Art of Printmaking using Lino- Bhumiekaa Boyapati, Newstead wood

The material that was once used for carving, linoleum, was invented in the 1860s but wasn’t even used for printing until the early 1900s. Artists like Pablo Picasso and even Henri Matisse were among the first to create linocuts, but the interesting works of Sophy Hollington were the focus of this art lesson Zaira took interest in.
In this interview, Zaria shares her first-hand insights regarding this technique.

Zaira was initially introduced to lino for an art case study assignment; she had previously stated that she had “always been fascinated by pursuing an art as a GCSE.” “I was interested by this subject when I was told to do an artist study on one of Sophy Hollingsworth’s pieces because she frequently uses lino cutting in her work.”

The design is first transferred onto the lino then carved into the linoleum using the lino cutting printing technique. Since you have to keep in mind to just carve away the parts you want blank, it is a somewhat complex procedure.

“I only started actually doing lino for one of my art pieces for an album cover of my own choice, at first making the design was hard but after starting the lino cutting I started getting used to it. Of course although it is hard there is a certain satisfaction you get after finishing a section of your lino.”

“What I mostly found hard was keeping track of the parts of what I wanted to be blank or inked, because of this I had to keep looking back at my original sketch to make sure I wasn’t cutting anything wrong. As well as this because some of cutting tools are very hard to use I often made mistakes and made small marks on my design”

Although it is difficult, trying lino cutting for the first time was a pleasant and enjoyable experience for me. If you ever have the opportunity to practise this amazing art form, do so since it’s definitely a great technique to create your own posters and other artworks!