Printmaking

Printmaking techniques involve cutting or engraving a design into a printing surface, then using it to produce multiple identical images on paper or fabric. In this category, you'll find printmaking supplies mainly for linocut: lino and the softer Softcut material, lino cutters, chisels, rollers, inks and presses, as well as plates for drypoint. Most of the range comes from the British brand Essdee, which also makes beginner kits, alongside Daler Rowney, Pébéo, Abig and Fome. The equipment is suitable for school, a printmaking course or your home studio.

Which printmaking supplies do you need for your first linocut?

For your first linocut, you need a printing block, a lino cutter, a roller, linocut ink and paper. The process is the same for every design:

draw your design onto the block in reverse, especially letters and numbers,
use the lino cutter to cut away the areas you want to remain white in the print,
roll out the ink on a smooth surface and apply it to the raised areas,
place the paper on top and press it down by hand or in a press.

A kit saves you putting together your equipment piece by piece: Essdee Linocut Taster Kit for trying out the technique, Block Printing Kit For Kids for children or Fabric Lino Printing Kit for printing on fabric. You'll find them all on the Sets For Graphic Techniques page. Lino cutters also come as a handle with a set of interchangeable blades in different profiles: narrow ones for fine lines and wide ones for clearing larger areas.

Lino or Softcut?

Traditional lino is a natural material made from linseed oil and wood flour. It is firm and durable, but offers more resistance when cutting and is easier to cut after warming; Essdee also sells it in a 915 × 2000 mm roll, 3.2 mm thick, which is suitable for use in a press. Essdee Softcut is a lino alternative that is very easy to cut, making it a choice for children, beginners and schools. It still holds a fine line, and you can draw directly onto it with a soft pencil. Softcut is 3 mm thick and is usually sold in packs of 10, from small 75 × 75 mm squares to a 420 × 300 mm format. You'll find linocut blocks and drypoint plates on the Bases page.

How does linocut differ from drypoint?

Linocut is a relief printing technique: the ink sits on the surface left raised after cutting, and the resulting print has bold areas and contrast. Drypoint is an intaglio technique: you scratch the design into a plate with a pointed tool, and the ink stays in the incised lines, giving a result that resembles a pen drawing. You need a press for drypoint, whereas you can print a linocut by hand.

Technique	Preparing the printing surface	What holds the ink
Linocut	cutting with a lino cutter	uncut surface
Drypoint	scratching lines with a pointed tool	incised lines

A press applies even pressure to the paper across the whole surface and is useful for larger formats and higher numbers of prints. The Fome School Press models for schools come in widths of 180 mm and 250 mm, while larger Fome intaglio presses with higher pressure are intended for drypoint. When choosing a press, allow for the size of your paper, not just the design itself. You'll find more models on the Presses page.

Which ink should you choose for paper and which for fabric?

Linocut inks are thicker and tackier than ordinary paints so that you can roll them out into a thin layer. After printing, you can wash a water-thinnable ink, such as Essdee Block Printing Ink, off the roller and inking surface with water. Oil-based ink dries more slowly, giving you more time when working on a larger design. Pack sizes include 80 ml, 100 ml and 300 ml: smaller ones for trying out shades, larger ones for printing an entire series in the same colour.

For printing on T-shirts, bags and other fabrics, use an ink intended for textiles, such as Essdee Fabric Block Printing Ink. Ordinary ink for paper may not withstand washing, and some fabric inks need heat setting after drying, for example by ironing.