Linocutboy's World

Linocuts go global

2012-01-30T01:41:00.000-08:00

I've had an overwhelming response from Saturday's Guardian feature. I had around 2500 pageviews over the weekend - not bad for such a niche blog! I've also had lots of interest in workshops. Please do get in touch if you are interested in learning linocut or developing your skills. All workshops will take place in Margate, Kent, where my studio is. I'm currently looking for a bigger printmaking studio so I can set things up to the high standards I want! Come summer I'm aiming to have plenty of space for teaching up to ten students at a time.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone for visiting and do peruse my older posts for useful nuggets of linocut knowledge!

YFNABTSP2YMR

Guardian magazine Linocutboy offer!

2012-01-27T16:43:00.000-08:00

Stop the press! Linocutboy featured in The Guardian!

I'm very happy and proud to announce that my little blog is featured in this weekend's Guardian Magazine, that being my newspaper of choice. One of my lovely readers wrote in to the "What I Like" feature (thank you Kerry-Jane!) You can read her lovely comments on the Guardian website.

To celebrate this momentous occasion I am offering 10% off all prints in my Linocutboy Etsy shop for this weekend only. To take advantage of this offer, simply enter the coupon code GUARDIANSPECIAL when you check out with your shopping basket full of goodies!

Here are a few of the available prints to whet your appetite...

T-Rex with a Handbag linocut

Dodo with a Yoyo linocut

Bear on a Bike linocut

Of course, other than helping me exploit this opportunity for my own financial gain, you may simply want to read my blog and you're very welcome to do so. I welcome you all, whether you be linocut geeks like myself or mere dabblers. Do feel free to add your comments and suggestions to posts and let me know of any interesting lino-related things out there that you'd like to share.

Thanks for reading (both The Guardian and my blog)!

Interview for Sky Arts

2012-01-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

I was just interviewed for Sky Arts. They're doing a slot about the regeneration of Margate. The interviewer had one bobble on his hat and the sound man had two. Not sure of the significance of this. I will let you know if I make the cut and when it's on (they said in a couple of weeks). I don't have a telly myself so I'll have to get my mum to tape it.

Linocut workshops and other printmaking courses in Margate

2012-01-25T03:08:00.001-08:00

I am planning to run a series of linocut workshops and other printmaking workshops like etching and possibly screenprinting over the next year here in Margate. One idea is to run two kinds of printmaking workshops - evening classes for local printmakers and weekend classes for artists from further afield, like London.

At the moment I only have space in my studio for two or three students at a time but I am planning to set up a larger printmaking studio in Margate in the near future. This will provide print facilities for artists to come and learn in a professional set-up and hopefully add to the regeneration of the area which was boosted by the opening of Turner Contemporary and other projects like Pushing Print and Marine Studios.

So I'm putting a call out to all potential workshop users in Margate and beyond - are you interested? And if so, what kind of printmaking workshops would you most like to see? Linocut, etching, drypoint, monoprint, screenprint? Please let me know what you think. Also what kind of course would suit you - evenings, one-day workshops or full weekend courses?

I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions! Thanks.

Here's a taster of Margate street life:

2012-01-19T03:42:00.000-08:00

Leeds Print Festival 2012

Just found out about Leeds Print Festival which is on next week. It looks really good! Exhibitions, talks, workshops, open studios and performances...

Leeds Print Festival
26 - 31 January 2012

Exhibition
27th to 31st January 2012

We celebrate the advent of Leeds Print Festival with an exhibition of innovative print works from regional, national and international artists and designers that will run for the duration of the festival.

Exhibition Preview
Thursday 26th January 2012, 6.30pm

EVENTS
Leeds Print Festival Opening Event
Friday 27th January 2012, 7pm
Live printing and bookbinding.

Leeds Print Festival Closing Event
Tuesday 31st January 2012, 7pm.

PRINT FAIR
Print Fair
Saturday 28th January 2012, 11am to 6pm.
Exhibitors who work in a diverse range of print media will be at the Print Fair talking about and selling works.
Free entry

http://www.leedsprintfestival.com/

Competition - win an original linocut by Nick Morley

2012-01-19T00:07:00.000-08:00

I currently have 182 followers (thank you all!) To reach the nice round number of 200 would be lovely so as an extra incentive I am giving you a chance to win an original, signed linocut by my very own hand. All you have to do to win is follow my blog and then add a comment to this post saying which of the three prints below you'd like to win and why!

The competition is open to existing followers and new followers alike and the winner will be the person who leaves my favourite comment! No bribery will be entered into and the competition draw will take place as soon as the number of followers reaches 200.

To follow my blog, scroll down the right hand column until you see the grid with all the little faces on and click 'Join this site'.

Good luck!

1. Hungry Fish

2. Unicyclist

3. Big Bunny

New Year, new linocut projects

2012-01-17T05:20:00.001-08:00

As I begin my first calendar year in Margate I thought I'd write a quick post about my plans for world linocut domination in 2012. To set the scene here is a lovely shot from Margate beach of the Harbour Arm and Turner Contemporary. Having established that Margate is, indeed, a lovely and exciting place to live, I am starting to knuckle down to the business of setting up a proper printmaking studio here. The idea will be to provide a space for top-notch prints to be made, with access for local artists, visiting artists and a programme of workshops throughout the year. This is something I've been thinking about for a couple of years now, so I guess it's probably time to take the plunge and actually do it.

Of course I will need to do some fundraising to get things rolling. I will need cash for rent and overheads, equipment, furniture, materials, plumbing and electrics and a whole host of other things. The idea is eventually to have equipment for linocut (obviously!), etching and screenprinting. In all probability I will start with the basics and see what the demand is. Having helped to run East London Printmakers for a number of years I know that there is currently huge demand for printmaking facilities, especially at a time when a lot of art colleges are closing or shrinking their printmaking departments.

At least I have my new etching press to use in the meantime. It's an Intaglio Printmaker press which I bought second hand last year and it prints linocut very nicely up to about A2 size. I've only printed small etching plates on it so far, which came out beautifully. It has wheels which is very handy as I can put it against the wall when I not using it.

In preparation for making some new work I have also been researching how to properly sharpen my tools and I shall be writing a post (maybe even with a little video if I have time) to pass on my top tips. Here's Marcella looking after my newly-honed gouges. I've started protecting the tips of the blades with corks so they don't get damaged.

I've also got some new coloured Caligo inks to try out. In the past I have usually screenprinted the colours onto my linocuts but I want to try more multi block printing as I has so much fun with the Vertigo book cover I've just finished.

Finally, I'm working on a new logo. Although I like my current one it's not made with linocut, it's printed from wooden type on a letterpress. Also, I keep seeing similar designs everywhere I look so I've come up with this, which I hope is a bit more eye catching. This is just a rough, but let me know what you think before I start carving! I'll probably make it anyway because I like it , but I may tweak it a bit.

Thanks for following! I never imagined so many people would be interested in reading about the finer points of linocut. I really appreciate all your comments and messages so please keep them coming. I wish you all a productive and happy 2012.

Hitchcock's Vertigo - linocut book cover illustration for BFI

2012-01-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

I've just finished a book cover design of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo for the BFI (British Film Institute). It is part of a series of books on 100 classic films which they are re-publishing this year with new covers by invited artists.

Vertigo book cover - detail

I had never seen Vertigo, and the only other Hitchcock films I've seen (to my shame) are Psycho and Rear Window. I won't spoil the ending if you haven't seen it but my illustration features a scene from towards the end.

I wanted to give the reader a sense of giddiness when they look at the book. (Contrary to popular belief, vertigo is not a fear of heights but a sense of dizzyness.) At the same time I wanted to avoid anything too close to Saul Bass's famous poster design. Instead I took inspiration from the prints of Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews, the famous British linocut artists of the early 20th Century. Here are a couple of examples that show the sense of movement I was after:

Cyril Power - Merry go Round

Sybil Andrews - The Winch

Here is an early rough of my design in pencil. As well as getting the image right I had to incorporate the title and author's name, something I've not done before. I wanted the text and image to work closely together, almost as though the text were part of the image.

Once I got the rough worked out and approved I transferred the image to the lino blocks. The colours were also important to me - I chose red and green which have are strongly symbolic in the film. They are also complimentary colours (and the colours of old-fashioned 3d specs!) so they really vibrate next to each other, adding to the feeling of dizziness.

Having transferred the design for each colour onto a separate block (in reverse, of course) I started to carve:

The author's name was the trickiest part, as I had to get it really accurate (you really notice wonky text!) It is all made up hand-lettering, old skool style!

Once both blocks were carved I inked them up and printed them with varying densities of ink until I was satisfied. They were printed on off-white paper to give it a slightly softer vintage look.

Having printed the red and green, I carved away most of the green block and inked it up again in a warm grey. This was printed over the top of the green to darken the text, the figure and the area at the bottom.

Here are a few of the prints that went wrong hanging on my studio wall.

And this is the final image. Let me know what you think! Of course there are bits of it I don't like, but I'm not telling what they are ;) The book comes out some time this year and hopefully there will also be an exhibition of the original artworks at the BFI on London's Southbank in August/September.

Vertigo by Charles Barr

Linocut starter kit available now on Etsy

2011-12-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

My linocut starter kit is now available to buy from my online linocutboy etsy shop.

This linocut starter kit is perfect for anyone who wants to have a go at carving and printing their own linocuts. The kit contains a set of six linocutter tools, a tube of ink, an ink roller (brayer) and five pieces of lino. I have put this kit together myself using carefully chosen components from different suppliers and I believe it is the best you will find for this price range. All you will need is some paper and a spoon for printing!

Tools - a set of six tools: two v-gouges, two u-gouges and two shallow gouges giving a wide range of possiblities for mark-making. These tools are much sharper than most others available in this price range.

Ink - the ink is water-washable but prints extremely well. I use it for my own work (and I'm very serious about my linocuts!). Cleans up very easily with water and a bit of soap. The ink stays wet for several hours while you are working so it's ideal for doing long print runs. The prints will take a day or so to dry.

Roller - hard rubber roller. Good rollers are expensive, so I have selected one which will give excellent results for this price range. The roller is just over 5cm (2in) wide.

