This information has been kindly supplied by Helen Clarke
Contemporary Printmaker – June 2008.
REDUCTION LINO PRINTING
I create reduction lino prints by printing up to 20 colours of oil-based inks over each other on acid free printmaking papers using a piece of lino, carving tools, a hand roller, commercial printing inks and a printing press.
The lino is carved away between each colour and it is this process of printing colours and carving away parts of the plate which result in an edition of prints and a piece of savaged lino which has seen better days.
An example of the process is as follows:
Gray is printed as the first colour. Then after all pieces of paper have gray printed on them, the lino plate is cut away where the colour gray is going to be.
Then blue ink is rolled on the surface of the plate: the magic moment is when you see the plate with the new colour printed on it, revealing both colours and the beginning of the design.
The plate is then cut away where the blue colour is to stay. The lino is inked up with the new colour, pink, to reveal more of the design with each new colour and cutting of the plate.
The procedure of cutting, inking and printing is repeated until the image is completed.
Because of the complex and time-consuming nature of the process, I keep the number of prints in my editions at less than 20 prints. Think about it. If I print 20 colours and have an edition of 15 prints, I will have inked up the plate and run it through the press 300 times. Not to mention cleaning the plate and roller each time. Mind boggling!
Unlike many other printmaking techniques , no more prints can be made as the plate is destroyed with the process of cutting.
You can find this and further information at Woody Pear.
Do not reproduce this material without the express written permission
of Helen Clarke.
