Linocut

A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed.

Since the material being carved has no directional grain and does not tend to split, it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects with lino than with most woods, although the resultant prints lack the often angular grainy character of woodcuts and engravings.

Lino is generally much easier to cut than wood, especially when heated, but the pressure of the printing process degrades the plate faster and it is difficult to create larger works due to the material's fragility.

Nevertheless, in the contemporary art world the linocut is an established professional print medium, because of its extensive use by the artists of the Grosvenor School, followed by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

[2] The first large-scale colour linocuts made by an American artist were created c. 1943–45 by Walter Inglis Anderson, and exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1949.