Lino - this is easy-cut lino (not traditional linoleum) which is very easy to carve and has a smooth side and a textured side for a slightly different look when printing. Gives excellent results and holds very fine detail. The kit contains 5 pieces each 7.5 x 7.5cm (3 x 3in)

Box - the kit comes in a sturdy box made of recycled card and printed with my linocutboy logo!

An instruction booklet will be available soon to accompany the kit.

Happy printing!

Here's a test print I made very quickly:

Thomas Shahan woodcut/linocut technique video

2011-12-14T05:33:00.000-08:00

This is a lovely little video by the very talented Thomas Shahan, who I came across through flickr. His woodcuts and linocuts are deeply rooted in printmaking tradition and here he talks a little bit about his influences including Durer and Holbein. He also shows his carving and printing technique. He mainly uses mdf but towards the end are a couple of this linocuts.

Etsy Linocut Christmas Gifts

2011-12-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here are my top five linocut-related Christmas gifts from Etsy. Enjoy!

A jar for keeping bicycles in by Zach Medler

Lino Richie by John Scarratt - need I say more?

Isleofprinting's ass-whipping print

Gutenberg sartorialism from Monkey-Rope Press

Lobster apron by Belette Print

BIG ASS Linocuts Opening at High Roller Society, London

2011-12-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

The opening of BIG ASS Linocuts and Linomations was a couple of nights ago. It's an exhibition I've curated of boundary-pushing large scale linocuts and animations. Here are a few photos from the private view. The exhibition runs at High Roller Society until 15th January 2012.

Read this previous blog post for more info

Linocutboy exhibition at Fort's in Margate

2011-12-09T06:13:00.000-08:00

I've got a few prints in my new favourite hang-out, Fort's Cafe in Margate. Last night we had a little opening and I ran a free linocut Christmas card workshop which was very popular. I had to kick the last people out at 10pm because they didn't want to leave! Here's a few pics from the evening. The prints will be up for a couple of months. I thoroughly recommend Fort's breakfasts so why not kill two birds with one stone?!

Thanks to Penny of Fort's for lending us her lovely Adana press! We got pretty good results but I'm going to try a better ink next time, the rollers kept skidding on the ink pad bit. Anyone got any other useful Adana printing tips?

Swoon Exhibition at Black Rat Projects

2011-12-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

I just visited New York street artist Swoon's new exhibition at Black Rat Projects in Shoreditch, East London. It was quite hard to find, the entrance being tucked away up an unmarked alley next to Cargo nightclub. You have to ring a number to get let in, so don't forget your phone!

Inside is a huge railway arch full of towering figures, doors that lead nowhere and very beautiful paper cut-out patterns pasted on the walls. You feel like you've walked into an alternate reality of mashed-up architecture and kids playing hide-and-seek behind huge, jolly fat demi-goods.

I got into Swoon's work a couple of years ago. I really like the way she uses linocut, printing it, resizing, cutting and pasting in public spaces. She leaves her linocut figures to decay, go unnoticed or be discovered accidentally by passers by. It's not precious work, but I do find it moving and a little bit profound.

More recently Swoon has got involved in big, collaborative projects like Swimming Cities, where she worked with teams to build rafts that they then floated up the Hudson and Mississippi rivers. She also went to Haiti after the earthquake to see how she could help and ended up building bespoke shelters for people who lost their houses. Here's a very inspirational talk that Swoon gave from the TED talks series:

Go see the show if you can, the Black Rat website doesn't say how long it's on for so hurry!

Linocut tools set available from Etsy

2011-12-08T00:54:00.000-08:00

I've finally found another supplier for these linocutters. This set of tools is perfect for a beginner and includes 2 x 'V' gouges and 4 x 'U' gouges of various sizes. Ideal for linocut or woodcut, they are very sharp and are the best I have found for this price range.

These linocutting tools are available now from my Etsy shop

I'm also planning to bring out a complete linocut starter kit with tools, lino, ink, roller and instructions. Let me know if you're interested by leaving a comment and I'll let you know when they're ready!

BIG ASS Linocut exhibition at High Roller Society in London

2011-12-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

BIG ASS Linocuts and Linomations is an exhibition of large-scale prints and animation which I have curated. In October 2011 it was exhibited at the Pie Factory in Margate as part of Pushing Print festival and now it is coming to High Roller Society in London.

The exhibition features some of my favourite linocut artists and in particular those who push the boundaries of technique and content. As well as big linocuts there will be a showreel of animations that use lino as a starting point. Some of these are laboriously carved frame by frame, others are animated on the computer.

Exhibiting artists:

Bill Fick, Wuon Gean Ho, Mark Andrew Webber, Peter Rapp, Scott Minzy, Carsten Nicolaus, Nick Morley, Chris Pig and Steve Edwards.

BIG ASS Linocuts and Linomations

8-18 December 2011
5-15 January 2012
(19 Dec - 4 Jan by appointment only)

Private View: Wed 7th December 6-9pm

Gallery hours: Thurs - Sun, 12-6pm

High Roller Society
10 Palmers Road
London E2 0SY

Tube: Bethnal Green or Mile End
Bus: 8, D6, 277

www.highrollersociety.com

map

See installation shots and read more about the artists on this previous blog post

Bear on a Bike linocut

2011-11-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand!

I've made my Bear on a Bike print into a linocut and it's available to buy now from my Etsy shop. Available with a pink or green bicycle. A perfect gift for any animal lover.

Linocut technique - Notes and Queries

2011-11-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

Now and then I get questions from followers of this blog about linocut techniques, tools or printing issues. Although I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about linocut (that's one of my life goals!) I'm happy to help if I can and I welcome other linocut artists to add their help and advice in the comments section. Do contact me if there's something you want to ask.

Here are a couple of questions I got this week followed by my replies:

I'm working on my christmas cards today and I usually use waterbased inks for lino printing as it's what we use at school. I have bought myself some linseed oil based ink to try and I just did some test printing. It's lovely to use but I'm worried about getting the prints to dry. Have you got any tips? I haven't decided what paper I'll use. In the past I've used really thin stuff like tissue paper so that I can get a clear image just by rollering on the back.

-Tricia G

I have just started using water-based inks myself for workshops and printing greetings cards. They are so much easier to clean up and there are lots of different brands to choose from. My opinion is that oil-based inks are still superior for colour intensity and so are worth the extra hassle of cleaning up with vegetable oil if you want perfect results. I try to avoid all solvents nowadays, but when I'm using oil-based inks I finish cleaning my rollers with a tiny amount of turpentine to get them pristine.

Drying time for oil-based inks does vary according to the brand of ink and the colour. Anything from a day to a few days is common. Most oil-based inks contain 'driers' (or dryers), a chemical which speeds up drying time. You can also buy these to add to your inks yourself. There are two kinds - manganese driers and cobalt driers. Manganese driers are 'body driers' which dry the ink evenly throughout (avoiding a glossy surface) and cobalt driers dry from the surface down.

Make sure you follow the instructions and wear protective gloves when handling driers - they are toxic. You only need a few drops which you mix in with the ink before rolling it out. If you are in the UK you can buy driers from Intaglio Printmaker. I'm not sure where to get them in the USA, but McClains has an excellent reputation and a good range of inks. They specialise in relief printing and do mail order only.

You can also speed up drying time by ensuring a good circulation of air around the prints and hanging them in a warm, dry environment. If you are printing multiple layers try printing wet on wet - you may be surprised how well the ink takes and it means you don't have to wait for each layer to dry individually.

What's the best way to get clean/uniform looking prints on a budget? Is there a hand method than comes close to using a press? I really like the hand printed look, but I have a few ideas in mind that could really use that smooth even look. All the presses I have seen looked like BigTime $$$.

Sam (Australia)

It is certainly possible to get solid, even blocks of colour when printing by hand, although it takes a little time and effort. My East London Printmakers buddy, Chris Pig, is a master of this. (see this post on hand printing on the ELP blog)

I would say the most important things are inking and what paper you use. You need a good quality ink, a relief printing ink for professional artists. It should have good density of colour and be quite sticky when you roll it out. You will need quite a lot of ink. It is best to build it up in thin layers so that it doesn't fill in the carved areas. Inking for the first print will always need extra ink.

The paper you use should be smooth and thin. Japanese papers are the best for this although some Chinese papers will work. Japanese paper (washi) is made with long plant fibres which make it incredibly strong. This is important because you need to give it a really good rub on the back using your printing tool and cheaper paper will fall apart. If you can't afford Japanese paper, choose a thin cartridge paper and place a piece of tracing paper or greaseproof paper on the back before you start rubbing to protect it.

You will need a lot of pressure when printing. You can use any smooth, hard implement for this - the back of a spoon or a Japanese baren work well. Experiment with using the corner of the spoon/baren to concentrate the force over a smaller area. As you are printing you can lift a corner of the paper to see how you are doing and replace it before continuing.

Cheap presses are hard to come by but it you are useful at DIY it may be possible to build one yourself. Have a look online, I saw one once made out of a car jack!

Hope that helps!

Linocut calendar by Dave Buchen

2011-11-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

For the last fourteen years Dave Buchen has been making a linocut calendar with a different linocut for each month of the year. Here are a few tasters. You can buy the calendar from Dave's website here

He also made this linocut of this man, which is nice and disturbing:

Anyone else who has interesting linocut stuff, send me a link

C S Forester book cover designs

2011-11-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

The three C S Forester books I did cover illustrations for a few months ago (for Penguin) are finally out today. The Pursued is a recently discovered thriller written in 1935 which is being published for the first time (in hardback). Two other C S Forester books are being re-released at the same time: Payment Deferred and Plain Murder, both in paperback.

The Pursued

Payment Deferred

Plain Murder

Below are some images to show how the book cover design for The Pursued developed, from initial brief to roughs to linocut illustration to final design with text.

This was the photograph I was supplied with to work from, reflecting the period of the book. I had to reduce this to a two-colour design so I could print it with two blocks of lino.

The first stage was to reduce the number of tones in the image so it was made up of black and white and a mid-tone (which would be in colour in the final print). I started by working on top of the photograph with a black brush pen and white-out, trying to emphasise the blockiness of the shapes and get an increased sense of drama.

I then scanned the above image and worked on it in photoshop, creating a muted colour palette that I thought reflected the era. The door in the background was added to increase the sense of threat and add a second focal point.

