

My tool kit is brilliant!  It was a gift from Mum and Dad is one of the best presents I've ever been given.  It was made by Scott Exeley Leathers out at Arthurstone near Meigle.  It's very cleverly designed, with a slot for each tool, and rolls up neatly.  It protects my tools, and when each slot is full, I am confident I have everything with me I need to create a linocut.

You can buy a very cheap lino cutting handle and individual tool heads you can screw into the handle - such as the red handled tool below.  However, I would strongly recommend buying 'Swiss cutting tools' - the wooden handled tools below - available from Intaglio Printmakers.  I have been amazed at the range of cuts you can make every time I’ve bought a new tool.It’s very true that a crafts person is only as good as their tools.

Once you’ve bought your tools, you also need to buy a leather strop and some honing paste to keep your tools sharp.  It’s really important to sharpen your tools every time before you start cutting and about once an hour while you’re creating your lino cut.



I keep other equipment in my tool kit - tools for cutting, and pencils and pens for laying out the designs.

 

If you're interested in doing a workshop or seeing my prints, have a look at http://www.threebearsprints.com/ or https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ThreeBearsPrints?ref=si_shop.

The Continuous Line Technique

I  have a rule that all my lines be continuous in order to preserve the integrity of the subject matter. Where they join other lines, I am careful to keep all the lines intact. So for example, you can see in the linocut and print of the Burmese cat below, all the lines are continous.

One continuous cut all the way round the cat.

At the tail, for example, none of the lines which meet are cut -
the tail is very much connected to the body.

This technique helps to make different parts of a design stand out.  Take my Christmas card design of mice decorating a tree.

Christmas tree mice

If you take a closer look, you will see that each of the mice are defined by a continuous line, so that they stand out from the background of the tree and the snowflakes.

Each mouse is defined by a continuous line all the way round.

Like these prints?  Have a look at:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/113758489/mice-decorating-christmas-tree?ref=listing-shop-header-0

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/80579934/burmese-cat-art-handmade-linocut-print?ref=shop_home_active





White or Black Lines?

The creation of lines is very important, and you need to give some thought to this prior to hacking gaily into your lino!  First of all, there is the basic decision of whether you want to use your lino tool simply to create a white line on coloured background - see the example below by one of my workshop participants.

Fantastic linocut of a cone created by a
workshop participant at the Birnam Institute.

The alternative is to use your linocutting tool to create a black line by clearing the lino out from either side of the line and leaving the lino raised, which means it will take on the ink.  On the whole, this is the approach I favour.   

The linocut and the print below demonstrates both techniques.  The lettering is created by using the tool to 'write' the letters directly - so it turns out as a white line on a dark background.  The mice have been created by using the tool to scoop out the internal part of each mouse and the area around each mouse - but leaving the outlines intact.

The original linocut showing the techniques for creating both black and white lines ...

...and the print of the linocut.  Clear white lettering and bold black outlines for the mice.

In creating an outline, you must be careful not to over cut and make your line too thin as this leads to a weak, uninteresting print.  In the example of the Daddy Bear designs below, you can see that the second version is much stronger as the external lines of Daddy Bear are much thicker.  He has a much more defined shape, particularly in comparison to the first print.

Unclear linocut design, where the outlines are too thin and ill-defined

Successful linocut design, with thicker lines creating better definition of the subject

Like these prints?  Have a look at:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/113759283/mouse-art-handmade-christmas-linocut?ref=shop_home_active
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/113757696/bear-art-three-bears-and-goldilocks?ref=shop_home_active

Areas of Contrast in One Colour Linocuts

When planning your linocut, one of the first things you will need to consider is creating areas of contrast: solid colour vs blank areas; and plain vs. textured areas.

Plain vs textured

Blank vs solid

You should try to seek achieve a balance between these.  The dachshunds print below is a good lesson in achieving a balance of contrast between solid colour and blank areas. 

Linocut demonstrating good balance of solid vs blank areas.

The badger print illustrates a harmonious balance between textured, solid and plain areas.














Badger print illustrates successful balance of solid, plain and textured areas.

Have a look at the design below of Daddy Bear using the printing press.

In this first print, the details of Daddy Bear are lost in an area which is too textured.  Texture dominates the print with too small an area of solid colour.

This second linocut is much more successful.  Daddy Bear is seen from a different angle.  Although the coat is still textured, the new pose opens up more opportunities for creating contrast.  The press occupies a greater area of the linocut.  As it is a solid area, it acts as a better background to Daddy Bear, and allows him to stand out more. Finally, the background is plain which works much better than the textured background in the linocut above.