Linocut
Encyclopedia
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
technique, a variant of woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
in which a sheet of linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
(sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for the relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel
Chisel
A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it.In use, the chisel is forced into the material...
or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer
Brayer
A brayer is a hand roller used in printmaking techniques to spread ink in the process of offsetting an image from a plate to paper.-Materials:...
), and then impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a press.
Although linoleum as a floor covering dates to the 1860s, the linocut printing technique was used first by the artists of Die Brücke
Die Brücke
Die Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller...
in Germany between 1905-13 where it had been similarly used for wallpaper printing. They initially described their prints as woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s however, which sounded more respectable.
As the material being carved has no particular direction to its grain and does not tend to split, it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects with Lino than with most woods, although the resultant prints can lack the often angular grainy character of woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s and engravings. Lino is much easier to cut than wood; especially when heated, but the pressure of the printing process degrades the plate faster and it is difficult to create larger works due to the material's fragility.
Linocuts can also be achieved by the careful application of Sodium hydroxide in a paste to parts of the surface of the Lino. This creates a surface similar to a soft ground etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
and these Caustic-Lino plates can be printed in either a relief, intaglio or a viscosity printing manner.
Colour linocuts can be made by using a different block for each colour as in a woodcut, but, as Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
demonstrated quite effectively, such prints can also be achieved using a single piece of linoleum in what is called the 'reductive' print method. Essentially, after each successive colour is imprinted onto the paper, the artist then cleans the lino plate and cuts away what will not be imprinted for the subsequently applied colour.http://www.cycleback.com/printsexamination/nine.html
Due to ease of use, linocut is widely used in school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s to introduce children to the art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
of printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
; similarly, non-professional artists often cut lino rather than wood for printing. In the modern day art world however, after the input of Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, the linocut is an established professional print medium.
Emergence of the technique in America
The first large colour linocuts made by an American artist were those of Walter Inglis AndersonWalter Inglis Anderson
Walter Inglis Anderson was an American painter, writer, and naturalist.Known to his family as "Bob", he was born in New Orleans to George Walter Anderson, a grain broker, and Annette McConnell Anderson, member of a prominent New Orleans family, who had studied art at Newcomb College, where she had...
, ca. 1943-1945, which were exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1949. Today, linocut is a popular technique among street artists and street art-related fine art. Prominent practitioners include Swoon
Swoon (artist)
Swoon is a street artist born in New London, Connecticut, and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida. She moved to New York City at age nineteen, and specializes in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures...
, Josh MacPhee
Josh MacPhee
Josh MacPhee is an artist, curator and activist living in Brooklyn, New York. MacPhee graduated from Oberlin College in 1996 and spent eight years as an artist and activist in Chicago, Illinois where he established a distribution system called justseeds in order get more radical art projects out to...
and Jim Pollock.
Selected artists
- Irving AmenIrving AmenIrving Amen is a painter, printmaker and sculptor. Born in New York, New York, he taught at the Pratt Institute and at the University of Notre Dame in the early 1960s. In 1974 he illustrated Gilgamesh through a series of linocuts and woodcuts in 1974. His work often depicts themes of Judaism,...
, American artist - Valenti AngeloValenti AngeloValenti Angelo was an Italian-American printmaker, illustrator and author, born June 23, 1897 in Massarosa, Italy. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1905, living first in New York City then settling in Antioch, California...
, American printmaker & illustrator - Walter Inglis AndersonWalter Inglis AndersonWalter Inglis Anderson was an American painter, writer, and naturalist.Known to his family as "Bob", he was born in New Orleans to George Walter Anderson, a grain broker, and Annette McConnell Anderson, member of a prominent New Orleans family, who had studied art at Newcomb College, where she had...
American artist - Sybil AndrewsSybil AndrewsSybil Andrews was a British-born Canadian printmaker best known for her modernist linocuts.-Life in England:...
English/Canadian artist - Georg BaselitzGeorg BaselitzGeorg Baselitz is a German painter who studied in the former East Germany, before moving to what was then the country of West Germany...
