Learning how to print multi block linocut cats on an etching press..meow meow!

I've been working on a birthday commission of my old colleague's  cats, Tig and Tab. After taking the jump and quitting another non-arty full time job to try progress my art, I was very pleased to get this commission just at the right time.I decided to try out multi-block printing on my etching press, as I've not had chance to do this yet, this was an interesting and challenging experience, so I though I'd share some of the key mistakes/learning points for next time with you.

Cutting the plates

The cutting of the plates was lovely and relaxing as usual whilst listening to women's hour and various dramas on radio 4.

Printing & registration

This is where trouble set in. Things I have learned:

1. Pad out the the front of your block with a scrap strip of lino to help prevent movement and even out the pressure when it goes under the rollers

2. Use something like cardboard with a bit of give and NOT lino to create your jig around the lino block. This helps prevent line marks pressing into your paper.

3. Either carefully pad out your template or just print in 1 direction on the etching press to help reduce movement again. I printed left to right with the following jig:

4. If working in an outdoor brick shed, make sure you get a fan heater so that your inks don't get too stiff and lose the ability to roll out or print evenly.

5. Close the door tightly if working on a gale force wind day..

6. If you decide to use your letterpress black over your linseed oil relief inks because you think that black is much nicer than the other perfectly good relief print black, then mix in a bit of linseed reducing oil to help reduce the stiffness of the letterpress ink. This helps achieve a good even overprinted image. I read somewhere about printing fat over lean so that each layer sticks to the paper properly. Or better still, maybe don't mix different types of ink on top of each other..

7. Take a break if everything seems to be going wrong.

8. Do a happy dance when everything comes together and you get some prints you are pleased with! Yay :)

Happy New Year's Eve to anyone who got this far down too!