Today saw me trying another new craft! I mean I did one lot of lino cut in school, but that’s it.
The session was led by Kelly noble who was great at getting people working at different levels depending on their experience. She gave me a little piece of lino to try out the tools on and have a go at making different marks. I started with that and then let the marks turn into a little picture.
Here’s how the prints turned out
We got to have a go with some home dyed paper that Kelly had prepared for us. I didn’t expect to really like mine on it but I thought it was pretty cool!
I’d gone to the session with an idea of making a long tailed tit picture and had done a few quick pen and ink drawings this morning
before heading to the arts and crafts centre so I spent maybe half an hour transferring my pictures onto lino and then carving round. I did it all pretty fast because I wasn’t really sure what I was doing and wanted to have a go at printing it before I left so I could see how it would turn out. I’m actually really pleased with how it looks, and I now have some tools so I can do a bit more work on it at home and improve it.
I thought it would be fun to try printing it on some pink colours as these birds are black, white and pink in real life. Which do you prefer?
Julia's Creative Year 
Of course I love the birds, Julia! They are so cute, and you capture their personalities so well.
Are you going to finish carving out their block?
I have never worked on hand-dyed paper for lino printing, but it looks great. I have experimented a little with patterned papers. You have so many possibilities to play with now that you have blocks.
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I’d like to work on this block a bit more and maybe add another bird to it to make a little flock. The plan would be to blend some of the background lines out as well. I need to get some ink and a roller first though! Oh dear… More art supplies for yet another craft 😂
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When you’re finished and satisfied with the composition, send me a photo. I would like to buy a print for my wall of bird art.
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Seriously? That’s very flattering. There is always the danger that I will ruin it as I work on it more!
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The birds you have are great. If you add more and are unhappy with them, you can just remove them. That is one of the wonderful things about lino cuts.
I’m looking forward to seeing the finished print.
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Cool, thank you. It’ll be a while though as I have other projects I need to get done first, plus I don’t yet have a roller or ink for printing once I’ve carved the rest of the lino. I’ll get there though! Too many things, too little time
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Oh I love your tits! Great job 🙂
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😂😂Why thank you… What about the lino print??
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Awesome. It is something I have never tried. It looks very interesting. I think they would look as nice on fabric. 🙂
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It was quite simple to do really, and pretty relaxing. I’d like to do more of it. Fabric printing is a nice idea
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They’re both so good!
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Oh thank you so much. I was surprised by how relaxing they were to make. But then the first one had no pressure as it was just meant to be mark making, and the second one had to be done super fast so I could print it before the session finished, so I couldn’t over think it.
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I’m soo jealous – what a fun class to go to. The results are great. I have some lino printing stuff at home and only tried once. I’m getting itchy now to try again but I just need a few extra hours a day at the minute so maybe a post Christmas thing. Have you ever tried Gelli plate printing? That is a lot of (messy) fun!
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It was good fun, and we got loads done in just 2 hours. Hope you find some time after Christmas… Though if you had time before Christmas you could lino print presents for people?! I’ve not even heard of Gelli plate printing… What does that involve?
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Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you. I’m sure I blink and I’ve missed a week or more! Gelli plate printing is almost as it sounds. Its a squidgy gel block which you can apply acrylic paint to in thin layers making patterns/pictures in it. You then press paper onto the plate to lift the print. Its a really fun way to make backgrounds. I did a post on it a while back. One of those things that I want to find time to play with again.
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Oh cool, that sounds like fun!
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