Lino Cutting for Beginners

So I tried my hand at lino cutting, something I have to admit I haven't done since I was about fourteen, cutting out a picture of a local church under the orders of my 200 year old art teacher. So I wanted a way of creating something immediate and with a handmade edge to it - literally edge, the wobbly edge variety. Within five minutes I had a bird stamp with which I adorned the front of my newly bound notebooks (stand by for the blog on easy binding!).

You may think from the pictures the stamp seems to print in rather a patchy manner but as I just used a standard ink pad and not a roller with proper ink the results were not as good but nevertheless the stamp is still great! Another easy method of printing is to paint on some acrylic with a paintbrush to the stamp and you get a lovely painted look.

First off you need to buy a little special equipment here, a lino cutter ad some lino, I bought a cutter with changeable cutting shapes on it for a mere £6 which is a great start as it gives you 10 options for cutting shapes and is a good price to give it a go without the guilt of investment! You can get them at most craft shops or online here.

Next you need a piece of lino, also available from craft shops, prices range from about 40p for small squares to around £3 for an A4 size, for my stamp I just cut a square out of a larger piece.



Next you need a piece of lino, also available from craft shops, prices range from about 40p for small squares to around £3 for an A4 size, for my stamp I just cut a square out of a larger piece.

Simply draw on your desired shape in pencil and decide weather it is in negative or positive, i.e. cut round the shape or cut the shape out, then start slowly marking with the cutter around the shape and cut away the lino. Make sure to cut the lino deep enough to prevent the other parts catching the ink.

N.B it's much easier if you warm your lino a little on the radiator or on top of a lamp for a few minutes as you get smoother edges and less crumbling of the lino.



Once you're done, use a rolled over piece of tape or souble sided and stick it to something solid, I used a wooden letterpress block to give it an even stamp as it's quite small and flimsy at this size. Then stamp away to your hearts content!


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