The Feather Featured Art series is chosen by art teacher Vickey Belmont who chooses unique pieces within their current unit. Art students study various techniques and different mediums throughout the school year. This feature art demonstrates the use of Linocut.
Students sit at their work tables gently guiding carving tools over soft linoleum blocks. The sound of rhythmic scraping of blades across the material echoes in the classroom while bold designs take shape. The Fresno Christian art class learns the linocut technique, a form of printmaking that has a long been associated with artists for over a century.
Linocut, also known as linoleum, is a printmaking technique that originated in the early 20th century as an evolution of woodcut printing. Although linoleum was created in the 1860s as flooring , and the medium was not tested by artists until the early 1900s. The technique was adopted by avant-garde artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, who appreciated it because it was easier to carve into that to carve wood. In other words, linocut became popular among artists and printmakers in the mid-20th century due to its bold and graphic qualities. It is still an accessible, versatile and respected art form. It continues to be used and appreciated for its expressive potential.
Linocut is a method that involves working with linoleum using a subtractive cutting method, which means the areas of linoleum you want to remain white on the page you cut away; the areas to be soaked with ink remain. Simply said, if you have a linocut, the design can produce numerous prints with identical images.
Art teacher Vicky Belmont has been an art teacher at Fresno Christian for eight years. She enjoys teaching and doing projects alongside her students.
“There are certain projects that students will really take to, and it’s surprising. That’s why I do so many different projects,” Belmont said. “One student may not like painting, and one student might take to it. And one student may not like lino art, and they may just take to it. And it’s just like wow this is really taking off!”
For this project, you will need linoleum, lino cutting tools, ink, a brayer to spread the ink, a bit of plexiglass to spread the ink on and paper for your project. You can find all these items at any craft store or get an easy kit like this one.
First year art student Olivia Guerrero, ‘27, created a blue whale, which is her favorite animal.
“I have not done lino art before, but doing it for the first time was fun and educational,” Guerrero said. “My favorite step was the carving. I think I would want to do this outside of school.”
The first thing you would really want to do is come up with a design to carve. Draw your design onto a separate piece of paper; the blocks the art class uses allow the students to turn the paper over and rub the graphite design directly onto the lino. This is called the pancake method of transfer. Once your design is on your block, you have to know which areas you want to cut away and which areas you’re leaving. Then you are set to start carving your block.
Sophomore and Art 1 student Sage Ortiz created colorful symmetrical butterflies for her project.
“My favorite part of this project is drawing out my design and carving,” Ortiz said. “This has been one of the most enjoyable projects so far, especially because it’s simple and easy. I definitely want to take art next year.”
Safety is crucial when using the carving tools for this project. Students must cut in the direction away from their bodies and also ensure their fingers are on the bottom, side of the block, away from the path of the tool when carving. They have to be aware of where fingers are when working with many hazardous tools.
For more from The Feather visit Infographic: Fresno new area code or Fresno Christian community mourns the loss of senior Lily Kahrimanian.
