Multi-block Lino Print

A small project I was working on recently had a few different colours on it. It’s called a multi-coloured lino print and there are a few different ways to achieve this. The one I’ve used here is called a multi-block and is very basic but easy to do.

I began by working out what colours I would need – black for my male superb fairy wren, brown for his lady and green for the leaves of the coast saltbush. A multi-block just means there is more than one block or plate so essentially I have one for each of my three colours. I like this method as it means I can use the blocks again. As I was limited with the size of lino, there were more than three blocks in this case but as can be seen, the three colour ‘blocks’ fit together like a puzzle – black, green and brown. It’s also an easy way to print without worrying about registration. These were also printed without a press.

I wanted to add some depth to the background and gelliprinted my paper first so I could mix the colours for the lino to get what I wanted. I’m pretty happy with the result and my ‘Mr & Mrs Wren’ print is ready!