Embedding Lino

Join this five-week course as the next step in your linocut journey!

Refresh your knowledge of basic skills, explore the process of creating a reduction print, experiment with multiple plates and sharpen your registration skills. This course is all about developing skills and building confidence in your prints.

OVER THE FIVE WEEKS YOU WILL:

Revisit skills and build on cutting techniques using tools safely and effectively.

Understand the reduction process to create a multi coloured print.

Learn a range of techniques to help develop your skills including combining plates, creating a registration system and developing rainbow/gradient rolls.

WEEK 1

Skills refresher, focussed on honing cutting skills, using mark making and directional line to create different tones. You will gain an understanding of how to sharpen tools and through discussion and demonstration be able to select suitable papers and thicknesses for hand and press printing and begin to develop an idea for your print.

WEEK 2

Working on a small-scale, you’ll explore the method of reduction creating a registration jig and using ink pads to ink up the lino to create a basic reduction print.

Explore how to use the printing press and learn how to ink up using your own unique colour palette to create a multicoloured print.

WEEK 3

Transfer your design to Lino and mark layers, set up registration and with one-to one support plan the colour palette for the Linocut. Then begin carving your first layer and print the first layer of the reduction plate. Create a series of prints with the addition of artist proofs and test prints.

WEEK 4

Review the first layer of prints through discussion and one-to-one support, then identify, plan and carve the second layer of linocut and mix colours to ink up the second layer of print. Experiment with layering plates and gradient rolls.

WEEK 5

Consolidate learning through discussion and review of your print progress. Carve and ink another final layer of the prints and introduce gradient rolls to your work. Learn how to name, date and sign an edition.

Tutor Jo Shearer is an artist and art educator living and working in Leicestershire. Her belief is that art is for everyone. It is another language for expressing and communicating our experiences, thoughts and emotions which often reflect the world around us and how we fit into it. Art can demonstrate a tremendous level of skill and be aesthetically pleasing; however, the greatest strength is in its capacity to express and unite people. Jo studied Visual BA (Hons) Arts and English Literature and a PGCE in secondary art. She taught in schools and colleges in Hertfordshire and Leicestershire for over 10 years.

After leaving mainstream education she continued her love of teaching through tutoring and went on to develop workshops like this one. She enjoys the freedom to work in a variety of media and has an ever-increasing love for print. She enjoys nurturing creativity and developing individuals' skills to build confidence in their own work as well as evoking a sense of calm and release of emotions through the process of making. Her personal work explores the spaces that we inhabit, the collection of experiences and emotions that connect us to a place and the inherent beauty of the natural world in all its forms.

This five-week course will run on Tuesday mornings, 10am – 12:30pm, starting on 28 October 2025, with the final session on 25 November 2025.

All materials and equipment will be provided. Please come in old clothes and/or bring an apron as printing can get messy!

Participants must be aged 14+. Under 18s must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times.

Some prior experience of linocut printmaking is required - this is not a course for absolute beginners. If you are new to printmaking, please see our 10-week Introduction to Print course starting on Tuesday 23 September 2025 or our one-day Introduction to Collagraphs workshop on Tuesday 9 December 2025.

If the course/workshop you’d like to book is sold out, we do operate a waiting list - simply contact our box office team on / and ask to be added to the waiting list. We’ll then contact you if a place becomes available, with absolutely no obligation to accept it if you’ve made other plans!

Please ensure that you agree to our updatedTERMS & CONDITIONS before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable in some circumstances.

We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome - just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you'd like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email, pop in or call, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.

FREE PARKING FOR ALL CUSTOMERS IS AVAILABLE AFTER 5PM ON WEEKDAYS AND ALL DAY AT WEEKENDS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER CAR PARK NEXT DOOR TO ATTENBOROUGH ARTS CENTRE ON LANCASTER ROAD.
The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us (near De Montfort Hall).