Linocut Printmaking: Happy Birthday 2026

No More Cakes

My first birthday card print was made in 2021. It was a cake. The past two birthday cards depicted a cupcake in 2024 and another cake in 2025. It’s an easy approach for a birthday card, but not that imaginative, so I wanted to do something different this year. Given the late date and the potential drying time needed for the oil-based inks, I didn’t spend much time looking for inspiration and essentially settled on re-creating a “Bauhaus-themed” print of a sun setting behind waves.

Routine

To be honest, I’m not that excited about writing these blog posts anymore because it’s basically all the same. Transfer the design, carve the plates, print the plates, etc. This print was routine. The wording on the first plate and the thin waves on the second plate were challenging, but nothing crazy. The test print looked good, so I moved quickly to the first plate using the gold ink for all prints.

The new blank card set of earthtone colors was a nice change from the black/browns/white or the colored sets I’ve used in the past. After finishing-up the first plate, I went ahead and bought two sets of the cards for use in the future.

The first plate dried in about 4-5 days and I moved onto the second plate, doing a little over half in black and the rest in white. The black print dried quickly but at the writing of this blog post, probably a week and a half later, the white waves are still tacky. It’s not a huge deal because I don’t have to get them out the door right away. It just means anyone receiving a card in January or February is receiving a card with black waves.

What’s Next?

The oil-based inks have been great to work with. Because they don’t start drying immediately after being squeezed out of their tubes, like the water-based inks do, they allow you to work at a slower, more deliberate pace. When I bought the additional sets of cards, I bought some larger linocut blocks and printing paper, with the intention of just doing some prints for fun. That being said, I’ll be starting on the HNY and HBD prints much earlier this year.