Print Day in May: Photo Lino Etching

This year we went experimental for Print Day in May, as we pushed the boundaries of printmaking with our experimental print labs. Along side our experimental labs, we had Open Studios for you to peek behind the scenes at what our resident artists get up to behind their closed doors as well as giving you a chance to support local by selling prints in our gallery shop as we celebrated the talent of our member’s community. Oh and there was plentiful tea and cake too of course!!

The print rooms at our HQ were transformed into three different  print labs by our staff and studio holders where they showcased live print demos in Electro-etching, Anthotype Printing and Photo-lino Etching.

Did our experiments work? Read on to find out – after all, that’s part of the fun of printmaking! 

Photo Lino Etching

The plate-prep room downstairs became home to a flurry of experiments exploring the newly discovered process of photo lino etching!

On the lead up to lockdown our Workshop and Outreach support officer Fabian was in the process of researching a way of transferring photographic images and drawings onto lino using caustic soda solution. He believed that the photo etch emulsion that is used with metal plates could work on lino. During what time he had before we closed our doors he manage to succeed in making a working printable plate, but there was still a long way to go before he could make the process fully work. In the couple of months leading up to Print Day in May, Fabian set some time on one side to revisit this experiment and really push it to its limits.

The photo etching process involves rolling on a photo sensitive emulsion (in a darkroom) onto the surface of a clean metal plate. This is left to dry for an hour. A positive black and white image on acetate or a drawing with ink/chinagraph on tracing paper can then be exposed onto the plate using a UV light box. The areas covered up by the image stay soft, whilst the areas exposed to the UV harden. This is then developed in a tray with a solution of soda crystals and water in a dark room where the areas that are soft are washed away before the plate can then be etched. It is this process that Fabian has used with lino instead of metal, etching its surface with caustic soda paste.

Fabian’s printmaking practice is based around the process of lino etching. This process uses Caustic soda paste (a strong Alkali solution mixed with wallpaper paste) to etch the surface of a linoleum block (Hessian lino) to create a range of marks.

Caustic soda crystals (Sodium Hydroxide) are generally used as a heavy duty cleaner, especially great at clearing out pipes. Since it’s a strong alkali, it can eat away any organic matter clogging up the plumbing. Hessian lino blocks are made from wood flour and linseed oil making them completely organic. This makes them perfect for etching with a caustic soda paste. Vinegar is then used to neutralize the alkali solution after etching.

Caustic soda etches or ‘bites’ into the surface of the lino block to various depths, according to the length of time it remains in contact with the lino block. A wide range of tonal marks can be created, from white (negative) to grey (half tone). Due to the unique nature of this technique, lino etching can be used as both a relief and intaglio process.

For more information on this process check out his website https://www.matthiasprintmaking.co.uk/what-is-lino-etching

During Print Day in May Fabian explored how long the solution could etch the image before it dissolved the hardened emulsion. With the aim of improving the quality of the image and the depth of the etch, using photographs and drawings. His second aim of the day was to revisit old prints by scanning them onto a computer, enlarging and cropping areas with photo editing software and then re etching them onto lino blocks using the photo etching process.

The day was full of really exciting results!