Which Class is Right for Me?

All my classes last for five days and are for six students maximum. Classes are designed to help you develop your own style of linocut and to improve your practical skills. There is plenty of one to one teaching along with practical demonstrations and group discussion.

All classes are suitable for those with a little experience, but absolute novices may find the Focus on Skills class the best place to start.

All classes include a comprehensive sharpening lesson that covers materials and methods for sharpening, honing and maintaining your cutting tools.

Focus on Skills

This course is for anyone new to linocut or for those wanting a good skills base in designing, cutting and printing. It is a helpful all-rounder course and a good refresher course if you are returning to linocut. I’ll be matching my teaching to everyone’s skill level so that you are challenged without being overwhelmed!

You’ll be designing and printing two linocuts in this five day class: a single colour print and a simple colour reduction print four or five layers. The course will cover all aspects of linocut from design idea to finished print. The emphasis is on developing a good set of skills for designing, cutting and printing.

The single colour print will help you to explore the language of mark making and managing space, tone and composition without colour. The reduction work will include colour mixing, ink management and understanding layering colour and colour in the context of a reduction print rather than a painting or drawing.

Focus on Reduction

This course is for those who want to explore the possibilities of reduction linocut in depth. It is suited to all levels of skill from those new to reduction printing to the more experienced looking to experiment. If you are entirely new to linocut, perhaps try a little one colour print or two before the course just to have an idea of the basics.

During this five day course you work on a single reduction print. We will cover design, with tips for drawing and composition, plus how to translate a photograph, or combination of photographs effectively into linocut. The emphasis will be on creating a print to challenge your mark making, cutting and inking skills while exploring the unique flexibility of the reduction process.

You will be working with safe wash oil based inks on a variety of papers, developing your own colour palette for your print. There will be with some helpful tips to manage your inks effectively and economically in class and at home. You will also be working with extender for transparency and a variety of tools for mark making directly onto lino. I’ll encourage you to experiment with colour bleeds, shadings and shadow layers.

Focus on Technique

This is a course designed to develop your skill set with a series of exercises and experiments. The emphasis is on the exploring and refining your cutting and printing skills. This course is best suited to those with some experience of linocut who are looking for a technical course aimed at providing a good range of ideas and skills for future printmaking.

You will have two blocks for this course. You have the option to use one block, or both to make two prints, or to combine both blocks in one two block reduction print. I will be looking to address any personal challenges in your printmaking and encouraging the group to share feedback and progress and to learn from each other.

You will be working on ways of cutting that can be challenging. These could include balancing cut work, isolated fine lines, fluid line work cut into the block, detail work, cutting to simulate brush and dip pen work, cutting for different textures, and managing clean space in your print. You will be using my traditional oil based inks during this class so that you can use my various tools and materials for mark making directly on the block.

I will encourage you to work on inking skills. These will include colour mixing both on the plate and by layering colour. You will experiment with transparency and opacity, extender and when to use it, multicoloured inking with a single roller and looser inking with multiple rollers, wiping and ghost printing.

Each day there will be short talks on paper, inks, how to create multi-block prints and combine the technique with woodblock, I will also touch on monoprinting with lino inks. Judging from last year, it’s possible you may not finish your print in this class, especially if you are combining two blocks. I include instructions in the factsheet for finishing your print at home with or without a press or printing jig.