Online Resources

Block printing consists of several stages.

First is coming up with an idea.  Sometimes this is easy and you know right away what your artistic vision is!  Yea!  But sometimes, you have a vague idea and you need to work at it to figure it out.  This is when I find some online resources helpful. Online resources also provide inspiration and advice. 

Pinterest can be immensely helpful in brainstorming ideas.  If you are not on Pinterest yet, I highly recommend it. Once you have signed up, start a block print idea board.  Here you can pin pictures and photos of ideas you might like to explore. You can also pin the work of other block print artists to see what you like about their work and what techniques they might use that you could try.  You can make your board private or share it with others.  On Pinterest I am creativezazz.

I have a board with block prints.

I have a board just about block prints and water.

I have a board about ideas for holiday block prints. 

For inspiration, I also turn to Instagram. If you are not on Instagram, sign up.  Then search for block print artists using keywords like lino, block print, printmaking etc.  Follow them.  You will see amazing work.  On Instagram I am Claremont Design. I post about my daily life (especially my cat), my lino art, and my other art. But mostly I follow lots of artists.  

For inspiration, techniques and community, I turn to Facebook groups about lino.  My favorite is Linocut Friends. These are closed groups, but if you ask to be in the group, you will be added. linocut friends has a wide array of lino artists and beginner from around the world. Everyone is friendly and you can ask questions! big presence from the UK.  You can see professional multicolor works that hang in galleries, and you can see absolute beginners posting work.  There are a number of other lino FB groups as well.  

Youtube is also a useful tool for learning more about lino block printing. If you go to Youtube and just put in keywords lino block, you will find tons of videos, many with tutorials. 

Finally, if you just Google Linocut Block Printing, you will find many blogs about this art.   Some of them are quite good and provide useful tips, history, tutorials, and images.