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Alt-Lino A personal review.

2/23/2018

10 Comments

 
First let me say that what follows is far from an exhaustive test. Indeed, I certainly didn’t  test everything that is available. Nor is it a statement of comparative merit for everyone. Simply a brief record of my own little bit of research for a specific purpose and a comparison with my own preferences.
I am in the (rather long winded!) process of preparing to run some workshop courses here at Craigshaw Barns Studio. And in the interest of the fingers of any potential novice lino cutters, I thought I ought to investigate gentler alternatives to my usual commercial flooring lino.
A year or so ago had a little test cut of the pale coloured ‘Soft Cut’ in someone else’s studio, and immediately judged it just awful; sort of greasy, springy and stretchy. But I had heard of others happily using other vinyls etc, especially for beginners and thought I should at least try some more of them.
As I have described elsewhere on here, I do like my Marmoleum. Yes, it requires some preparation: the surface has to be sanded and, being quite thin, it is best glued to a backing board. But I like its smooth carving character (when its warm enough), plus its non-crumbling firmness and ability to carry print fine detail when at normal (for Scotland!) temperatures. I can also buy large pieces on a roll relatively cheaply. I can accurately draw on the sanded surface with pencil, pen and carbon paper etc; and when using the palest colour – a pale, almost white, cream – with a stained surface, I can work accurately  ‘in positive’ i.e. what I cut away shows as a paler colour than the stained surface.
Proper lino also has what to me is an almost essential quality when it comes to carving accurate detail: And that is its ability to break off in a predictable way - with a ‘flick’ of the gouge. With practice, this technique enables accurate cutting into narrow angles and shapes and the creation of a wider variety of textural marks. Of course, this quality is because ‘real’ lino (made of cork and linseed oil) also crumbles if treated too roughly.
Most of these ‘alt-linos’ seem to me to be just industrial sheet materials (with all their associated non-eco production) that enterprising companies buy, cut up and re sell. At least real lino is – I believe - made from natural bio degradable materials. I should also add that although I use Caligo Safe Wash inks at the moment, I do always clean up very quickly and easily with just a few drops of white spirit rather than water and detergent/cooking oils or whatever. (Discussion for another time!) and I like to work with a solid glued together block, rather than a flimsy plate. So the problem of wetting and warping of hessian backed lino does not occur.
Although I was not particularly concerned to spend too much time and effort on some of them, I did actually make some sort of finished print (see below) from all of the alternatives - usually by the additional use of some simple screenprint over printing.

So what did I try?
​
Marmoleum. Made by Forbo and available through local flooring suppliers.
Normal Grey ‘Artist’s Lino; widely available and often, erroneously, called ‘Battleship’ - presumably because of its colour.
‘Japanese’ vinyl; Blue on one side and green on the other, with a black centre layer, from  www.Handprinted.co.uk.
Blue ‘Easy Cut’ available from www.homecrafts.co.uk
Black ‘Easy Carve’
 Brief thoughts on each of these and the little test prints done with them as follows:
Picture



Grey ‘Artist’s Lino
​

Pretty close to Marmoleum in most aspects. But – a little more expensive; crumbles more readily even when cool and the uniform grey colour is not so easy to see when carving.

This was the little three colour reduction I did with it.
Note the crumble/break off at the edge of the block on the right hand side.

Picture

​Japanese’ Vinyl


Good firm feel but actually quite tough to carve for novices. The black middle is actually quite confusing and not all that clear anyway.
The surface is impossible to draw on.
​Prints well and very easy to clean.

'March Dawn' One colour lino with screen printed background colour​



Picture


Blue ‘Easy Cut’

So soft and quick to cut that mistakes are easily made. Although – like all these alternatives the all important ‘cut and flick/break’ technique is not possible, one can at least rub the surface of this to remove fine detailed textural cuts.
OK for total beginners.

'Thunder' Two colour lino reduction with screenprint

Picture


Black ‘Easy Carve’

Pretty dreadful stuff to be honest. Carves easily enough and – as long as you don’t get one of the slightly textured surface areas that occur in a vital bit – prints OK.

But I gave up with this Beltie Bull as soon as i had something basic to print.

Summary Scores
Picture
Conclusion
I will experiment a little more with the grey artists lino, as it does not require so much preparation; plus, not all images require the sort of textural detail that I can only get with Marmoleum. Certainly this is what I will provide for any beginners workshops I offer.
If I ever have kids in the studio to try lino, (the grandchildren are nearly old enough) my choice will be the blue Easy Cut. 
10 Comments
Linda Burgess
2/23/2018 08:01:40 am

This has been interesting to follow. I'm pleased that the grey artists lino came out quite well scored. As a relative beginner I had used the soft and easy cut but since upgrading to some really decent carving tools I tried the grey and have found the difference quite amazing. I followed your tip of painting it with an acrylic ink so that I could see my carving better. I also stuck it to a piece of hardboard for extra strength too. Those tips work. I would love to try the marmoleum one day but it seems a bit expensive for a 'newby'. Just wish I lived closer and could take advantage of your proposed workshops. Maybe one day:-)

Reply
Dawn link
2/23/2018 11:36:09 am

I have recently started to experiment with Lino print. I have only used the soft cut Lino. Where can I purchase marmoleum please?

Reply
Colin
2/25/2018 02:43:36 pm

Hi Linda
If you are still at the experimental stage, I recommend you stick with the grey artists lino. However if you want try Marmoleum look here https://www.forbo.com/flooring/en-uk/products/marmoleum/marmoleum-solid/bgc8xp then ask at your local carpet/flooring suppliers. Let me know how you get on.

Reply
Phil Hocking
2/24/2018 03:37:22 am

I have used self adhesive Marley floor tiles to good effect. You can carve them with wood engraving tools. I bought some Japanese vinyl as I couldn't find the tiles I needed and found it impossible to carve with the wood engraving tools. The waste ends up still attached to one side or the other of your line. Most floor tiles now seem to be patterned and/or textured, at least in my local shops. I have spotted a new shop that might have something suitable so all might not be lost.

Reply
Phil Hocking
2/25/2018 03:41:28 pm

Seems Marley Tiles went out of business and tiles these days tend to have a non-slip texture for health & safety reasons, so not so easy to find the smooth vinyl flooring any more. No doubt odd examples are mouldering in sheds and attics as surplus to requirements, but it's finding them

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Helen Oishi link
6/18/2019 03:05:47 pm

Excellent blog post. Thank you. Interesting to see that the easy carve blue ranked higher than the japanese vinyl. I have found that the japanese vinyl can be quite receptive to fine detail given sharp wood cutting tools and delicate amounts of depth of cut. You're right it is a breeze to clean compared to regular grey lino. I have been doing some very quick small blocks with ezy carve (while rubbery 'lino') from Renoir art materials. It is more suited to using as a stamp rather than a block.

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