After submitting the rough at this stage the feedback was to simplify the shapes still further and increase the shadow on the face:

A few more tweaks and I transferred the images to the lino blocks and printed them. I wanted quite a bit of texture to give it a grainy quality:

Compare with the final design:

As you can see, the designer simplified the image still further, essentially just keeping the highlights. I haven't seen a copy of the book yet but I think it is block-printed onto a canvas material so it should look great. I'll post an image when I've received my copy.

The other two books were printed with just minor changes to my design, I especially like the way the text uses the colour and texture of the print.

Linocut finds from Flickr

2011-11-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

I regularly search flickr for interesting linocuts by random people and I run a flickr group called Linocut - a cutting-edge artform (clever, eh?) Here are a few of my favourite prints by artists I've found. I've picked prints that illustrate the huge variety of possibilities there are with linocut. Enjoy!

Thomas Shahan - Zeus

Arthur van Kruining - The Wrong Direction

Dan Brenton - Old Friends and Good Beans

Ondine de Kroon - Natural Light

Matt Wiegel - Paping (John Mejias)

Marc Snyder - Boxers

Sean Lingwood - Half Alive 3

Scott-S - Clear Vision

Marten Hazelaar - Terschelling

Nicolas Burrows - der kleiner Freund

Learning Linocut - book review

2011-11-02T02:37:00.001-07:00

Learning Linocut
A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Relief Printing through Linocut

by Susan Yeates

There is a woeful shortage of good books about linocut so I have to admit I may have got a little overexcited when I found out about this new release, written by artist and educator Susan Yeates. The book sets out to be a comprehensive guide to linocut with something for all levels of ability. Perfect!

Unlike most printmaking manuals, here the author takes us through the entire creative process, from the conception of ideas, through carving and printing linocuts, to displaying and selling your finished prints. Along the way there are sections on a wide variety of things: materials, laying out your working space, mark-making, reduction technique, registration and experimental techniques. There's even a long list of suggested drawing exercises and a page of 'inspiring words'!

As a teacher of several years' experience, Yeates provides a series of projects right from the start, set out in a clear and methodical manner for the novice to follow. The chapters are packed with practical advice and step-by-step instructions, conveyed in a friendly and encouraging tone. This should make it very easy for a complete beginner to get started and have a go at a variety of techniques. Of course no book will ever be a substitute for the experience of being taught in a hands-on workshop but this must be the next best thing.

For those printmaking geeks like myself, I have to say there are one or two areas of the book that are lacking. There is very little about using a press (nothing wrong with a wooden spoon but there is so much more you can do with a proper press) and no information on the different sorts of rollers available or which to buy. It would also be useful to have more information on inking large blocks and maybe a trouble-shooting section for when things go wrong with printing (the commonest mistake among my own students being over-inking).

Although there are plenty of reproductions of linocuts in the book, it is a shame there are no examples of prints by the masters - Picasso, Cyril Power etc. Linocut has a rich history and a vibrant diversity of contemporary practitioners. It may be due to copyright/royalty issues that these are missing but it would have raised the whole level of the book for me.

If you are just starting out with linocut and you want a book that leads you by the hand, this is it. However, if you are already familiar with the basics and want something a bit more in-depth and technical then you will have to wait a bit longer.

Learning Linocut by Susan Yeates
Published by Magenta Sky
Available from Amazon

Hungry Fish Linocut

2011-10-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

This is a little linocut called 'Hungry Fish' of a big ugly fish about to eat a small tasty fish. It's available from my Linocutboy Etsy shop

Crazy Horse Linocut

2011-10-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

I've just editioned my print for this year's East London Printmakers box set. It's a linocut called Crazy Horse. It's rather taken over my studio.

Drop-in linocut printing session

2011-10-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

I'm running a free drop-in linocut printing session today at the Pie Factory, Margate as part of Pushing Print. Come along and have a go if you're in the area!

Linocut animation - Fire Fire I heard the cry

2011-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

I just spotted this linocut animation by Amanda Moore and Drew Christie on PRINTERESTING - a fantastic blog if you haven't seen it, all about printmaking but with some really unusual and interesting stuff.

Fire Fire I Heard The Cry from Drew Christie on Vimeo.

BIG ASS Linocuts and Linomations Exhibition

2011-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

An exhibition of large-scale linocut prints and animations using linocut, curated by Nick Morley as part of Pushing Print 2011

Pie Factory Pop-up shop, Broad Street, Margate

8 - 19 October, Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4

'Handbag' by Nick Morley & 'Skull' by Bill Fick

Here are a few photos of the exhibition I have put together at the Pie Factory Pop-up Shop in Margate. The exhibition is part of Pushing Print, an annual festival of printmaking in Margate. For this show I invited artists who push the boundaries of linocut printing, both in terms of scale and in their approach to mark-making and subject matter.

'Hooligan IV' linocut by Bill Fick

As well as several of my friends and colleagues from East London Printmakers I invited two artists from the USA and one from Germany to take part. Bill Fick is an American artist whose work I have admired for a while (see this previous post) and whose book I reviewed for Printmaking Today magazine. Fick makes big, bold, graphic images that borrow from cartoons and comic strips but have a rawness to them which is compelling. His print 'Hooligan IV' dominates the exhibition due to its sheer size and dynamic composition of thuggish limbs about to bash each other in.

Steve Edwards - 'Bigface'

The entrance to the exhibition is dominated by Steve Edwards' print of a businessman. Set against a garish green background, his enormous pockmarked features seem to be oozing out from his shirt collar like some grotesque tumour. Steve uses caustic soda to etch the surface of the lino, creating organic textures which contrast with the decisively carved marks of the suit and tie.

Bigface - detail showing etched marks

Animation by Carsten Nicolaus

I came across the work of Carsten Nicolaus through his Flickr page, which features his subtly multi-layered linocuts and animations. The animations do not move in the traditional way, but rather pulse and vibrate. The frames are made up from the same lino blocks with slight variations in density so that they appear to become more and then less transparent.

'Ghost' linocut of a ship by Nick Morley

My own linocuts are suspended in the centre of the space. They are Ghost ships, positive and negative prints hanging back to back and turning gently in the air currents as people walk past them.

London map linocut by Mark Andrew Webber

Mark Andrew Webber's city maps are packed with visual information. He walks the streets collecting found typefaces before creating a composition of placenames. These prints are at once playful and epic. His latest project is a map of Berlin which will measure over 3 metres long. Also on display is one of his linomations (another was featured previously here) made from almost 300 separately carved and printed blocks. (note - Mark coined the term 'linomation', which I stole)

Mark Andrew Webber - Dehisce linomation

More animations in the show come from the USA courtesy of Scott Minzy, who prints his linocuts and animates them afterwards on a computer:

Chris Pig - 'Champagne Charlie'

Chris Pig and Peter Rapp make large linocuts using techniques borrowed from engraving. Using parallel lines which follow the forms and vary in width they are able to convincingly describe a 3d space on a 2d plane. Chris Pig's print 'Champagne Charlie' is one of a series of portraits of larger than life characters who inhabit a slightly seedy netherworld of prostitutes and gangland tough guys.

Peter Rapp - The Choice of Fallacy (detail)

Peter Rapp's disturbing 'The Choice of Fallacy' is a development from a series of etchings he made of praying figures. The nightmarish quality is intensified through this increase in scale, creating an image which burns itself onto your retinas.

Peter Rapp's print - installation shot

Wuon Gean Ho uses Japanese vinyl, a smoother material to the traditional linoleum. This allows her to wipe areas of the block clean before printing, creating areas of soft tone which contrast with the crisp cut marks. She builds up texture and pattern in her prints by carving parallel lines. At first glance these are straightforward representations of clothing, but on closer inspection patterns reveal themselves in the creases of the fabric, hinting at something beyond the surface, or possibly in another dimension.

Wuon Gean Ho - 'Together' & 'Apart' (right)

'Apart' - detail

And finally, another one of mine - Dodo with a yoyo. Not a BIG ASS print but a bird with BIG ASS charisma.

The exhibition runs until 19th October. I'm hoping to expand it and take it to another venue in London in the new year - watch this space.

Pushing Print Giant Steamroller Printing event

2011-10-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

This is a little film I've just made of the Giant Steamroller Printing event at Pushing Print in Margate. Pushing Print is an annual festival of printmaking with exhibitions, workshops, talks and events like this one! As part of the festival 'fringe' I have curated an exhibition of big linocuts and linocut animations. Pics coming very soon...

ABC with Pinocchio Linocut book

2011-09-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

ABC with Pinocchio

I've just finished my latest artist's book and it's currently on show/for sale on the KALEID editions stall at the London Art Book Fair at the Whitechapel Gallery. It's called ABC with Pinocchio and features the little puppet making the shapes of the alphabet. After a while he starts to forget his ABCs and gets letters back to front and upside down. By the time he reaches the last few letters of the alphabet he gives up entirely and just throws random shapes.

Pinocchio ABC - the letter X

To make Pinocchio I carved each body part individually out of lino then inked them up and arranged them into the shape I wanted. Here's Pinocchio waiting to be inked up and looking quite chilled out.


Linocut body parts

The lino pieces were printed onto Chinese calligraphy paper which has a lovely, slightly wonky-looking grid of red lines on it. This gives it the feel of a writing or drawing exercise book and I folded the paper in such a way that each image appears on the left hand page with a blank page on the right so that you could copy each letter if you wanted to. Finally I printed the title on the cover together with a slightly suggestive reclining Pinocchio, glued all the pages together and bound it in a traditional Chinese pattern.

Pinocchio ABC on the KALEID stall at LAB

You can visit LAB at the Whitechapel for free until Sunday 25th September.

Lino Richie linocut

2011-09-23T01:28:00.001-07:00

Lino Richie, originally uploaded by John Scarratt.

Genius. Why didn't I think of this?

Linocut Pinocchio ABC book preview

2011-09-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak preview of some of the pages from my new book, provisionally called Pinocchio ABC. It's printed with lots of fiddly small pieces of lino which I carved to make the body parts. As Pinocchio progresses through the alphabet he finds it harder and harder to remember his ABC's with hilarious consequences! (as they say when advertising bad comedies).

Pinocchio ABC book

I will be showing this new book with KALEID Editions at the London Art Book Fair this weekend. Come down to the Whitechapel Gallery to check it out and see a selection of the best artist's books and gallery publications from around the world.

Here's hoping Pinocchio behaves himself so I can get it finished...

