Printmaking with a softcut block

This blog post and accompanying video below will review and demonstrate in action a softcut surface for printmaking. The softcut block I am reviewing has a smooth surface on one side, and is slightly textured on the back. It is very flexible and has a soft rubbery plastic feel to it. The colour is a creamy white and is the same all the way through, the block is approximately 3mm thick.

The softcut block was very easy to cut down to size using a craft knife, I tested different inks and pens on the surface and found that most smudged when I rubbed them, so when I transferred the design onto the block I was careful not to smudge the design for carving. Luckily due to the light surface colour it was very easy to see where I had drawn on the design, which was a bonus given that I sometimes use very dark printmaking surfaces.

The block lives up to it's name, it is very soft to carve into, the gouge cut through the surface very easily, I played around with pressure and speed, but found that lightly and slowly carving gave the best results. Too quick and the tool can slide away, and make mistakes on the smooth surface. I mostly used a small 12/1 v gouge for detail, with some larger v gouges and u gouges to clear bigger areas later on in the design, I had no problems with either. The softcut does not snap or crumble like grey hessian backed lino can and is more similar to the japanese vinyl in that you sometimes have to pull off the vinyl after you have carved it, that does not slow me down or bother me though.

I used Schmincke water based printmaking ink on the block, and it applied and adhered to the surface really well. As long as you apply a thin light layer of ink it is able to retain and transfer details cleanly. I printed my design on 300gsm cotton paper which is thick and absorbent, and gave good final results.

I was really pleased with my final result when experimenting with the softcut surface, and would use it again. I did have to play around with how much ink and pressure I used as I found the block moved slightly and smudged in the press, but was able to fix this easily. Overall I would recommend trying this surface for yourselves too. Thankyou for reading and watching my video below, I hope it was helpful.