Printmaking Day!

I had, through secondhand means, amassed all the bare essentials for linoleum printing save one, I needed a brayer.  It's like a little rubber paint roller, and they can be kind of hard to come by if you go the discount route like me.  Guess what I discovered at a garage sale this weekend.

Ooo!  Speedball, even!

Clearly it is a sign from the gods.  I shall make prints.

I didn't even cut myself once!

My sampler platter of linoleum was purchased with the intent of discovering which was my favorite; and let me tell you, you get what you pay for.  The cheapest was first to go under the knife,- Dick Blick Golden-Cut, and it sucks ass.  Hard, yet flaky and crumbly; how do they do it?  Granted, I have cheap-as-free linoleum cutters from when I studied in Italy, but they're also sharp as hell because I got a whetstone for Christmas.

Artools, the Wal-mart brand of Italian art supplies.

Next up was Dick Blick Wonder-Cut, which, after that Golden-Crap, was like cutting butter.  It's got a texture almost like cork, and it prints like it too.  I can see where, in an effort to prevent the grainy quality, you might end up over-inking.  Kind of like the texture myself, though.

Haven't prepared myself sufficiently to cut into the others; Dick Blick E-Z Cut, Soft Kut, and Speedy Cut.  They all feel dreamy.  Must resist the urge to keep them in their pristine, uncut state.