The London Art Book Fair 2011
23-25 September
Admission free

Whitechapel Gallery
77-82 Whitechapel High St
London E1 7QX
tube: Aldgate East

Linocut workshops in Margate

2011-09-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

I'm running two linocut workshops next month as part of Pushing Print in Margate. Come along and learn the basic techniques in a friendly informal atmosphere...

Inking a lino block

Linocut for Beginners workshop with Nick Morley

Sunday 9th October 2.30 - 5.30pm
£15/£10 concessions

Learn how to design, carve and print your very own linocut. You will learn about tools, cutting techniques, inking up and printing your block (one colour). Suitable for age 14 and over.

Linocut flickbook workshop with Nick Morley

Saturday 15th October 10am - 4pm
£25/£15 concessions

Design, carve and print a simple animated flickbook using linocut. Learn how to cut lino and print a series of prints from one or two which will then be put together into a simple flickbook. See your prints come to life! Suitable for age 14 and over.

No previous experience required for either workshop. Tools and materials will be provided.
Both classes take place in the Pie Factory Pop-Up Shop, 7 Broad St, Margate, Kent. Map

To book your place on either course, email nickbmorley@hotmail.com.

Linocut workshop - inking and printing

Why not make a weekend of it? The Pushing Print festival runs throughout October and includes a number of talks and workshops including a giant steamroller printing event on Saturday 8th. Read more about the festival here

Hand printed linocut cards

2011-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today I was supposed to be doing other things but my brain wouldn't let me do the things I was supposed to be doing so I decided to muck about instead. I found some little linocuts I made a while back and decided to try out my new water-based inks from Atlantis, a big art shop in London. Here are the inks, they've got german all over them so I figured they must be alright. They're made by a company called Schminke. Even better.

Waterbased lino inks

As I no longer have access to proper printmaking facilities and I have not yet purchased a press of my own I had to resort to my trusty double-ended wooden spoon. I found it in a junk shop in Ludlow and it's just super. It has two ends. When did you last see a spoon with two ends? Look, see how shiny it is!

My shiny spoon

So the inks work quite well, I can report. They're definitely water-based in that they're closer in consistency to paint than ink, but they roll out pretty nicely and print OK. They don't dry too fast either, which is good if you're printing a large print run as the ink won't dry on the roller. Here's one of the prints I made with my wee roller.

And finally, a general pic of my work area. I'm using my folk's old glass shower screen as an inking surface. It fits onto my planchest perfectly. I'm almost as proud of it as I am of my double-ended spoon.

Probably the best Linocut exhibition in the World

2011-09-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Bill Fick - Skullarek 2

Well, that's what I'm aiming for! This October I'm putting together a show of some of my favourite linocut artists. There's Bill Fick, an American artist who makes big, cartoonish prints of skulls, zombies and devils. Then there's Mark Andrew Webber, a young British linocutter who specialises in enormous typographic maps of cities that take him literally months to carve. Also from the States come the terrifyingly strange linocut animations of Scott Minzy (see the previous post). And I have some of my old friends from East London Printmakers, Chris Pig who makes wonderfully accomplished prints which embue his darkest desires and anarchic sense of humour, Peter Rapp with his nightmarish versions of praying people, Steve Edwards and his men in suits and ties as you've never seen before and Wuon Gean Ho's tumbling, dancing animation of a bodyless dress.

Wuon Gean Ho - Dancing Dress

Well, now I'm excited anyway! The exhibition will be part of Pushing Print, a printmaking festival in Margate (where I now live) and I'm also going to be running two workshops in the space, a Linocut for Beginners workshop and a Linocut flickbook workshop.

The name of the show? Big Ass Linocuts and Linomations. Put it in your diary now!

Big Ass Linocuts and Linomations
Pie Factory Pop-Up Shop, Margate, Kent CT9 1EW
7th - 19th October 2011

Linocut for beginners workshop
Sun 9th Oct, 2.30pm - 5.30pm
£15/£10 concs

Linocut animated flickbook workshop
Sat 15th Oct, 10am - 4pm
£25/£15 concs

To book on either workshop email nickbmorley@hotmail.com

Scott Minzy animation - egg head

2011-08-30T07:12:00.001-07:00

egg head, originally uploaded by sminzy.

This is an animation derived from a linocut by Scott Minzy, one of the guest artists who will be featuring in my exhibition 'Big Ass Linocuts and Linomations' in October as part of Pushing Print. Pushing Print is a printmaking festival in Margate, Kent which includes exhibitions, talks, workshops and demonstrations to promote printmaking as an artform and engage the wider public.

Via Flickr:
See the source print (linocut) here:
www.flickr.com/photos/sminzy/6073590465/

Pushing Print open submission exhibition

2011-08-19T02:41:00.000-07:00

Deadline for submissions Monday 22nd August, 5pm

This year I am involved in helping to organise Pushing Print, a festival of printmaking in Margate, Kent. As well as an open submission exhibition there will be talks and workshops and a giant steam roller printing event in Margate Old Town.

The exhibition is open to all printmakers and artists who use print. There are a number of prizes, including the chance to win a solo exhibition, and all selected artists will be featured in a Pushing Print 'newspaper' which will be printed in a run of 10,000 and distributed across Kent and London.

This is the third year of Pushing Print and it has rapidly grown in stature, attracting artists from all over the UK and internationally. Alongside the official Pushing Print there will be a number of Fringe events, including a show of large linocuts and linomations which I am curating.

If you don't know Margate, it's a traditional English seaside town on the north-eastern corner of Kent about 90 minutes from London by car or train. The town has recently been transformed by the opening of Turner Contemporary, a brand new purpose-built gallery on the seafront which attracted 150,000 visitors in the first three months after it opened.

Margate seafront with Turner Contemporary

For more information, including online submission forms, visit go to http://pushingprint.co.uk/pushing-print-submissions-open

Linocut workshop in Italy

2011-08-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

Linocut - Illustrated Narratives

Five-day workshop at Opificio della Rosa, Montefiore Conca.

Last week I got back from an inspiring and hugely enjoyable week teaching in a printmaking workshop in a medieval castle near Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy. The workshop was one of a series organised by Umberto Giovannini in conjunction with East London Printmakers which took place throughout July and August.

The aim of my workshop was to explore different aspects of illustration though the medium of linocut. I use linocut a lot in my own illustration work and I find it a very flexible medium - it's great for printing big blocks of dark black or strong colour as well as fine detail. You can also achieve beautiful textures and layers of colour of varying transparencies.

Each student was invited to bring along a narrative to work from. We then chose a different section or aspect of the narrative each morning which would suit the day's theme.

I was very lucky to have a great translator in Miriam Bruckner as half the class was English-speaking and half Italian-speaking. Each day we took a word as the focal point for the day, for example Play/Giocciamo, Drama/Dramma and we started with a drawing exercise to warm up. Wednesday's theme was movement/movimento so I invited Luca Ronga, a puppeteer who runs Atelier della Luna in the next-door studio, to put on a little show while the students drew the movements.

Monday/Lunedi

On the first day we explored mark-making using the different tools and carved and printed a small 'frontispiece' image by hand, using a japanese tool called a baren. The idea was to make a small, thumbnail image to introduce the story which would whet the appetite of the reader without giving away the whole narrative.

Federico's frontispiece design

Printing by hand using a baren

Tuesday/Martedi

On the second day we looked at how to create drama through strong composition of light and dark.

Charmaine's dramatic image

Nice use of silhouette by Federico

Wednesday/Mercoledi

In order to explore movement and change we made a series of three images with repeated elements in different positions. Charmaine wanted to make a dancing pig, so I suggested making each body part on a separate piece of lino and printing them in different positions.

Wynne made a 'jigsaw' image, using the same piece of lino for the outside and changing the piece in the middle.

Thursday/Giovedi

Texture is the same word in English and Italian. After drawing various textures from around the castle we translated this into print, using the different gouges to try to convey a texture whilst still thinking about the chosen narrative.

Lovely texture on Laura's print

Friday/Venerdi

On the last day the students worked in teams to print 3 complete copies of their books, using all the images from the workshop in sequence. Each book was made as a concertina, printed on one long piece of paper on the large press in the studio.

I hope to run another workshop at Montefiore next year. Watch this space!

Lovely new studio in Margate

2011-07-15T01:56:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of my lovely new studio in Margate. It is the first time I have had a space all to myself and it is LOVELY! I shall be making lots of linocuts here as well as continuing my illustration work (I'm currently doing some drawings for the new Frankie Boyle book).

The studio is in the Pie Factory, in the heart of Margate's Old Town. There are five studios in total, plus a gallery and a smaller pop-up shop space for hire which I am planning to use for a giant linocut exhibition as a part of Pushing Print in October.

Outside shot of Broad Street, with the Pie Factory in the middle

There's even a big sink! Perfect for printmaking...

And a roof terrace. I repeat, a roof terrace!

This is the first linocut I am making in the new studio. It will be titled "It's a Seagull, Stupid".

Mark Long linocut animal alphabet

2011-07-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Just came across these rather charming creatures by London-based illustrator Mark Long. I have also just noticed that each letter is represented by an animal beginning with that letter (I'm a bit slow today). I presume V is for vampire bat! As well as these linocut animals Mark makes some lovely brushy pen drawings, another favourite technique of mine.

You can buy this print and others at Mark's Etsy shop.

Mark also has a good eye for a portrait, as you can see from these prints of Serge Gainsbourg and Arsene Wenger. I love the skilful use of bright colour which livens these up and gives them a very contemporary feel.

Serge Gainsbourg

Arsene Wenger

Katja Schwalenberg linocut book

2011-06-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sag Einfach Ja oder Nein!

I found this lovely book of bright, bold linocuts by Katja Schwalenberg in Material and just had to buy it! In a way these linocuts embody what I have been striving for in some of my recent work - a sense of freedom and a childlike (even childish) playfulness. The images are colourful faces, birds and plants. Each is printed in just two blocks but the clever combinations of colours makes them sing out from the page.

The book is printed in an edition of 500 by Lubok Verlag, a project based in Leipzig, Germany, set up by Christoph Ruckhaberle. The books are printed on a letterpress in runs of up to 1500 to make them affordable. The aim is to follow in the Russian tradition of Lubok, a popularist folk art movement which brought woodcut images and stories to the masses.

Even the cover is linocut...

