Woodcut and Linocut

Drypoint Etching and Relief Print Mash Up This is my fourth mash-up of reduction linocut print and dry point etching. I worked on it intermittently through the Fall and Winter months. The deep dive into process was a blessed respite from my panicked obsessing over the looming loss of a family member to cancer. I …

Drypoint Etching and Relief Print Mash Up Read More »

Mixed Printmaking – Color Linocut and Drypoint Engraving This is the third in a series of posts showing methods to make mixed printmaking mashups. (You can read the first drypoint and linocut print post here, and the second print mash-up steps are posted here.) Cummerbund is a small reduction linocut with drypoint engraving, inspired by …

Mixed Printmaking – Color Linocut and Drypoint Engraving Read More »

Linocut Print and Drypoint Etching – Printmaking Mashup In the last post – I dabbled with an experimental printmaking mash-up. For that still life print, I carved a reduction Linocut for background color and engraved a Drypoint print on plexiglass for details and shading. (You can read that post here.) This new print is a …

Linocut Print and Drypoint Etching – Printmaking Mashup Read More »

Printmakers to Admire I found Toronto artist Margaret Rankin’s work online in 2005. Her subjects demonstrate her sharp eye and sure hands. She is a trained Landscape Architect, and her composition and colors are based on nature. One of the things I was drawn to is the way she uses her blocks – after the …

Printmaking Inspiration Read More »

Miniature Linocut Inspired by Frida Kahlo This linocut is smaller than a business card, but it was a spontaneous and fun session of carving a miniature portrait of Frida Kahlo. In the last post, I shared a pile of very loved resource books from my studio with ideas, examples, and instructions for relief printmaking. Most …

Miniature Linocut Print of Frida Kahlo Read More »

German Expressionist Woodcut Prints I purchased Shane Weller’s book (a Dover Publication – you can check out here) on German Expressionist Woodcuts a few decades ago. All this time on my studio bookshelves and Weller’s book is still an excellent source of inspiration to make something bold, or unfussy. Do you ever get the urge …

Woodcut Print Hand Painted with Watercolor – Artemis (Diana) Read More »

Making a Reduction Linocut without a Press As a perpetually Distracted Person, making a reduction linocut was always a wish, but it got suppressed by uncertainty. I made a reduction woodcut in a printmaking class I took a few decades ago. It came out terrible, with too many layers of thickly rolled ink. The surface …

Reduction Linocut Printed in Four Colors without a Press Read More »

Figurative Linocut Nude Print Exchange This figurative linocut was made a few years ago for a print exchange. The theme of the exchange was The Nude. Have you ever participated in a print exchange? Printmakers sign up, usually with a limited quantity of participants, and each artist makes a print edition large enough to gift …

Figurative Linocut Print – Nude Genre Scene Read More »

Carving a Stylized Manga-Inspired Woodcut Portrait Have you ever made a woodcut? It’s the same process as carving and printing a linocut, except it’s carved and printed from wood. This is a doodle-turned woodcut portrait, inspired by Manga art, and hand colored with watercolor and colored pencils. If you’d like to try one, you can …

Woodcut Portrait – Manga Style – Hand Painted with Watercolors Read More »

A Klimt Art Fan (forever) I saw my first Klimt painting projected on a large screen in a college auditorium during an Art History class. It was The Kiss, painted between 1907-8 in Vienna. That was almost four decades ago, and I’m still moved by Klimt’s work. Inspired by Master Artists Artists looking to sharpen …

Klimt Inspired Linocut Portrait – Winged Read More »

Hand Color Linocuts If you print your linocuts and woodcuts with inks that won’t re-wet, you can have a lot of fun hand coloring your relief prints with watercolors. Hand Colored Block Print Fun Let’s say you printed a small edition of 5 linocuts in black ink that dries permanently. Once the ink is dry, …

Paint Linocuts with Watercolor – and a few more Linocut Posts Read More »

Two Color Reduction Printmaking Here is a small, relief printmaking woodcut portrait of a girl with red hair, looking down as she gets ready for her day. She was carved and printed using the reduction method with two colors of ink, from shina plywood, and then enhanced with watercolor washes and colored pencil. This is …

Resources for Printing a Reduction Woodcut Read More »

Give Printmaking a Go Printmaking methods, and the approaches within each method are a perpetual ocean for exploration and experimentation. Add to that artists’ layering of techniques – and hacks on traditional procedures – to create a bottomless channel available for deep study. The best way to dip your toe in the wonderful world of …

