Blog - Relief Printmaking

It can be interesting to include natural textures in our relief prints. Wood grain is a beautiful organic pattern and can be printed especially well if we emphasise the natural grain in the wood. We can do this with a blow torch. Scorch the surface of the wood to bring out the wood grain. (Please be careful … Continue reading "Relief Printing from Wood Grain"

If you haven’t tried printing with magic Heat Stamps yet, this is your new project. It’s really quick to create a unique block that can be reused again and again to create different textures and patterns. All you need is a heat gun and a variety of objects and surfaces to create your stamps. Arrange a …

Homemade decorations can be the best (and cheapest!) way to decorate for Christmas. These little birdies would make lovely presents too. Get the kids involved with this easy project.  To make things even easier, we’ve made a printable template for you to use. Print out a batch of templates. Each A4 template can be used …

When transferring designs to a block, there are several factors to consider: can the design be seen on the block? Will it wash off? Will the design be transferred to the print? In this project, we test two different carbon papers on six different relief blocks. We test them with three types of ink: waterbased, water …

A rainbow roll is a great way to easily add a beautiful range of colours to a linocut. This project uses only two colours to create a range of shades, all in one printing layer.  We are using the jigsaw linocut technique to give us areas of different colours. We want our background to be …

We’re very pleased to have a brand new roller available for block printing onto fabric! We love using screen printing inks to block print onto fabric as it creates fast-drying washable prints. Screen printing inks are too slippery for standard rollers so up until now we’ve liked using Sponge Rollers to print our fabrics. Sponge …

We are thrilled to have Cranfield’s new Traditional Relief Inks in stock. Cranfield make the hugely popular Caligo Safe Wash Inks. These new traditional relief inks are oil based, highly pigmented and come in a wide range of colours including gold and silver! We couldn’t wait to get our hands on that gold. Take a …

There are a large variety of different lino cutting tools with different shapes and sizes. The most common lino tools are V Tools and U Tools. U Tools carve softer lines with a curved end point and an even width but it can be harder to get control over the placement of your edges. V …

Knowing which inks to use for which printing project can be a minefield. There are different inks for screen printing, relief printing and intaglio. Some can be used for more than one technique, some are only suited to one. Some can be used for printing onto fabric, some only for paper. We’ve created a chart … Continue reading "Which Inks Can I Use?"

With our Christmas Makers’ Market and our Christmas Fab Friday Workshop on last week, we’ve been getting in the festive spirit here in the Handprinted Studio. Our Fab Friday workshoppers printed sheets of wrapping paper that would add charm to any present. Here is a quick design we whipped up for the occasion that can …

There is something really compelling about miniature objects. A miniature print sounds just too good to be true. Don’t worry about carving tiny detail – this project will shrink it down for you! Start with a sheet of Shrink Art Plastic – we’re using white. Cut out your desired shape with scissors or using a … Continue reading "Printed Shrink Plastic Keyring"

One of the hardest things to do when printing a relief block (lino, vinyl or wood) is to print solid blocks of colour.  There are quite a few choices to make and if you get these right then your printing will be much easier.  Ink – an oil based ink will print better than a …

I (Shirley) have been on a trip to Tokyo to attend a five day Mokuhanga course (Japanese Woodblock) and to meet with a few of our suppliers. I have never been anywhere like Tokyo before so it was an experience on lots of different levels. I have been lucky enough to attend a couple of … Continue reading "Mokuhanga in Tokyo!"

The Xcut Xpress is traditionally used as a die cutting machine but has found a whole new life as a printing press! This small scale machine is portable, affordable and can produce amazing quality prints. We used our Xcut Xpress with Extended Print Bed and Felt to produce a linocut, a drypoint etching and a …

This project uses just one block of Easy Carve to create a two colour block print on fabric. This is an adaptable technique that will have you printing yardage in no time! Start by drawing your design out onto a piece of Easy Carve. Try using a pencil to map out your image and then …

Here at Handprinted we are always getting asked to explain the difference between all the lino relief blocks available. It can be very confusing knowing whether to choose traditional lino or try an alternative such as Softcut or Vinyl. To help you decide on the right material for you, we’ve tested five different blocks in … "

Printing your own wrapping paper is an easy way to add a personal touch to presents. We know you’re all really busy this time of year so we’ve got four quick ways of creating lovely wrapping papers. Why not get children involved too? Thermofax Printing Start with a black pen drawing or image. Have a …

Chine Collé is a technique that allows you to add colour to your prints without making another block. Using Chine Collé you are able to print on much finer, more delicate papers which are bonded onto a more sturdy paper during the printing process. Japanese papers are often used but you can try tissue papers, …

Block Printing Medium transforms acrylic paints into usable block printing inks. Simply mix the medium with your paints and roll onto your block! Here’s how: Mix your Block Printing Medium with acrylic paint in a ratio of 3:2. If you want to print in a specific colour, mix your acrylic colour first and …

This project is a quick and easy way to get stuck into printing. It’s brilliant for children and just as good for grown-ups too! If you’re stuck in a rut with your printmaking, try this quick project to reignite your imagination and get those creative (vegetable) juices flowing. Raid the fridge for a selection of …