Linocut is Description, features, history of origin and development

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Fine art includes a wide range of different techniques. Some of them appear along with technological progress, its inventions and discoveries. As well as the subject of our today's conversation. In the article we will tell you what linocut is, a lot of interesting facts about it. Let's start with a general definition.

What is called linocut?

Linocut is an engraving on linoleum, a printed illustrative form of the so-called letterpress printing. The image is cut out by the artist on a linoleum canvas, after which it is printed on paper, cardboard.

Linoleum is an excellent material for large engravings. Artists mainly use canvases with a thickness of 2.5-5 mm. The necessary tools do not differ from those used to create a longitudinal engraving: a knife for cutting small elements, longitudinal and corner chisels - for large ones.

Linocut is a work for which the same printing inks are used as for printing woodcuts. A certain amount of pigment is rolled out on the surface of the material by roller massroller. It is necessary to monitor the observance of the required amount of the applied dye: when there is a lot of it, it can fill in small details, when it is not enough, there will be ugly gaps on the print.

World history of linocut

The history of linocut begins at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. That's when linoleum was invented. For the first time, it became a material for creativity in 1905 - it was used by the German artists of the Most association. It was not only curiosity that prompted them to switch to the novelty: to use the engraving technique in large-format printing, the area of \u200b\u200bthe cut of a tree, traditional for end woodcuts, was not enough.

Linocut is a technique used by such masters as:

• A. Matisse;
• F. Mazarel;
• P. Picasso;
• M. Escher;
• B. Angelo;
• D. Erickson;
• X. Tompkins;
• S. Power;
• A. Botelho;
• T. Billman;
• I. Gnezdovsky;
• E. Ruess;
• K. Schmidt-Rottluff;
• X. Juvonen;
• U. Kermode;
• F. Blayle;
• Folly Cove Designers and more

Later, the art of not only monochrome, but also color linocuts developed: 4-7 matrices were used, from which an impression was made. In the United States, C. Anderson became a pioneer in this direction in the forties of the last century. Techniques for coloring linocuts with gouache, watercolor, and other pigments are also used.

Today artists are working in this direction:

• B. Fake;
• G. Baselitz;
• S. Donwood and others.

Russian history of linocut

N. Sheverdyaev, a student of V. Mate, was the first in our country to create engravings on linoleum. His works were exhibited in Paris in 1907. The development of linocut can also be traced in the works of I. Pavlov. He began to use the technique from 1909 to design the covers of children's books, creating illustrations for them. So linocut replaced the previously used zincography and lithography.

In 1914 the Tsar Bell calendar for 1916 was issued with 12 colored linocuts by I. Pavlov. Then the engraver began to apply the technique to decorate the bindings of books. Linocut became more and more popular in Russia due to the lack of zinc, the material necessary for zincography.

In Russia, the new technique was successfully used both for creating book illustrations and for easel engraving. They used it in their work:

• A. Deineko;
• L. Ilyin;
• B. Kustodiev;
• D. Mitrokhin;
• G. Zakharov;
• D. Bryukhanov;
• K. Kostenko;
• I. Golitsyn;
• B. Falileev;
• B. Favorsky;
• B. Zamirailo;
• P. Staronosov;
• A. Kravchenko and others.

V. Falileev is considered to be the pioneer in the use of color engraving technique in our country. The artist worked in the genre of multicolor engraving-landscape.

Working technique

Let's consider linocut as an engraving technique. It is one of the easiestexecution, similar to woodcuts. The artist's workflow looks something like this:

1. Cork linoleum is taken, the thickness of which is approximately equal to 3 mm. A sketch of the drawing is transferred from the tracing paper to it.
2. The artist cuts out figures for his image along the contour with the help of different chisels and knives.
3. The next step is to roll a special pigment paint (pigment + liquid binder) onto the relief parts of the image.
4. The painted side of the linoleum is printed on paper, as a result of which a contrasting pattern appears on it - its stroke is black (or another color), and the background is white (or another color of paper).

Required Materials

After we have answered the question "Linocut - how is it made?", Let's analyze the materials needed to create the work:

• Linoleum. A special material for creativity is produced, on which it is convenient to work with engravers. Household linoleum can also be used for home creativity, but the tools on it can behave unpredictably.
• To work, you need a set of chisels (they are also cutters, chisels). The following forms of their metal tip are mainly used: angled, box-shaped, radius and flat.
• Paint - not quick drying, moderately thick. Such characteristics include typographic, acrylic, gouache, a special pigment for linocut. For acrylic, an additional drying retardant is required. To print an image on fabric, you needtextile paint.
• For applying the dye, rollers are used: printing classic, roller mass (glycerin-gelatin), ordinary rubber for wallpaper.
• Material for printing - paper, cardboard, fabric, wood. For paper, 160 g/m paper grades are used2.
• Press. For mass production of drawings, a press, etching machine is used. At home - rolling pin, spoon, roller.
• Additionally, artists use a drying retarder, a medium to fix the dye on the fabric.

Distinctive features of linocut

Art critics note that linocut is a technique used by artists whose work is expressive, concise, contrasting. The following distinguishing features of the artistic method are also distinguished:

• Inexpensive material.
• Easier than other engraving techniques to work with color.
• Compliance of the material with the cutter.
• Decoration of the image is higher than on wood engraving: the stroke of the image is smoother, cleaner, smoother.
• Different from woodcut: the stroke is not sharp, but smooth, wider, rounded at the ends, but at the same time having hard borders.

Artists try to diversify some limited technique, a sharp contrast, with new techniques of parallel, cross hatching, and spotting.

Features of black and white linocuts

Let's highlight the features of creating a black and whiteengravings:

• Well-dried, smooth and fairly thick (from 2.5 mm) linoleum is used. Material from old apartments is of great value to artists. For small engravings, it is replaced with PVC plastic.
• Black ink is applied to the material drawing. Thick lines are drawn with a pen, thin lines with a brush. Sometimes the artist simply prints the finished drawing onto the linoleum.
• The dotted style is used to cut the texture.
• The image is cut according to the techniques of cutting woodcuts.
• Imprint - using a special machine or lapping with a brush.

Features of colored linocuts

Highlight key features here:

• A separate lino stamp is being prepared for each color.
• The image is printed in layers. At the same time, the artist also takes into account the fact that when two specific colors are superimposed on one another, a new shade appears.
• To print the image, a tool is used - a board with corners made of linoleum. First, an engraving of the first color is applied on the corners, leveled, paper is rubbed against it. Then the sheet is carefully moved aside, a second engraving is applied to the corners and the paper is also rubbed. The process continues until all intended color stamps are exhausted.

Now you know what linocut is, its history, creation technique, features. You can try yourself in this business yourself, having previously bought everything you need for creativity.