Marabu Block Printing Kit - Linocut with 3 x 100ml Ink, Cutter, Rubber Block, and Brayer Roller Linoleum Printmaking Kit, Starter 6pc Set, Multicolor

my box came open and missing multiple pieces but all i really ordered it for was the ink. the ink was high quality but the linoleum cutter didn’t work well and the ink roller seemed really cheap.

When I walked in the door the box didn't come in cardboard. The item itself looked like is was opened. Once I opened it the little cutting tool and sheet of wood was gone. The ink and the rolling tool was there though. 🙃

hard to get thin lines. also the linolium carving tools are very hard to get thin lines with. the linolium itself is very crumbling. the colors are nice but the sponge rollers constantly soak up %50 of the paint!

This is a good set with tools, Marabu makes amazingly good ink. This ink is WATER SOLUABLE (will wash off your brayer and plate) but still will stain like anything. It will dry insoluable.Comes with a foam roller, ink, the tools and a sample block. See the list below for more things if you intend to get into Linocut, which I enjoyed doing for years starting as an 8 year old. In Japan, kids do all kinds of printing like this for greeting cards, mounting the rice paper prints on standard cards to give for holidays.You do eventually some other equipment for maximum delight in making linocuts (linoleum block printing--linocut or "Linoschnitt" in German.) If you like printing, there are better tools to add for getting really into printing.You will need:Smocks and old clothes, the ink is water soluable but will dry on clothes. Put a vinyl table cloth down on a counter or newspapers.A large pane of glass with edges bound in gaffer's tape or masking tape. This is where you roll out the ink to spread it evenly before rolling onto the etched linoleum block.A bench hook: this is a board with a vertical piece on one end on top, and on the other end on the bottom, so it kind of looks like an "N" or "Z" in cross section. You hook one end on your counter and the other, upside end holds the linoleum block against it. This prevents you from putting your hand INADVISEDLY against the far end of the block as you cut it.HANDS HAVE TO STAY BEHIND THE CUTTERS. Kids forget this ALL THE TIME. If you are doing linocut, which IS a common art technique for children's art class (at least in the bad old days of the Sixties, it was, because puncture wounds from art and shop tools, metal sliding boards that got burning hot and had ragged edges, and falling off tall gym bars was how you determined the kids worthy of survival. We've moved beyond that... so you can't leave your kids alone with the tools.) USE A BENCH HOOK.The bench hook can be constructed at home of pine boards and pieces, wood glue and screws. RECOMMEND you make or find one if you are going to do linocut home school art classes.A baren: This is the Japanese name for a rubbing tool that brings up the ink from the inked linocut when you put paper over it. It is Japanese because that's how those wonderful woodcuts were printed; the artist rubbed a bamboo sheath pad over the rice paper set on the inked woodblocks. You can get a true bamboo baren here or a Speedball economy plastic baren with a nice wood handle (easier to use and won't tear apart so easily. Guess which one I recommend for most people?)Rice paper: Washi, mulberry paper, calligraphy paper, sumi-e paper comes in rolls or sheets and is used for printing; it has the right kind of absorbence to take up the ink.More linoleum blocks, there are all kinds, some softer than others, some mounted on wood, some not. Test them out to see what you like.Oil pastels, Caran D'Ache Neocolor if you want to try different style printing without ink.Transfer paper (to put your drawing on the block)A real rubber brayerThis set will get you started but it's basic. I didn't mark off stars for that, but if you get serious, this is just the bare minimum to do linoleum cut prints.

I ordered this to expand my linocut supplies, though I already had a couple of blocks and a cutting blade and was using stamp pads for my prints. This one, however, includes proper linocut inks (which are more like paints) and a foam brayer, though the brayer isn't very good.The inks are great, the knife is decent enough to allow me to set up a second blade in a handle so that carving is easier, but the brayer....the brayer isn't great for anything--it's just too soft a foam rather than a firm rubber that is normal for block-type printing. But as a kit, it's a pretty good starter kit, and you can grab a rolling pin to press the paper or fabric against the block for a good impression if needed.