janvanderburgprintmaker

REDUCTION LINOCUT PROCESS

The "reduction" or "elimination" process involves the gradual cutting and reworking of the liinoleum block, the image on the linoleum being continually reduced in accordance with the color requirements. The printmaker is only working on a single block. At each stage, after another layer is cut from the block, the block is reprinted, the ink being overlaid on the final print until the image is complete. The resulting block is unusable at the close of the process because the image has been vastly reduced.
partially taken from "The Printmaking Bible", by Hughes and Morris