I thought I’d share with you this week my Lino Printing Process. I made these Lino Blocks from Essdee Mastercut, which I a really nice soft material to work with. I cut out some abstract shapes which were taken from my Paper Collage’s and then mounted them on Ply Wood for easy handling.

I print with Permaset Aqua Textile Ink, which is water based and 100% solvent free. I generally mix my own colours. I then use an Esdee Fabric Roller to apply the ink. I roll the ink out on a piece of perspex, like one you might get from a picture frame. I print onto my kitchen table, so it’s important to pad out the surface so that the blocks make better contact with your printing surface. I use some old towels and fleece blankets, but also a thin piece of upholstery foam would work well. The most important thing is to print onto a smooth surface as the blocks will pick up any texture from the surface below.

I re-ink the blocks after each print, applying an even pressure with my hands. Once the prints are dry, it’s important to iron them carefully to heat set the ink. Here’s a video of the process too. Hope you enjoyed reading about how I print my Natural Cotton Bread Bags!