So I’ve been working on a few other lino block stencils and one of them is a tattooed covered teddy bear, duly named Thuggy Bear. This was my first block stencil that I encountered a fair amount of printing problems on my shirts. I think this was the result of my not being used to printing with a block of that size, with the details and the amount of hollowed-out parts of the carving.
Materials:
- Derivan Block Printing ink (for paper) & Speedball Fabric and Paper Block Printing Ink (for the shirts)
- Linoleum block
- Lino carving tools
- Pencil
- Hard rubber brayer
- Plain white shirt
So linoleum printing blocks are made from softer material when compared to wood or rubber. Lino have a tendency to curve and, currently, I haven’t really gone as far as pressing them down under weight to keep them flat or gluing them to a stiffer material backing.
Most of my carved lino blocks are roughly the size of my palm so when I pressed them down for printing the whole of the inked surface is touching the printing material (ie. paper. shirt). However, for Thuggy Bear (140mm x 210mm) it was a little tricky for me to press the whole surface down before the ink dried out. Especially when the lino warped. I did get around this by using a text book to help press the block down before hammering it to transer the ink onto my shirts. Additionally, my cheap lino cutters were blunt and I should’ve bought replacement cutter heads before the stores close up for the long weekend here.
To be continued…
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