Linocut featured in Design Week magazine

2011-05-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

The current issue of Design Week contains a lovely full-page spread featuring the work of members of East London Printmakers. Emily Pacey has written the article, which is a preview piece about our upcoming exhibition entitled "13". I am very happy to have my linocut of a Dodo with a yoyo featured so prominently.

Also featured is Steve Edwards' linocut '3 Kings' which I have been admiring in the studio. Steve uses multiple blocks of lino which he etches and cuts and inks up in colours I would never dare to use!

Big ass linocuts

2011-05-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been getting bigger at East London Printmakers. Giant new linocuts are appearing each week, being printed on our American French Tool Co. etching press. We also have a brand new giant 21 inch ink roller which I used for the first time today.

I think I need to work out a little more!

Steve Edwards with one of his big men prints

Peter Rapp rolling up another lino masterpiece

My linocut 'Handbag' which is much easier to ink up with the new roller.

I'm planning to curate an exhibition of large linocut prints in the next few months. Watch this space...

Linocutboy goes to Margate

2011-05-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm leaving London to set up a print studio by the sea. I'm investigating Hastings and Margate and so far both seem like good options - lots of artistic activity and cheap property. I've spent the last two weeks around Margate, meeting like-minded people and seeing what it has to offer. Of course there is the new Turner Contemporary gallery which has just opened and is attracting thousands of new visits, but there is also a vibrant and growing Old Town with galleries, cafes and artists studios galore.

Turner Contemporary from Margate beach

Empty shop units are being snapped up fast but there are still a few left. This old Launderette particularly caught my eye (mainly for its sign) but I think it may be a bit more work than I'm looking for!

Margate is also home to Pushing Print, a growing event which has been running for the past three years. They run an open submission printmaking exhibition with prizes as well as a series of events designed to engage the public in printmaking. One of these is their steam roller printing event, similar to the one I organised at East London Printmakers last year but with a proper coal-fired steam engine.

Off to Hastings this week to check out the competition...

New! Linocut tool sets available here

2011-05-17T05:56:00.001-07:00

I am often asked where to get good quality economical tools for linocut. I've tried a lot of different brands and styles, from the ubiquitous Speedball kits with the red handle and removable blades, through to the professional quality but quite pricey Pfeil tools that I use for my own work. Most of the cheap lino tools you can buy are rubbish. The main problem is that they use poor quality steel and are not sharp enough. When you use them they tend to tear the lino, rather than cutting it cleanly.

Well, I have just found these rather good little tools (from an obscure supplier - I'm afraid I can't say who!) and I have decided to sell them via my etsy shop. They are $15 for a set of six, which is just under £10. They are lovely and sharp and come in a really useful range of shapes and sizes. Here's what you get in a set:

One large and one small U tool
One large and one small V tool
One large and one small shallow gouge

With a lot of the Chinese and Japanese sets you get a knife (hangito) and a little chisel. These are useful for making Hanga prints if you're a budding woodcut artist but for carving lino I find I literally never use them. So instead, with this set you get more tools you will actually use!

If I find there is a demand for these, I am thinking of producing a Linocutboy starter kit with tools, lino, ink, roller and baren. So let me know if you think it's a good idea and there's a gap in the market!

The tool kit comes in a nice little plastic carrying pouch.

Here's a quick little linocut I made using the tools. You can get very good detail, especially with the V tools.

The toolset is available from my Etsy shop. Perfect for beginners or as a gift for someone special. Ah!

Penguin crime series book covers

2011-05-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

C S Forester crime series for Penguin

About a month ago I got a call from Penguin books asking if I had time to do three cover illustrations for some previously unpublisher C S Forester crime novels. But they needed them quite quickly, they said. Like by Wednesday, preferably. This was on Monday! No problem, I said. I love a challenge.

So here they are, the fastest linocuts in all time. Designed, approved and printed in two days flat. And what's more, they liked them! They are not quite finished as one of them needs a second character adding in the background but the other two have gone to proofing and I'm looking forward to seeing them in the flesh with the text added. I will post photos when I get them.

Exhibition of linocuts by Chris Brown

2011-05-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

English Vernacular
An exhibition of prints by Christopher Brown
St Jude's Gallery, Norfolk

This exhibition has just opened at St Jude's, a gallery in Itteringham, Norfolk, which I have been meaning to visit for some time. Chris Brown learnt the art of the linocut from Edward Bawden and there is a clear influence in his prints, not only in the subject matter (English Vernacular sums it up pretty neatly) but also in the humour.

Here are a few of my favourites. Click on the links below each image to visit the St Jude's site, where you can buy the prints.

Mr Pickles

Spy

Rude Cat
I'm not usually a fan of prints of cats, but I like this one for its in-your-face cheek. Incidentally, Bawden also loved cats.

English Vernacular runs until 28th May. St Jude's also stock/represent Angie Lewin, Mark Hearld, Chris Brown and the ubiquitous Rob Ryan.

Throne Together - a Linocutboy workshop

2011-05-06T01:42:00.000-07:00

I have just finished putting together the finished books from my Royal Wedding Souvenir Linocut Book workshop at Material in Ludlow. You can see the photos from the workshop in this previous post. Each participant carved and printed a bride or groom character of their choice and these were then paired up. The book opens so you can view the happy couples in lots of different combinations.

Here's the cover which I designed (I did it very quickly!) The title of the book 'Throne Together' was the result of an extended brainstorming session with the group lasting several minutes.

The pages were hand printed during the workshop on newsprint paper using a baren (japanese printing tool). I printed the covers on red card stock back at East London Printmakers using their Tofko press.

To assemble the books I trimmed all the pages roughly to size then scored the cover where I wanted it to bend using the back of a normal knife:

I then stapled the pages together using a long-armed stapler and trimmed the edges and the central join to make it all neat and tidy.

Here is the finished book showing how it opens and a few photos of the wonders that lie within:

New Albion Press from Rochat

2011-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I was invited recently to write a short review for Printmaking Today magazine on a brand new printing press. The press is an Albion and is being made by Harry F Rochat, a family-run company famed the world over for their etching presses. Luckily for me they are based just up the road in Barnet, North London. I went down to their workshop to see the press and be the FIRST to test it out! Here is the inauspicious exterior of their premises, down a narrow side street. They have been here since 1969 and the third generation of the family is now busily involved.

And here is the press... It's a beauty, isn't it?!

The design is based on an old 1854 Ulmer & Sons and has been several years in the making. This is David Rochat in the workshop.

The printing area of the press (ie the size of the top platen) is 16 x 22 inches so I decided to print my Dodo with a Yoyo linocut which is just a bit smaller than this. Here I am inking it up with one of Rochat's own extremely solid ink rollers:

There now follow a few photos of me in action pulling a print. Photos by Lynne, another member of the Rochat family.

As you can see I was pretty happy with the results. The action was lovely and smooth and not too much hard work, unlike the little antique albion I'm used to. After a few adjustments to the pressure and amount of ink I got excellent results. The family asked if they could keep the first print I made on the press, so I signed it for them.

Below are a couple more close-ups of the press, showing the amazing level of detail. Note the website address on the base. Let's hope they don't have to change their domain name any time soon!

And finally, here is a Rochat family portrait. L to R: David, Christine & Lynne. Leon Rochat was unfortunately away, servicing someone's press somewhere. Many thanks to the family for their hospitality and time and check out the next issue of Printmaking Today for my full review. For more info on the Albion, including prices, visit http://www.harryrochat.com/harry-rochat-relief-albion-press.htm

World of Wonder exhibition and linocut workshop

2011-04-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw the opening of my new exhibition 'Nick Morley's World of Wonder' at Material in Ludlow. Many thanks to Lucy and Joe for their hospitality and hard work. Ludlow is a lovely place to visit, a charming centre of gastronomy with a castle in rural Shropshire. My exhibition runs until 13th May if you fancy a visit.

The new works I made for the show included the two images of ships you can see here (Ghost I and Ghost II). They are linocuts printed on Japanese paper and measure over 1m tall. Both prints are from the same lino block, the left one is white ink on black paper and the right one is black on white. The image comes from a famous photograph of the explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance.

While I was at Material I ran a Royal Wedding Souvenir Book workshop. Each participant designed a bride or groom character which was then carved out of lino and printed onto paper.

For inspiration I found some old magazines featuring the wedding of Charles and Diana from 1981:

The participants worked in teams to print their images, using barens and wooden spoons to press on the back of the paper.

The prints were then hung up to dry.

These are my characters for the book.

I now have to print a cover for each book and then staple them together and send copies to the participants. The books will open in such a way that you can match up different wedding couples depending on how you open it. I will post more images when it is complete.

Dodo a gogo

2011-03-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

My Dodo with a yoyo print is finished! It is a linocut and screenprint measuring 60 x 50cm and it will be available to buy from Material from the opening night of my exhibition "Nick Morley's World of Wonder" on 15th April.

Dodo prints on the drying rack

Screenprinting table set up at East London Printmakers

The final print. The yoyo is quite a bright pink, my photo doesn't really do it justice! Here are the exhibition details:

Nick Morley's World of Wonder

An exhibition inspired by exploration, discovery and adventure

16th April - 13th May 2011

Material

131 Corve St, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 2PG

tel: 07966 165 777 / 07885 687059

Map here

http://www.materialmaterial.com

New Dodo print - progress update

2011-03-24T06:09:00.001-07:00

Here are some more photos of the Dodo with a Yoyo linocut that I've been working on the last couple of weeks for my exhibition at Material in Ludlow next month. The lino took about 3 days to carve then another day to print the first layer. Once that was dry I started adding colours through screenprint. I use thin layers of screenprinting ink over the black lino image which allows the black ink to come through. It adds a nice richness to the black and it's much easier to register (line up) the different layers this way.

Here is the lino block before and after inking up:

And this is one of the prints on the roller of the large etching press at East London Printmakers, where I make my prints:

This is the lino block together with a proof (trial print) on newsprint paper. This always gives a lovely crisp print but unfortunately the paper quickly goes yellow over time so it is usually only used for test prints.

To make the silkscreen photostencil I cut out the shapes with a scalpel from a sheet of black sugar paper. I used the newsprint proof on top to cut through as a guide. The final print will have about 7 colours and each colour has to have its own stencil on the screen.