Five Printmakers to Follow on Instagram Read More »

Gift Ideas for for Beginner Printmakers When I started posting printmaking tutorials on my youtube channel, I got a flood of emails asking where one could buy a comprehensive starter set to try printmaking without breaking the bank. Finding gift ideas for beginner printmakers without already knowing printmaking is a challenge. I’ve searched, and there isn’t …

Gift Ideas for Beginner Printmakers Read More »

Dogs as Art Models There’s an adorable, shiny black lab who insists on sharing my cheese and crackers when we hang out. It’s impossible to resist cracker division with this big love of a lap dog, and it gives me opportunities for surreptitious snapshots to make art. I just dropped off one of these linocut prints …

Making Linocut Prints of Your Dog Read More »

I’m back in the studio after the Thousand Oaks Arts Festival, and work is full-speed underway on the next group of watercolors and printmaking for upcoming shows. If you’re in Southern California, save these dates to come visit: October 15: Opening at Flower Pepper Gallery in Pasadena, CAOct 15 & 16: Beverly Hills Art ShowOct 22: …

Linocut: Stag (& breaking through Creative Block) Read More »

Folly Cove Designers – Community Through Creativity You and I share an interest in making things with our hands. The internet is rich with thought-provoking articles about WHY we love hand-made, which tells us that lots of other folks are thinking and talking about it too. We are all part of a global network accessing community through creativity. As both …

Folly Cove Designers – Community Through Creativity Read More »

Adding Watercolor to Block Prints and Woodcuts Have you ever considered adding watercolor to your linocuts, and wood block prints? If you print in single colors, you can add full color to a block print after the ink dries. Use dry media like colored pencils, or pastels – or use wet media like watercolors. But …

Adding Watercolor to Woodcut Prints Read More »

Artists Stealing from Artists An artist I admire has recently been copied by another artist, with no attribution.  The copied work is for sale, presented as original to the artist listing it. It’s a direct copy – as in brush stroke-for-brush stroke, but with the tell-tale mark-making of a novice painter.   Another artist friend had her …

When Artist’s Steal from Each Other Read More »

This reduction woodcut goes wayyyy back, so I’m posting it as a nod to Throw Back Thursday. The first printmaking experience I had was at UMASS in the mid 1980’s. As soon as I walked into the print lab, and heard the clank of an old metal proofing press, inhaled a whiff of ink, and stepped …

Woodcut: Avocado Pit Still Life Read More »

Linocut Print in 6 Colors with the Reduction Method I’ve just posted a new video tutorial showing how to make a linocut in the reduction method. Steps to Make a 6-color Reduction Linocut This video (below) is an intermediate to advanced demo. If you’re just beginning to learn about linoleum block printing, and you’re looking …

How to Make a Linocut with the Reduction Method Read More »

Sleep 12×9 inch Woodcut with Watercolor & Colored Pencil Available in my Etsy Shop Happy December, everyone! Process photos for this woodcut with mixed media start at the bottom of this post. As we approach the end of the year, I’m having a little sale in my freshly stocked Etsy Shop. There are over 200 …

Woodcut with mixed media; Sleep Read More »

How to Make a Two Color Reduction Linocut While rolling out dough for apple pie, I’m feeling a lot of gratitude. So, I want to give something back – here is a How To video on making a Two Color Reduction linocut print. The required solitude of making now has a lovely balance of communion …

Two Color Reduction Relief Print Linocut Tutorial Video Read More »

Lily 8.25×6.25 Woodblock print with watercolor and colored pencil Process shots begin at the bottom of this post.  The woodblock print is available in my Etsy shop.   The shina block Lily was printed from, after printing an edition of 25 prints hanging to dry pulling prints on a variety of papers Shallow contour carving, …

Woodcut: Lily Read More »

Grange 4×3 Woodcut with watercolor and colored pencil Available in my Etsy Shop. I have a couple of new wood/linocut printmaking video tutorials in the works, so stay tuned (or subscribe to the channel) to catch them. If you have a particular method of printmaking you’d like to see in a video, leave me a note …

Mini Woodcut: Grange Read More »

Dozing 5.5 x 7.5 Linocut with Watercolor on paper Available in my Etsy Shop.This linocut was an experiment with pattern on pattern. The reference photo had the same tone and values in about 80% of the image, except for the extreme lights (the sun light) and the darks (the cats). I carved a variety of …

Beginner Linocut Print Set Up Read More »