Long-Distance Letterpress: Reduction Cuts

Why you should take this class

Printing multiple colors from a single linoleum block? What kind of sorcery is this? Reduction block printing will have you thinking about image-making in new, mind-bending ways. And there’s nobody better to show you this cool linoleum block carving technique from afar than the charismatic Mary Bruno of Bruno Press in St. Joseph, Minnesota. 

What you’ll learn

In this online demonstration, you’ll spend a couple of hours learning how to print a multicolor image from one linoleum block, Mary’s specialty. Through a series of progressive carvings and press runs, the image emerges while the actual linoleum block is destroyed. In a single two-hour session, Mary will explain her process as well as answer your live questions on the following:

• Choosing appropriate images for reduction linocut printing
• Transferring the image onto the linoleum block
• Selecting the right carving tools and wielding them properly
• Planning your color scheme and overprinting techniques to create multiple-colors
• Visualizing the many stages your print will go through as your reduction cut progresses
• Printing techniques you can do at home or on a Vandercook cylinder press

Prerequisites

This workshop consists of a live demonstration and interactive Q&A, with no advance preparation or supplies necessary to participate.

Who should take this class?

This demonstration is for any designer or printer who is interested in creating unique hand-carved illustrations. This style of printmaking is doable whether you have access to a printing press or not.

Will this class be recorded?

All of PiP’s classes are live and unrecorded — you’ll find it’s a lot more fun and interactive this way. They are closed captioned using Zoom’s Live Transcription feature.

Visit our FAQ page to learn more about PiP’s class policies.

About the Instructor

Mary Bruno

St. Joseph, MN

Mary Bruno is letterpress printer in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where she runs Bruno Press, a print shop started by her father, design professor, Don Bruno. As you might expect, Mary’s love for printing and skill for the craft came from her father, whose memory she honors every time she carves linoleum, handsets wood or lead type, or prints a broadside. Mary produces an irreverent line of greeting cards that are sold nationally (via Bruno Press), and she has also been involved in organizing traveling exhibitions of letterpress.