Visual Arts & Making
Printmaking
You carve it backwards; only the print comes out the right way round
Woodcut and lino can be done at home with a knife, a roller and a tube of ink, pressed by hand with the back of a spoon. You cut a mirror image, which is why lettering trips everyone up. More colours mean more blocks registered on top of each other, and a bad register shows as a white edge. Etching and lithography need a press, which means a studio.
First stepGet a lino block, cutters, a roller and a tube of ink, carve a simple shape, and burnish your first print with the back of a spoon.
Barriers
Cost to start
Under $50
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Light
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
At home
Why people take it up