He is a shot of the silkscreen with the photostencil on it (at the top) and the print on the vacuum printing table showing where the first layer of colour went. I made a colour blend which gives a really lovely effect but increases the failure rate when printing as it's quite tricky to get it perfect!

I will post more images soon. The print will be available to buy at my exhibition at Material in Ludlow from 16th April and through my Etsy shop.

Icon feature

2011-03-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

I recently did a cover illustration for Icon magazine. They have just posted a feature on their website about how I made the linocut. You can read the article here

Carsten Nicolaus animated linocut

2011-03-10T10:40:00.001-08:00

Work by carsten nicolaus.

Just found this on flickr. See more of his work here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carstennicolaus/

New Dodo linocut - in progress

2011-03-09T06:40:00.001-08:00

Here's a sneak preview of one of the new works for my solo show at Material in Ludlow next month which will be called "Nick Morley's World of Wonder". It's a companion piece for my T-Rex with a handbag (see previous post) and it's...

...a Dodo with a yoyo.

Icon Magazine - out now!

2011-03-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

The April issue of Icon magazine featuring my linocut illustration on the front cover is out in shops now. I was very excited to see it on the shelves of Magma bookshop in central London on Saturday. The cover illustration is of architect Ma Yansong's Absolute Towers in Toronto. Read about the linocut and see the stages of designing, carving and printing it in my blog post below.

Bill Fick video - Anatomy of a linocut

2011-02-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a lovely little video I just found of Bill Fick (see earlier post here) making and printing a linocut. It shows the process from start to finish. I'm very jealous of his lovely studio and especially that electric press!!

Anatomy of a Linocut by Bill Fick from Jim Haverkamp on Vimeo.

Icon Magazine Cover Illustration

2011-02-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

I was commissioned last week to create a linocut to illustrate the cover of the April issue of Icon magazine, a publication about architecture and design. The brief was to make an image of the Absolute Towers, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD architects and currently being built in Toronto. The towers currently look something like this:

I was given a brief to make a two-colour linocut featuring the two towers and to make it look dramatic and eye-catching. I could add things in the background if I wanted but I decided to go with just a few clouds to give a sense of scale. This is the first sketch I did:

I decided to make the clouds more interesting and to base them loosely on clouds you might see in a chinese woodblock print. I added the red colour and sent off the first rough:

The feedback was that it was looking good but the clouds were wrong and the towers needed to be more dynamic and twisting. I did the second rough very quickly and sent it back to check I was on the right track:

They really liked this one and said I should finish it. After a couple more minor adjustments the final rough looked like this:

Now that everyone was happy with the design I had to carve and print the blocks. Obviously once it is printed it is harder to make adjustments so if I'm doing a linocut I try to get the rough to a stage very close to the final image. I traced down the image onto two blocks of lino, one for each colour. Here is the background block, to be printed in red. I use red japanese carbon paper to transfer the image, remembering to reverse it first! The text was to be hand-carved so I had to trace this accurately.

Once both blocks were carved it was just a matter of inking them up and printing. I do my printing at East London Printmakers. My own studio is right upstairs in the same building, which is very handy. Here you can see the black block inked and ready to go, with my print-out of the rough for reference:

Here's a close-up of the block. It measures 20 x 21 cm, just smaller than the final image will appear on the magazine but small enough to fit my A4 scanner!

And here's the red block:

I was going for a quite textured look, so I had to reduce the amount of ink and the pressure on the press. I did a few versions, making minor adjustments until I got the desired look.

This is the one I chose. It had the intensity of colour I was looking for while having some texture. By the way, it is deliberately off-register! I scanned and sent it off and happily it was well-received.

Look out for magazine in the shops in about a month...

Linocut workshop in Italy this summer

2011-02-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Linocut: Illustrated Narratives

18-22 July 2011

Opificio della Rosa, Montefiore, Italy

Tutor: Nick Morley (me!)

I will be teaching this workshop in July in the beautiful hilltop town of Montefiore in Italy. It is one of a series of workshops being run over the summer by tutors from East London Printmakers. Situated in a medieval castle, Opificio della Rosa is a printmaking studio dedicated to low environmental impact techniques whilst facilitating traditional and innovative printmaking methods.

The workshop runs for 5 days and I recommend you come and stay a bit longer to visit the local area which is full of wonderful little historic towns and is in the Emilia Romagna region, well known for its delicious food. Florence, Bologna and Venice are all within easy reach by car or train.

Here is the workshop description:

In this workshop you will produce a series of linocuts to illustrate a story, poem or other narrative. You will develop your linocutting and printing skills while exploring howillustrations can complement and enhance your chosen text. You will be given time and guidance to plan your designs, decide on the size and format of the images and to carve and print a small edition of each linocut. The majority of the images will be monochrome (black and white) but there may be some opportunity to work in colour. Linocut is a versatile medium - it is possible to produce very accurate, detailed marks as well as a variety of textures, colour gradients and layering effects.

The workshop will be taught in English with an Italian translator and is suitable for beginners as well as those with some experience. Tools and materials will be provided.

This workshop costs £325 (concessions £300) and if you book before 10th May you get a 10% discount!

For more information on all the workshops being run, visit the Opificio della Rosa website

Many thanks to Umberto Giovannini for organising the workshops. Grazie mille!

Unicyclist linocut

2010-11-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

I've just finished editioning a 4-colour linocut of a unicyclist. He's a kind of deformed clown and comes from a series of circus characters I'm working on with a book in mind. I wanted to make a multi-block print that was colourful and fun but had a handmade feel to it and had some interesting textures.

I devised a new way of registering the blocks which is similar to how I register layers in screenprinting. I printed the last block (the 'key' or outline) first onto clear plastic film which was taped to the registration paper.

I could then line up each block by looking through the plastic film with the outline image on and drew round each block on the registration paper.

Two colours...

Three colours...

Four colours...

The blue block was cut so the colour of the hat didn't line up exactly, partly to give it a less fussy feel and partly to challenge that bit if me that always wants things to be perfect! I'm pretty happy with how it came out, especially the vibrancy of the colours where they overlap (the green is made up from the blue and yellow layers - there is no green ink) Now I have to start work on the rest of the series...

You can buy this print from my Etsy shop.

Linocut book workshop at Whitechapel

2010-10-22T04:35:00.001-07:00

I was recently invited to run a linocut book workshop as part of Kaleid Editions' contribution to the London Art Book Fair at the Whitechapel Gallery. I decided to base it on my own book, the Lion and the Ox and the Boar and the Bear, which was published by Kaleid. This features stories from Aesop's Fables and is illustrated with animals which join up in different combinations depending on how you open the book.

Each of the twelve participants was asked to design and carve either the head or tail of a creature. We then printed them in a bit of a mad frenzy (we only had 3 hours for the whole workshop) and when they were dry I folded and stapled them. Each book was printed in a different order, so each one is unique and contains different head/tail hybrids.

Participants hard at work carving their designs

Folding and stapling the books

Some of the many head/tail combinations

This one looks like it was designed by one person!

The finished books, each participant will receive one copy

Gandhi Autobiography out now!

2010-10-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

M. K. Gandhi - An autobiography

The book cover I illustrated for the Folio Society is out at last! I made the portrait of Gandhi using linocut to create two layers which were scanned and then blocked onto the canvas of the book. The designer Sheri Gee took a detail from the image to use on the spine and I love the choice of font and the slipcase with the gentle curve which echoes my design.

To get hold of a copy you have to join the Folio Society but they have loads of beautifully designed and bound books, including Kafka's Metamorphosis illustrated by Bill Bragg and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children illustrated by Anna Bhushan, both of whom I count as friends.

Linocut Book Workshop at Whitechapel Art Gallery

2010-09-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

Artists' Books Workshop - Ligature Linocuts

Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

Saturday 25th September, 3pm

£10, booking essential

I have been invited to run a workshop at this year's London Art Book Fair where I am exhibiting with Kaleid Editions. The workshop is for ten participants who will each have the opportunity to take part in designing, carving and printing a collaborative linocut book. Each participant will create a section of an animal which will then be joined with the other parts to create an 'exquisite corpse'. Each participant will take home one of the resulting limited edition books.

Book your ticket here

Linocut Masks

2010-08-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

Whilst randomly searching for linocuts on the internet I have come across some very nice images which I thought would make an inspiring post on the theme of masks. There seems to be some kind of handed-down tradition which I suppose derives from making masks by carving wood, which obviously happened and still happens in many different cultures. So here you go...

Bill Fick

Bill Fick is from the USA. He lives in North Carolina and teaches at Duke University. He co-wrote an excellent book on printmaking called Printmaking: A complete guide to materials and process which I recently reviewed for Printmaking Today magazine. These linocuts are from Fick's 'Terrorist Series" which explores issues of suspicion and distrust in relation to masks.

http://billfick.com

Deborah Klein

Deborah Klein is an Australian artist who makes paintings, drawings and prints, books and the odd piece on fabric. Her works have a dreamlike quality, combining animals and objects with faces of women. See her work here: http://www.deborahklein.net/

David Berube

David Berube lives and works in NYC. He created these images to be used as masks for the 3rd of the trilogy of short films he worked on with choreographer Scott Rink. The images were eventually printed on to fabric and hand-stitched together with a back and top "hairpiece", also linocuts. The masks were then worn by the ballerinas dancing to Scott's version of Swan Lake.

More of his work, including some very nice linocuts and photos of works in progress, can be seen at http://davidberube.blogspot.com/

Wuon Gean Ho

Wuon Gean Ho has been working on the theme of masks for several years, the images originating in linocuts and being developed into screenprints. More recently she has been working on an amazing animation of a rotating mask head, each still being a print in itself. See the animation here.

Linocut demonstration at High Roller Society

2010-08-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to give a linocut demonstration at High Roller Society, who have just shown my latest linocut, Handbag, as part of their show Press and Release.

It was a most enjoyable afternoon, with lots of enthusiastic visitors who were able to have a go at inking and printing their own block. Below are some photos from the demonstration.

New book cover illustration - Jane Eyre

2010-07-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

This was a pitch I did recently commissioned by Random House. It was great to be asked to do a book cover for one of my favourite classics. I've shown the two roughs I did for them here, together with the revised rough and the final version. Fingers crossed it gets used!

The first rough

The second rough

The revised rough with just one figure

The final version which I made as a linocut and added the orange in photoshop. Notice the minor adjustments to the figure to make her look slimmer and the addition of ribbons to her bonnet.

