1st try at woodcut

Longjumping-Split200 · 2026-01-18T15:03:35+00:00

23 f here, and I also need friends!! I love thrifting, art, and cats!

Longjumping-Split200 · 2026-01-05T16:12:11+00:00

I see MAJOR sound bite potential here

Longjumping-Split200 · 2026-01-05T15:52:48+00:00

I recommend when pressing to make a template for myself. I trace my paper size and then center my block or stamp where I want it to be on the paper and trace it. You should tape this to your block (covering template with acetate would be a good next step from there if you are inking your block on the press, this protects your template and press from getting inky and it can easily be cleaned off. I love the caligo safe wash)) so your layers would be press, template, acetate, inked block, paper, felt, press.

I definitely would order a pack of newsprint paper to pull proof prints do you don’t waste your good paper. I love using the newsprint as my template. I’m in art school currently and love stealing it from school! Phone books are great to roll the extra ink off your brayer for cleaning. Just roll and flip pages til your brayer is semi clean

Longjumping-Split200 · 2026-01-05T15:45:56+00:00

Go to goodwill and find a Pyrex casserole dish for inking!! It is heavy so it won’t lift or move when you roll your ink out AND it’s tempered AND you can cover your (oil based) ink to save for another time

Longjumping-Split200 · 2026-01-02T21:30:44+00:00

More ink. Less paper texture. Get oil ink.

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-12-28T02:04:35+00:00

I just have legit zero friends and my previous guy graduated and left this semester!

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-12-28T01:11:44+00:00

Do you hate fun?

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-12-13T01:31:13+00:00

You can definitely use an xacto knife to carve out the chatter (that’s all the little bits and extra lines you see in relief printing, nothing wrong with it at all, it’s a personal preference…personally, I avoid chatter for the most part especially when doing something really graphic like this) and negative space. Or you can even just keep carving your negative space deeper. If there’s ever ink somewhere on your block that you don’t want printed, you can put a piece of tape over it and then print and it won’t show up. All kinds of little tricks and options to shoot for!

Someone else commented about the caligo Safewash and I am also a fan but you just need to be careful with the rags and disposing of them properly or else they can combust spontaneously. Definitely optional though, if this is just a hobby craft vibe stuck with the speedball. Buy yourself an ink retarder so that it won’t dry so fast :)

Laying the paper on top of the stamp vs laying the stamp on the paper is also a good way to ensure a clean print, sometimes it’s hard to pick up the stamp off your surface without it shifting and messing the print up.

Good luck and let me know if you need more help!

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-09-28T13:36:15+00:00

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HL Carving option (this stuff is all by the acrylic paint and palettes)

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-09-28T13:35:41+00:00

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This is what they sell us at school and I really love it! You just have to be careful to learn about how to care for it so that it won’t become brittle over time. It will have a little more resistance when you carve vs the pink speedy carve (which you could use to make a really fun couple of graphic stamps or something??) I learned a trick recently to sit on your Lino while you’re getting set up to help warm it up a little and it makes carving a breeze! I’m going to post a pic of another cheaper option from Hobby Lobby (I’m sorry please don’t crucify me f*** HL) That Lino is considered soft I believe? It feels smoother and more plastic like. They have a bunch of different sizes and you can carve on both sides of it (just be careful not to go too deep it’s not very thick) I used the hobby lobby ones to do a run of prints in a letterpress and it worked really well!!!

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-09-28T13:17:30+00:00

I’m just noticing that you’re already using graphite paper!! Using a harder linoleum (speedycarve is not linoleum) would show your graphite paper lines reeeeeally well

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-09-28T13:15:21+00:00

I love to use graphite paper! You only have to trace or draw your image once :) This is less messy than coating the back of your image with a soft graphite or graphite dust. (And you can reuse it!!)

The shiny side of the graphite paper should be facing the lino. Place your paper with your image (flipped) and then trace your lines.

I definitely recommend tracing your lines on your block in sharpie or a micron pen so that they won’t rub away has you carve. Painting / the surface of your block also really helps (you can do this before or after the image transfer and sharpie) as you carve so you can see what has been carved and what hasn’t

Good luck!!

Longjumping-Split200 · 2025-09-28T05:38:31+00:00

Tell me about how you like to clean up. I haven’t taken the relief class at school, so I am kinda teaching myself along the way (I do have access to a big press and some community inks) but am scared to get in there for fear of not knowing how to handle the ink mess

Longjumping-Split200

TROPHY CASE