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 Double Line Technique

You can also use what I call the ‘double line’ technique. This is where you use your tool to draw an inner outline to a shape. This helps to delineate and emphasise the features and structure of the shape. 

In a Christmas card I produced of Max, our black Patterdale terrier, you can see the use of this technique clearly .  Below is the both the linocut and a print of the whole card.




Linocut of Christmas Patterdale card

Print of Linocut of Christmas Patterdale

Let's take a closer look at the double line technique by focusing on the panel of Max and Santa looking at each other.  On the right, you can see how this linocut would have looked if I’d just used a single line to render his features.  To me this version looks flat, boring and too simple.  The version on the left is much more clearly delineated.




The same panel, but comparing the use of the single and 'double line' technique.

This is an especially useful technique as it means you can add detail and shape to an otherwise solid coloured area. You need to be aware of the overall, outer shape of the area and the inner shapes which you need to outline which make up this area.



Fragmented Santa!  The continuous line around his body has been broken up.

Make sure your inner lines do not breach your outer line at all.  Keep them at least 1-2mm away from the edge of the shape.  If you take them right to the edge, you will fragment your linocut into little bits, and you will lose the sense and structure of what you are trying to illustrate. Look at Santa above - I've extended all the internal lines and broken through his outline. This has separated the different parts of his body and they now appear to be floating about!

Like to see some Christmas Art Prints for sale?  Have a look at:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/113758489/mice-decorating-christmas-tree
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/169879100/christmas-mouse-art-archival-digital?ref=shop_home_feat
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/169890653/christmas-bear-art-archival-digital?ref=shop_home_feat

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.