Giant Linocut Steam Roller Print at East London Printmakers

2010-07-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

The East London Printmakers Giant Linocut Steam Roller Printing event was last weekend and was a great success. The event was a part of the ELP and Friends Fete and was timed to coincide with ‘ELP in Space’ - the annual members’ exhibition, which was shown this year at the Triangle Gallery at Space, right next to the studio. You can see the works in the exhibition, including 'Handbag', my linocut of a T-Rex with a handbag, here.

The giant linocut print was made by around 20 artists, both ELP members and others, over the period of a month. Many thanks to Intaglio Printmaker for sponsoring us for the linoleum. The theme of the print was ‘The London Fields’, which is the park behind the studio, featuring the lido, cricket pitch, playground and a host of random characters.

The print itself was 24ft long (7+metres) by 18in and was printed with a 4 tonne road roller (thanks to Demenex for their support). Boards were laid under the lino and we printed on wallpaper and then Fabriano (the much cheaper wallpaper worked better!) with a layer of vinyl flooring material on top to give a cushioning effect. The prints came out surprisingly well, there was some ‘ghosting’ in areas where the lino moved but other areas were nice and crisp. Next time we will try gluing the lino down onto the boards.

Scroll down for images of the fete and the steam roller printing…

Photos by Teresa Eng

Full steam ahead | Blog | Design Week

2010-07-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Full steam ahead | Blog | Design Week

ELP Giant Linocut Steamroller Print

2010-07-06T04:52:00.001-07:00

Here at the ELP studio we have been working on a giant linocut which we will be printing at our fete on the 17th July (see the previous post). The linocut is in four parts and will measure 24ft x 18in (about 7.3m x 45cm). We will print it using a steamroller (or a roadroller as they’re called nowadays) as this has been done successfully by other studios and should make for an interesting spectacle! The linocut itself is a panorama of the London Fields area, which lies just behind our studio. This includes the lido, cricket pitch, playground, skate park and Broadway Market. Check back for updates…

ELP and Friends Fete - 17th July, 12 - 6pm

2010-07-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

East London Printmakers and Friends invite you to our summer fete.

Join us for an afternoon of food, art, games, music and printing activities.

12pm to 6pm

Giant linocut printing with a steam roller

Tea and Cakes

Print your own bag

Make your own nipple tassles

Masked table tennis tournament

Buy prints, cards, books etc from ELP members

Face painting

GUEST STALLS:

Material

Badge-making, gin and elderflower cocktails plus a selection of other delights from our favourite shop off Carnaby Street.

Bobby Dazzler

Dolls like you’ve never seen before. Each one unique, handmade and with it’s own personal history.

Garudio Studiage…

…and their Lucky Skip - your chance to rummage through the delights of a very Peckham lucky dip, through a handmade skip, with a chance to win a dizzying selection of “prizes”.

Nous Vous

Play the Nous Vous Memory Game and win an amazing prize or buy zines, prints and T-shirts.

Nervous Stephen

Books, badges and other handmade items from the genius that is Stephen Fowler.

Belinda Chen and Meng Chia Lai

Screenprinted books, cards, coasters and more

Handmade in Hackney

Make your very own ceramic roman lamp or buy jewellery, ceramics and purses from the shed in the yard.

Adam Bridgland and Lucy Gough (Jetlag)

Prints, patches, cards, bags, badges and brand new items exclusive to the fete from this pair of artists who rejoice in the mundane.

Nick White and Sam Rees

Books, zines, tattoos, prints, tea-towels and dusters plus some sort of amazing game created especially for the fete.

Jill Tytherleigh

Screenprinted tea-towels

6pm to 10pm

BAR AND BARBECUE

MUSIC FROM DJ Cat and The Readers

Address: 129 Mare Street, London E8 3RH

visit the facebook event page

visit the ELP website

New Linocut Dinosaur Print

2010-06-14T05:01:00.001-07:00

This is my new linocut, 'Handbag'. As you can see, it is a T-Rex with a handbag. This is the largest linocut I've made so far, the paper measuring 76 x 112cm (30 x 44in). The colour is screenprinted over the black linocut outline once it's dry. Because the screenprinting inks I used were very thin they do not cover the black (it does not work if there is any white in the ink). This is a technique I've used quite a lot before. It makes it very easy to register the different colour as you are printing the key block first.

A detail from the print. This is on show at High Roller Society in East London until 24th July.

Notes and Queries

2010-06-08T02:14:00.000-07:00

I have recently received a couple of emails from followers of this blog wanting advice. I thought I'd answer them on here and maybe if more people have questions it can become a regular feature. Email me at nickbmorley@hotmail.com.

Simon writes...

I wanted to get started making linocuts at home. Do you have any advice on what I should get? Obviously lino (what type?), ink (what type??), a roller, carving tools... anything I am missing or should be aware of?

Well Simon, linocutting is one of the most accessible printmaking processes and can easily be done at home without too much space and too many specialist items. A basic set-up might consist of lino, one or two carving tools, a roller ('brayer' if you're in America), ink, paper and a wooden spoon or baren for printing.

Lino or vinyl?

There are a few options for which material you are going to carve. You can buy proper linoleum (made from cork dust and linseed oil with a hemp backing) from art supply shops. I have come across two colours, a yellowish-brown one and a grey one. There's not much difference between the two, you might find one slightly softer than the other or a slightly smoother finish. If you buy a large piece and cut it down yourself you will save money in the long term.

Some artists have found commercial flooring 'lino' that is suitable. This is not actual linoleum in the traditional sense, it's made of a kind of plastic, but if you can find one that is smooth and cuts well, go for it! This will be cheaper than the artist's linoleum.

The other option is to buy a material known as vinyl. This comes from Japan and is custom-made for printmakers. It is usually green or green on one side and blue on the other. Both sides can be used. It costs the same or slightly less than lino (at least here in London) and is smoother to carve. It also has a very smooth finish which will give a smooth, even colour when printed. I find it a bit soulless and prefer the slight texture of lino but each to their own. It does not come in large rolls like lino, so there is also a limit to the size of print you can make from it.

Carving tools - different types

Buy the best you can afford. If you invest in a good quality tool and look after it it will last many years. If you are just starting out, try to borrow some or ask in the shop if you can try them out before you buy. There are two main types: one with a handle that is long and thin like a pencil and one with a mushroom-shaped handle. The pencil-type ones come from China and Japan and the mushroom handled ones from Europe. The tools are held differently and it is really personal choice which style works for you. The pencil-type tools are held a bit like a pencil, with the handle resting between your forefinger and thumb and the blade pointing away from you. I prefer the mushroom tools which sit in your palm as I find them comfier to handle.

Good, sharp tools are so much easier to use than blunt ones but it is pointless investing in a quality tool if you don't keep it sharp. I will try to write a post on sharpening tools soon!

As a rough guide, at the moment a set of six basic pencil-type tools will cost around £10 ($15) in the UK. These are adequate for a beginner and I use them in my workshops. Avoid the style with the plastic handle and the removable blades. They are horrible. If you want to invest in a better set you might pay anything up to £25-30 for a Japanese tool. Mine are made by Pfeil in Switzerland and cost around £16 each.

Carving tools - how many do you need?

I have a set of 6 of which I use three the most. These are all u-gouges. If you are a beginner, I would recommend you get a large v-gouge and a medium u-gouge to start with. The v-gouge is the most versatile as you can cut a variety of width of line, including the finest lines. If you want to cut an even width of line, a u-gouge is easier. You can also use a scalpel to cut a line similar to the v-gouge but you have to cut each side of the line separately. If you want to clear large areas, a wider, flatter gouge will save you time.

Inks

Buy inks for 'relief' printing. These are suitable for woodcut and linocut. You can get many different brands. These are available from specialist printmaker shops. You can also use industrial litho inks which will work out cheaper but only come in large quantities. Relief inks come in oil-based and water-washable varieties. If you are working at home you might want to consider the latter which can be cleaned up with soap and water.

Some inks contain chemicals known as 'driers'. These speed up the drying time of the inks. If your prints are taking more than a day or so to dry, consider buying some driers. You only need to add a drop or two to the ink when you mix it up.

You will need a flat non-porous surface to roll out your inks on. A piece of toughened glass, perspex/acrylic, marble or an old piece of laminated wood would all work. A metal spatula is also useful for laying out the ink and mixing colours.

Rollers (Brayers)

Rollers come in a number of materials: hard and soft rubber, gelatine, plastic and nitrile PVC. Rubber rollers are great. Get one than has a bit of give when you squeeze it, but is not too spongy. The harder the roller, the less it will roll into all the dips and nooks in the lino. Ideally your roller should be big enough to cover the whole of your lino with ink in one roll. So, as well as the roller being wider than your block of lino, you will also need to work out the roll length, which is the same as the circumference (just over 3 times the diameter of the roller). If this is longer than the length of your block, you are OK. Having said this, you can roll up a large block with a small roller with a bit of practice without getting roller marks. A softish roller will make this easier.

Always clean your roller immediately after use and dust it lightly with chalk or talcum powder to dry it.

Paper

Which kind of paper you use will depend on your printing method. If you have access to a printing press you can use thicker paper. If you are printing by hand a thinner paper will be better. Japanese papers work well for this because they are thin but incredibly strong due to the long fibres in them. A smooth paper will give a flat, smooth print. Textured paper will make the colours mottled or even speckled. Experiment with different kinds of paper, but remember some papers are designed to last longer than others. Newsprint is lovely to print on but will yellow very quickly over time if left in the light. If you want your prints to last, use archival quality, acid-free or buffered paper.

Printing tools

If you are printing by hand you can get perfectly good results with the back of a spoon. If you want to look a bit more like a pro, you can get a japanese tool called a baren. This is a hard disc covered in bamboo (there are plastic versions too) with a handle. You can protect the printing paper by placing a sheet of tracing paper or greaseproof paper over it before you print.

Some useful UK suppliers:

Intaglio Printmaker – tools, inks, paper.

Lawrences (Hove) – tools, inks etc

Atlantis (Whitechapel) – basic tools and inks, papers

John Purcell paper (Brixton) – specialist papers.

RKBurt paper (Southwark) – Specialist papers (bulk only)

Falkiner Fine Papers (Holborn) – specialist papers including Japanese papers.

