Lino Printing - The Process
To print the ‘Ride Slow Die Fast’ and ‘Trail Wizard’ t-shirts we used the art of linocut.
Linocut is a printmaking technique that involves carving a design into a block of linoleum. The carved block is then inked, and the image is transferred onto the fabric by pressing it onto the block.
We choose this technique as it has a nice bold look to it that suits the woodcut inspiration we had for our designs.
Here is a few steps of the process:
Once we had drawn our design, we transferred the outlines to the lino block to carve it out, leaving only the parts of the design that we want to be printed.
When the design is fully carved into the lino block, it is time to carefully apply the fabric paint on it using a rubber brayer.
The final step is to lay the inked lino block onto the t-shirt and apply pressure, to ensure the ink will transfer completely across the whole design.
Once this is done, we hang the t-shirts to let them air dry for one week, stitch the woven label on and the t-shirts are ready!
By using this technique, every t-shirt is unique as the paint doesn’t print onto the fabric excactly the same each time. But this is the beauty of this art and it is why we choose it as it leaves an authentic look to it.