Linocut printing art: The Duchess

Hi to all art lovers :)
This is my linocut block print experimenting. I bought the beginner's Speedball kit that contains a tray, a set of 5 cutters, a water-based ink, a few pieces of linoleum (some are more rubbery and some thicker)

I personally didn’t like as much working on the softer ones because I seem to not be able to get the same amount of detail.

This one is a bit more resistant and harder to carve in though, but it’s worth it for the results. It had a cool jute layer on the back of it.

Now, the most important advice I can give is to always carve away from your fingers, because it can slip.

I first started small, I used the smaller ones just to get myself familiar with the tools and the amount of pressure I need to apply to carve. I drew directly with a pencil, because I didn’t have a transfer paper but it worked just fine with a little more care.

• I drew some small lenjerie sets:
  The first print was bad, until I figured out how to do it right. It requires a small quantity of ink, roll a thin layer but make sure it’s really uniform until the layer gets really smooth. And I found that rolling a double coat of ink works better.

I used my agenda to experiment because it has multiple colored pages and because it’s thick. I ended up using most of the pages in the end. Cardboard is also a great option or watercolor paper.

• After I got a bit more confident I did a few antique objects. For inspiration I searched for époque objects on Pinterest.

(they got a bit smudged after multiple uses, it's best to use some paper towel to remove the excess ink)

• For the last pieces I tried something more detailed.
  

And one more in process:

So for a cheap beginners kit (around 15 dollars), it was definitely worth it. I think I’m going to buy more of these, and maybe some more colors to experiment with.

Thank you for reading :)