Another bike boy illustration

2010-05-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

New illustrations

2010-05-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of new illustrations of characters riding bikes. The oulines are linocuts and the colours and backgrounds were added using linocut textures scanned into my computer and manipulated with photoshop.

Linocut workshop at Kaleid

2010-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

The weekend before last I ran a free drop-in workshop at Kaleid in East London. Kaleid is a project set up by Victoria Browne to showcase artists' books and promote books as an artform. The workshop followed on from my exhibition in the Kaleid gallery in September. Each participant was invited to create a section of an exquisite corpse animal. Each section was then printed in sequence to create one long print which can be folded into a concertina book.

Find out more about Kaleid and other workshops here

FREE drop-in linocut workshop in London this weekend

2010-04-14T06:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I will be running a free drop-in linocut workshop at KALEID in East London. Participants will each create a section of an animal in the manner of an exquisite corpse. The different body sections will then be joined together in a concertina book to create one long fabulous beast. Each participant will get to take home one copy of the book. All materials provided. Come along if you can!

For more information, visit the KALEID website.

Sunday 18th April 2010. 1-5pm

New Dinosaur print - work in progress

2010-04-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

This is my latest linocut, the largest so far. It is of a Tyrannosaurus Rex holding a handbag. I drew the design directly onto the lino using a real life photo as a reference. The details developed as I went along.

This close-up of the lino shows the carving on the body. The design wasn't supposed to be as detailed as this, but as always I couldn't help myself.

Gandhi Book Cover Illustration

2010-02-23T03:18:00.000-08:00

This is an illustration of Gandhi I did recently for The Folio Society. I wanted to convey some of the complexity of Gandhi's character while still giving the feeling of lightness. I used linocut to make this layer first, and a second, colour layer was created afterwards to go behind. The illustration will go on The Folio Society's new cloth-bound edition of Gandhi's autobiography.

A close-up of the lino showing the carved lines. In the background is one of my trusty Swiss Pfeill linocutting tools which I bought from Intaglio Printmaker in London.

To create the 'rough' illustration I used a photo of Gandhi as a base to work over using my Japanese brush pen. I started off drawing just arcs and built up the patterns from there. I wanted to reflect the iconic round wire-framed glasses Gandhi wore but without being too obvious. Once the rough was approved by Folio I traced the image down onto the lino using red transfer paper.

Once I had transferred the image to the lino I went over it again with the brush pen to further develop the image and make sure the modelling and tones were right before I started carving.

The finished linocut. The black lines are not from having been inked but just from the brush pen. This way I know almost exactly how the printed image will look (except of course it will be reversed). Although more lino can be cut away after printing, any minor changes I need to make to the final illustration are done in photoshop.

Will Webb interview

2010-01-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

In the first of a new series of interviews with artists and designers who use linocut, I bring you Will Webb, talented designer of books and book covers. Will worked for Bloomsbury Publishing for eleven years where he was head of cover and book design, before going freelance in 2006. His clients include the V&A Museum, Random House and Faber & Faber.

When did you start making linocuts? Are you self-taught or were you taught how to do it?

I really got interested about 5 years ago, I had done some on and off before, but it really took hold then. I pretty much taught myself, I have a great book about relief print making published by Dorling Kindersley (now out of print) which was useful for figuring out how to register properly to do multi colour prints, though I still havent quite grasped how reduction prints work!

What do you like about working with linocuts?

I like the physicality of the whole process, from the initial drawing, the cutting, the inking and the printing. Its really magical when you print the colour blocks and then the final black outline pulls it all together. I particularly enjoy the cutting, the smell of the lino, the resistance and give as you slice away... I use oil based inks and again the smell and tactileness of the ink is hugely appealling. Working with linocuts also gives you the perfect excuse to go to Intaglio Printmaker and buy nice things!

Which artists/illustrators/designers do you most admire and why?

Well, I really admire lots of different people! In terms of lino of course Edward Bawden and less well known Robert Tavener. I also found a book of chapbook covers by Posada which were really nice, mostly a salmony pink background colour overprinted in black, with lots of lettering, very different from his more well known day of the dead stuff. I also like the woodcuts of a Breton artist, Rene Quillivic (I am sure the guy who did the Thom Yorke cover must have also seen Quillivic's work, especially one called 'La ville d'Ys). The Kuniyoshi exhibition at the Royal Academy was quite inspirational, I had a go at woodcut printmaking using japanese techniques and tools after I saw that (results left), a really nice process, especially printing with the baren and water based inks, but hard work!

To what do you accredit the recent resurgence in hand-made illustrations and linocut in particular?

Computers! I think after everyone got over the awesomeness of the mac they realized that moving a mouse around a screen was not that much fun. I think that there has been a general shift in culture towards a more 'analog' approach, wether it be growing your own veg or knitting or listening to folk music! Also I think that things happen in cycles, so for a long time photography was more prevalent, certainly in book covers, and now its illustrations turn, but it will go around again...

Is there any special lino technique you have developed?

I sometimes use a hybrid of computer and lino for doing book covers, because it saves time. Say the cover has 3 colours I will cut the 3 blocks and print them separately all in black then scan each into photoshop and create a new layer for each within the same file, that way you can colour each one and make adjustments to the colour very easily, plus you dont have to wait for each colour to dry. With Island at The End of the World I cut the lettering separately at a much larger size then scanned and reduced it in photoshop and dropped it on the background seascape.

Which tools do you use?

The trusty Swann-Morton 10a scalpel is the first out of the box. I make an angled cut on either side of the line and then another angled cut to clear out a V shaped groove on either side of the line, which is the same as the japanese woodblock hangito technique. I then clear larger areas

with a variety of U and V gauges (The Swiss Made mushroom handle ones from Intaglio - I also bought some of Lawrences top of the line ones but they are not nearly as good. I make the prints on a Tofko screw press (right) that I bought at Lawrences. It has a lot of clearance above but you are limited by the width between the side uprights.

Where can we see and buy your work?

At the moment only on my website. I dont have any facility to sell them from the site but if anyone wants to buy them they can email me.

Will's website: www.willwebb.co.uk

Please,please, pleasure

2009-11-30T04:59:00.001-08:00

Please,please, pleasure, originally uploaded by sminzy.

we always knew you were one of us

2009-11-30T04:58:00.003-08:00

we always knew you were one of us, originally uploaded by sminzy.

finger face

2009-11-30T04:58:00.001-08:00

finger face, originally uploaded by sminzy.

New Artist's Book Launch and Exhibition

2009-11-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

I have just launched my new artist's book, called THE LION AND THE OX AND THE BOAR AND THE BEAR. It is based on Aesop's fables and is published by KALEID Editions in London. The book features linocuts and texts from Aesop which can be viewed in 25 different combinations depending on how the book is opened. The book was hand printed and is available in an edition of 500 at £15.

Visit the KALEID website.

Wonderland at the V&A Museum of Childhood

2009-09-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

This week I am drawing a mural with my friend Ellie Curtis at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London. It is a part of the exhibition 'Wonderland' by East London Printmakers (my studio) and the theme is fairytales.

Lino Expo at Smokey's Tangle in Oakland

2009-09-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

This exhibition of lino art will be on at Smokey's Tangle in Oakland, California from 4th September. The exhibition features local and international artists and is curated by Emily Wick and myself.

Featured artists from the UK:

Nick Morley

Chris Pig

Wuon Gean Ho

Mark Webber

Steve Edwards

Anna Alcock

Janet Brooke

Linocut class at East London Printmakers

2009-08-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

I teach regular printmaking classes on Wednesdays at East London Printmakers in Hackney, East London. The studio is a cooperative of 30 artists and has been running for 11 years. As well as linocut I teach screenprinting and etching. Workshops are open to all and I usually get an interesting mix of people. For more info on workshops go to the ELP site

This particular workshop was reduction linocut where a single piece of lino is printed multiple times, the image being carved away more between each printing. The printed area is reduced each time, hence the name. This process requires careful advance planning and the destructive nature of the technique means you cannot go back to an earlier stage to make more prints, so it is wise to print a few extra from the start to allow for mistakes. This is a technqiue that Picasso used to great effect.

The first stage is to transfer the image onto the lino. This can be done by drawing directly onto it with pen or pencil, or using transfer paper (carbon copy paper). It is important to remember the image will be reversed (mirror image) in printing so all any text must be back-to-front!

After carving away the first area of lino, which will be the colour of the paper (usually white) in the final print, the block is inked up with a roller. The ink is rolled out onto the glass surface until the roller has an even coating then is rolled onto the lino. The amount of ink on the roller is crucial to getting a good print. Too little ink and you get a pale impression, too much ink and the edges lose their definition and the ink 'splurges' out (technical term).

The inked-up block is place on the bed of the press. In this case, we used an antique Albion platen press but you can get equally good results using an etching press. A piece of paper or plastic under the block acts as a guide for registration. The position of the paper and block are marked on the registration sheet so they can be lined up perfectly for each print. This press takes a bit of effort to use, as you can see!

The print is carefully peeled back and stacked on a drying rack, ready for the next colour.

This process is repeated for each layer. In this one-day workshop we just about managed 3 colours. Below are some of the prints the students produced.

Anna Alcock

2009-08-17T04:17:00.001-07:00

The Moon Hunt

Riding a Hoojar

Bagged by a Giant

Anna Alcock runs Inky Cuttlefish, the studio in Walthamstow, East London, where I have my painting studio. Anna grew up in South Africa and her work shows strong influences of this, both in style and subject matter. The nature of these graphic images is perfectly suited to linocut which gives Anna's work a wonderful vitality and sense of innocence.

Anna will be exhibiting these works, together with myself and four other British artists in a 'Lino Expo' at Smokey's Tangle in Oakland, California from 3rd to 17th September 2009.

See more of Anna's work at Inky Cuttlefish

Leonard Baskin

2009-07-19T03:24:00.000-07:00

Roger Peet

2009-06-04T14:13:00.001-07:00

Nice prints by some guy I found on Flickr...

The extinct Moa of New Zealand. More prints at justseeds.org

Geronimo, war chief of the CHiricahua Apache.

My book cover featured on Creative Review blog

2009-04-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

My cover illustration for Faber's new volume of W B Yeats poems is featured on the Creative Review blog. It will be available in the shops on the 7th May. For more info and to see the other books in the series, all by printmakers, visit the Faber site