Linocut Prints by Sherrie York





	New Series In Progress Underfoot: Intimate Landscapes


	Also check out the Small Print Gallery

A linocut is a form of relief print, similar to woodcut. The principle of relief printmaking is simple: The uncarved areas of the printing plate remain raised to accept ink. Ink is applied with a roller or brayer, the print paper is placed over the top, and the back of the paper is rubbed with a spoon or baren or run through a press. (Think large rubber stamp.)

Multicolor prints can be produced several ways. Two of the most common techniques are the use of multiple printing plates (one for each color), and reduction printing. In a reduction print, the artist first carves from the block the areas to be left the color of the print paper. The first color (let's say yellow) is printed, the block is cleaned off, and the artist carves away the areas to remain yellow.

The next color is printed directly over the previous... and so on until the print is finished. The edition number refers to the number of identical prints created from the same plate. For example, 1/4 means that the print is the first of four impressions of that particular image. Because I pull all my prints by hand, I always keep my editions very small, usually 15 images or fewer.

Clicking on each image will take you to a larger view.