Linocut

For the last few months I have been busy with the subject of linocut, as often as I can find time. I was fortunate enough to be able to try printing with linoleum plates as well as woodcuts during my schooldays. So it was pretty easy for me to put my ideas into practice. Woodcutting is much more difficult, of course, and the result depends on the grain of the wood and good tools. Lino is much easier to edit.

In recent years, this printing form has become very popular again and plates made of rubber are mainly used , which can be cut much easier. I like these rubber plates myself. You can print whole pictures with them or just make small stamps. On Instagram you can find a variety of great artists who work with this material.

Originally the art of woodcut comes from China; actually it is one of the oldest printing techniques. Magnificent woodcuts were also made in Japan. In the 15th century Albrecht Dürer perfected the woodcut. Centuries later, during the rise of Expressionism, European artists took up the woodcut again. As far back as the early 20th century the linocut was invented: Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse also used lino.

A. Dürer, Die vier apokalyptischen Reiter, 1498

I can't say exactly what brought me back to the linocut. But even the first attempts with rubber plates have inspired me. It's so easy! And if you don't want to work with printing inks and rollers, a stamp pad is sufficient for smaller designs. Once you've really started, however, you will want to try out the right tools and the good printing inks!

The big challenges - like multi-color printing or reduction printing - are still ahead of me.

I really must recommend the linocut technique - carving out the motive alone has something contemplative about it! ;-)