, German artist - Angel BotelloAngel BotelloÁngel Botello was a Spanish-Puerto Rican painter, sculptor and graphic artist. The artist critics called him "The Caribbean Gauguin" for his use of bold colors and depictions of island life...
, Spanish-Puerto Rican artist - Carlos CortezCarlos CortezCarlos Cortez was a poet, graphic artist, photographer, muralist and political activist, active for six decades in the Industrial Workers of the World....
American poet and artist - Stanley DonwoodStanley DonwoodStanley Donwood is the pen name of English artist Dan Rickwood. Donwood is known for his close association with the British rock group Radiohead, having created all their album and poster art...
, British artist (most famous for his work with British band RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
). His work for Thom YorkeThom YorkeThomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
's album The EraserThe EraserThe Eraser is the debut solo album by Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, released on 10 July 2006. The album debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and at #2 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling over 90,000 copies in its first week. Critical reception to the album was generally positive...
was originally done in linocut. - Bill FickBill FickBill Fick is a printmaker living and working in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He received his B.A. from Duke University and his M.F.A. from University of North Carolina-Greensboro...
, American printmaker & illustrator - Jacques HnizdovskyJacques HnizdovskyJacques Hnizdovsky , was a Ukrainian-American painter, printmaker, sculptor, ex libris designer, book illustrator, and art historian.- Biography :...
, UkrainianUkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
-American printmaker, painter, book illustrator and ex libris designer - William KermodeWilliam KermodeWilliam Kermode MC was an artist best known for his illustrations to Henry Williamson's The Patriot's Progress, published in 1930. The illustrations were linocuts, an unusual medium....
, Australian illustrator - Henri MatisseHenri MatisseHenri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, French painter - Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Spanish painter - Cyril Edward Power, English artist
- Everett RuessEverett RuessEverett Ruess was a young artist, poet and writer who explored nature including the High Sierra, California Coast and the deserts of the American southwest, invariably alone...
, American Painter, printmaker, writer and poet. Well known for his depiction of scenes from the American southwest. - Mark RowdenMark RowdenMark Rowden was born in Margate, England in 1979. He left school to study full time at a local art college. Finishing this course after a year he then moved to Sydney, Australia, in the late-1990s...
, Australian/British printmaker - Ken SpragueKen SpragueKen Sprague was an English socialist political cartoonist, journalist and activist, involved in trade union, civil rights and peace movements. In later life he was also a TV presenter and a psychotherapist....
, English artist and activist - Hannah TompkinsHannah Tompkins (artist)Hannah Tompkins was an American artist primarily known for her large body of artwork based on the writings of William Shakespeare...
, American artist and printmaker - Folly Cove DesignersFolly Cove DesignersThe Folly Cove Designers were a mid-20th-century group of American artists block printing in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann. Their blocks were made of linoleum, and they primarily printed on fabric.-History of the Folly Cove Designers:...
American design collective - M. C. EscherM. C. EscherMaurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...
, Dutch artist known for his mathematically inspired works - Irena SibleyIrena SibleyIrena Sibley , born Irena Justina Pauliukonis, was an Australian artist, writer, illustrator of children's books, and art teacher.-Personal life:...
, Australian artist, children's book author and
See also
- Block printing
- GyotakuGyotakuGyotaku is a traditional form of Japanese fish printing or rubbing, dating from the mid-19th century, a form of nature printing used by fishermen to record their catches....
- PrintmakingPrintmakingPrintmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
- Rubber stampRubber stampRubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber. The rubber is often mounted onto a more stable object such as a wood, brick or an...
- Through and throughThrough and throughThrough and through describes a situation where an object, real or imaginary, passes completely through another object, also real or imaginary...
- WoodcutWoodcutWoodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
- LetterboxingLetterboxingLetterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual...
Further reading
- Rice, William S., Block Prints: How to Make Them, Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1941.
- Draffin, Nicholas, Australian Woodcuts and Linocuts of the 1920s and 1930s, South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1976.
- Printing Relief Techniques and Printing Relief History two articles by French printmaker Dominique Lecomte