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The very first time I carved a linocut, I was given a few different materials. I couldn’t believe how challenging the traditional lino material was to carve. It was so tough, in fact, that we gave up on using the traditional lino completely and just used the softer easy carve material.
Over time, I’ve learned a ton of tricks to make carving linocuts much easier. Now, I don’t have issues carving with the traditional lino material. I almost exclusively use it right now. So if your lino seems too tough to carve, watch my video on YouTube or check out some of my tips below.
Warm up your lino blocks. My hot tip is to use a heating pad if you’re using the traditional battleship grey lino material. Heating it up softens the material enough to make carving much easier. As I mentioned above, the first time I used traditional lino, it seemed impossible to use. I tried warming it near the fireplace, but I didn’t let it warm for long enough, so it didn’t soften up much. It was a cool winter day on the west coast of Canada, so now that I know how lino reacts to a cold room, it’s understandable how challenging it was to carve.
A word of warning – don’t overheat it or it’ll become crumbly. As you become accustomed to using lino, you’ll begin to identify just how much to warm the lino so it’s at its best. I also try to carve on warm, sunny days because the heat of the day will often warm the block enough to make it easy to work with.
Use an easy carve material. It sounds obvious, but many of the lino materials marketed as easy to carve make carving, well, easier! Not all of them are as easy to carve as others. I find the soft rubber tends to be the easiest to carve, while the harder, more plasticky lino blocks tend to be more challenging. You’ll need to ensure you have sharp tools for the easy carve lino, though. They work best with a very sharp carving tool.
Use a bench hook. This allows you to brace the block against the side of the bench hook, giving you more leverage as you carve. It has the added bonus of keeping you safe as well, since a bench hook makes it easier to carve away from yourself. Visit my blog post on supplies, where I talk about the bench hook I use.
Use high quality tools that you can keep sharp. The sharper the tools, the easier it’ll be to carve your linocuts. Some of the less expensive tools with replacement blades can’t be sharpened, so look into some higher quality tool. I recommend palm tools as you can use the base of your hand for more strength and to avoid fatigue. Check out my blog post on the different lino tools I use.
Carve bit by bit. Avoid trying to carve large stretches in one swipe. Not only does that help you avoid hand and arm strain, but it also reduces the risk of accidentally going too far and taking out some detail you meant to keep in.
Relax! I’ve heard some lino artists describe tensing up while carving. You want to ensure you’re keeping control over your carving, but avoid holding your arms too rigidly as it’ll just make your carving experience more difficult over time.
Practice! The more you carve linocuts, the better you’ll get at keeping your lino from crumbling, and knowing just how your tools work best to ensure an easier carve. You’ll get better at keeping traditional lino at the right temperature, and learn how to best carve your blocks easily.
Take breaks and listen to your body. Overdoing your carving time can lead to longer term issues. You want to make sure that you’re able to carve many years into the future. If you feel any aches or pains – stop and take a break. If the pain keeps recurring you may need to talk to a doctor or a physical therapist.
Check out all my linocut printing blog posts to learn more about printmaking.
Get supplies
Some of the items I mention above are available locally or on Amazon:
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