Make your own block prints
ghost academy cards are hand printed one by one using the
centuries-old technique of block printing.  This is how we do it:
You will need:
The drawing that you would like to print and some extra scratch paper
A linoleum block
A no.1 pencil, a fine felt tip pen, and a ball point pen
Scissors
A linocut set
An old toothbrush
A dark crayon

A bench hook/ inking plate
A soft rubber brayer
A baren (the round handled thing above)
Block printing ink

This may seem like an awful lot of stuff, but the majority of it is easy to come by and
readily available from any art supply store. We strongly recommend supporting your local art supply
store, but if you must buy your supplies online, dick blick has a great selection and good prices
(although we are not a fan of their linoleum). Expect to spend about $50 on this stuff to get
started.
Designing your image and transferring it to your
Block:
Once you’ve colored the whole thing, tape it to your linoleum block with the pencil side down and
image side up. Use a ball point pen to trace over the lines of the image. Press pretty hard. When
you lift up the paper, you’ll have traced your image onto the block. We like to go over the lines with a
#5 micron pen, but that’s mostly because we tend to carve in a poorly lit room while watching movies.
If you’re going to be carving in a well-lit room while paying attention, don’t worry about it.
carving your block:
This is our favorite part of the process. It’s exacting and methodical and tedious, but it’s also really
fun. For us, anyway. So your linoleum cutter kit came with six blades. They all have tiny numbers
etched into them. Numbers 1 – 5 are all little gouges, with 1 being the smallest. Six is a li’l knife
blade. We pretty much use only blades 1 and 6, but you should use what you’re comfortable with.
The smaller the area you’re working in or the more detail there is, the smaller blade you should
use. The 6 blade is great for trimming edges to make them smoother and clearing away large
sections of linoleum. Here are some tips for carving:

1. Keep the linoleum warm. Cold linoleum is hard to cut and you’re more likely to slip and gouge your
hands. If your’re a beginning carver, it can really help to keep an iron on low and warm your block
every so often.

2. Keep your block stable by placing your bench hook on the edge of a table and have your block
pushed up against the edge. Always cut away from your body and mind your fingers when they're
near your gouges.

3. Personally, we never keep our block in the proper position against the back of the bench hook. We
turn it around every which way to get at the part we’re cutting.  
YOU ARE NEVER SUPPOSED TO DO THIS! DON’T BE LIKE US!
If you do want to be like us, keep in mind that you WILL occasionally cut yourself. It’s not that painful,
but you know… cutting yourself is bad. You can minimize this by keeping a really firm grip on the
block with your left hand while you cut.

4. Keep scratch paper and a dark crayon handy and periodically do rubbings of what you’ve carved.
This will help you see your progress and make adjustments as necessary.

5. Never forget: you’re carving away the negative space and  leaving what you want to print! What
you’re carving out is what you DO NOT want to print.

6. Make sure that you remove the linoleum thoroughly on any open spaces. Any little rough parts
that are left behind will pick up ink and make your print look messy.

7. Keep a toothbrush on hand. You can use it to brush away all the little shavings that fall in the
grooves of your block and stick in your cutter.

8. Take your time. It usually takes us 2-4 hours to carve a block. If you rush, you won’t do a good
job and you’ll just regret it later.



printing
It takes lots of practice to pull good prints, so have plenty of scratch paper on hand. You’ll also
want a sink and some rags or paper towels nearby.  You'll be using your same bench hook as an
inking plate. Hook it onto the edge of a table with newspapers or oilcloth under it and squeeze a
little dab of ink onto it. It's important to not use too much ink. . . Just a small dab will do ya.  Use
your soft rubber brayer to roll the ink.
Roll the ink in every direction.  You want to spread it out nice
and evenly, so that it gets elastic.  When the ink is ready, it
will have a pebbly texture, kind of like a basketball.

Lay your carved linoleum block on the table next to you, and
run the inked brayer over it in every direction. Try to spread a
thin but thorough coat over the entire raised surface of the
block. Once your block is inked, carefully lay a piece of paper
over it. Use your baren to apply pressure over the surface of
the paper. Be careful not to push the paper itself - otherwise
your image will blur.

Once you've run the baren over the whole paper a couple of
times, lift it up and turn it over. You've pulled a print!