Lorna A Roberts

I wanted to do something a little less stressful than oil painting, but that was still creative. So I ordered a bunch of linocutting materials from Temu (I know, I know…) to give them a whirl.

I used a photo of my own for reference of our cat, Brody. Brody is cantankerous but still loves his cuddles, on his own terms. I sketched out my design on an a5 sized piece of soft lino. Him in the foreground, with a wallpaper of fish. Then I jumped into cutting him out.

I don’t know if it was just me, but the tools weren’t quite as sharp as I might have expected. They worked and all but that ease wasn”t there. For me, anyway. So I knocked out a rough cut then took up a black felt tip which |I ran over the design to see how it might look cut. Then I returned to cut some more.

I then grabbed an old sewing measuring board to put the lino on and protect the carpet. I put the water-based ink in an old saucer and rolled away. Then I did the first pass of the print. It did pick up the felt tip ink too so it was a bit dark and a bit spludgy. I used the back of a spoon as the brayer.

I did some more rolling and another pass of the print. This one was much better. I then did a final one for luck. And here he is:

Brody in all his glory

Looking at the photo now, the ink isn’t the smoothest but I think, if you’re a hobbyist who just wants to play around, or you’re working with older kids, then the materials are adequate.

In subsequent attempts, I’m going to avoid using the felt tip. I’ll use a soft, dark pencil instead then I can always rub off the excess pencil before I begin printing. I’m also going to try using some tape for registration marks. Most importantly, I’ll take my time. I’ll sketch out the composition before, try several options, before slowing down my cutting. I find it quite relaxing, which is rare.

I already have my next lino-victim in my sights. Broxy, the hamster, belongs to my sister and is like a mini-human. She sent a cute photo of Broxy in her ball. So I’m ready to go in a few days time.