Block printing is a bit like using a giant rubber stamp and ink to create an image.  The materials and inks are different but the concept the same. 

The pink thing in the photos is called a Speedy Carve and is made by Speedball.  This is what we carve to make our printing block. Traditionally materials like linoleum or wood are used in block printing.  The Speedy Carve is relatively new and is designed to cut much easier than linoleum or wood.  It has a few drawbacks but, having used linoleum extensively in the past, I think I may be a Speedy Carve convert. 

Before we get started we need to glue the Speedy Carve block to something much more rigid.  Alone, the Speedy Carve is pretty floppy.  I cut a piece of ¾” MDF to the size of my Speedy Carve and glued it up.  I would advise using a waterproof glue for this.  As you’ll be washing the block with water after you finish printing.

The carving process starts with a design that can either be hand drawn or, in our case, designed on a computer and printed out.  Once the design is finished it must be transferred to the material that will become the “stamp”.  To make that possible a pencil (softer leads work better) is used to fill in all the areas that are black on the print out.  It’s important to be accurate in your drawing.  Essentially you are making carbon paper that will be used to transfer the image onto the material that will be shaped into your printing block.

Next take the design and place it face down and centered onto the printing block.  Take something with a hard rounded end ( the cap of a pen, wooden spoon, etc.) and rub the back of the paper pressing sort of hard. The goal is to get the pencil lead to transfer onto the Speedy Carve.  Once your satisfied that enough lead has transferred it’s time to start cutting!

I’m not sure what the official name of the carving tool is but go into any art store, tell them you need a linoleum carving tool thingy, and this is what you’re likely to be shown. Be sure and get a couple of different sized cutting blades. Most blades are shaped like a V and are designed for cutting varying sizes of groves in the block.

The goal is to remove all of the material that you don’t want to print.  In my case I needed to remove all of the material around the words GO. SEEK. LOVE.  It’s not necessary to cut all the way through the Speed Carve to the wood block. Removing about half of the thickness should suffice.  The inside of the O’s was particularly tricky!

Once you’re happy it’s time to ink up!

I’m using water-based, fabric inks for this project.  Water-based inks are easier to work with and don’t require the drying equipment that oil based inks do.  There are several brands out there, all of them good. 

Find a piece of glass ( I stole mine out of a picture frame we had laying around)  about 8x10” or 11x14”.  Put a little bit of ink on the glass and use your brayer (fancy art term for roller) to roll out a think layer of ink.  There are two ways to apply the ink to your block. You can press your printing block onto the think layer of ink you have rolled out or you can use the brayer to apply ink directly to the block.  The latter method will place more ink on the block, a good thing for printing on fabrics. 

The moment of truth is here. Take your block and press it to the paper, fabric, or pet that you’ll be printing on.  Give it a firm press being careful not to wiggle it around.  I would recommend practicing on a piece of paper before committing yourself to the actual piece.  This will give you a good feel for the right amount of pressure and ink to use. 

You now need to let the ink dry.  This should take about an hour.  If you’re printing on a paper product, you’re all done.  If on a piece of fabric that will be washed, you need to "heat set the ink". 

Heat Setting

There's a frustrating lack of detailed info on what constitutes "heat setting" Even the ink manufacturers are scant with details. I suppose that's because there's more than one way to skin a cat. Here's what I've settled on and it seems to work very well.

Wait 24 hours before doing this to give the ink plenty of time to dry.  Then, get out an iron and crank it up to somewhere around cotton -- pretty hot.  Place a piece of paper between the iron and the fabric and begin to iron the design for 5 minutes. 

That’s it!  You’re all done and have a swank new shirt, poster, or whatever, to show for it.