Cucumber slices printed as a grid of spots with the seeds showingCut: a slice, patted dry. Prints: the rim and the seed ring. Space the spots a slice apart.
Your initials in thick capitals, drawn backward on the blockCut: the ground around the letters. Prints: the letters. Trace them, flip the tracing, rub it down.
Leek slices printed in overlapping rings like chain mailCut: one clean slice. Prints: its rings. Overlap each print on the last by a third, all along the row.
A bookplate with a key and your name lettered in reverseCut: the ground. Prints: key, letters, border. Read the block in a mirror before the first cut.
A cat asleep on a windowsill with stripes cut as short dashesCut: stripes and window panes. Prints: the cat and the frame. Shape the cat first; stripes go in last.
A crescent moon over rooftops with the sky left as solid inkCut: the moon, the window squares. Prints: sky and roofs. Leave the sky untouched so it prints as one field.
A fern frond where every leaflet is one scoop of the gougeCut: the leaflets. Prints: the dark ground around them. A white fern, one push of the tool per leaflet.
A hand holding a pencil, drawn in thin white lines onlyCut: the lines and nothing else. Prints: all the rest. A white-line print, the least cutting on the list.
A moth with spread wings, one side traced from the otherCut: veins and eye spots. Prints: the wings. Draw half on tracing paper and flip it for the second wing.
A pear cut in half with the seeds left as two dark dropsCut: the flesh, in curved strokes. Prints: skin, seeds, stalk. Let the stroke marks show as texture.
A thistle head with every spine a single cutCut: the spines, the leaf veins. Prints: the bulb and the stalk. Each spine is one outward flick of the V tool.
A tin of three sardines, scales cut as rows of small nicksCut: outlines and scale nicks. Prints: the fish. Nick every scale with the V tool, all in one direction.
A wave curling over with foam cut as loose scoopsCut: the foam, a few sky lines. Prints: the body of the wave. Use the wide gouge; no two scoops alike.
Three row houses in outline with one door left darkCut: the walls between the lines. Prints: outlines, roofs, one door. A black-line print: most of it goes.
Your initials in thick capitals, drawn backward on the blockCut: the ground around the letters. Prints: the letters. Trace them, flip the tracing, rub it down.
Foam plate pressed with a pencil 12
A bare tree behind a window streaked with rainPress: tree, drops and their trails. Prints: the glass. Keep the trails upright and of different lengths.
A bicycle wheel with its hub, rim and every spokePress: rim and spokes. Prints: the gaps between spokes. Rule each spoke through the hub with a card edge.
A city skyline with every window poked as a dotPress: outlines and window dots. Prints: walls and sky. Poke each window straight down with the point.
A firework burst of strokes pressed outward from one pointPress: the strokes, long ones first. Prints: the night around them. Dark ink on white paper keeps it bright.
A fish made of pressed scales and one ringed eyePress: scales, eye, fins. Prints: the flat foam around them. Every pressed line comes out white.
A knitted band of zigzags, dots and one row of heartsPress: the pattern, row by row. Prints: the wool between. Print it twice end to end for a scarf.
A leaf with every vein, copied from a real one beside youPress: midrib, side veins, outline. Prints: the blade of the leaf. Go over the midrib twice to widen it.
A pineapple of crossed diagonals under a spiky crownPress: the diamond grid and the leaves. Prints: each diamond. Rule the lines one way, then the other.
A snail whose shell is one long pressed spiralPress: the spiral and two horns. Prints: shell and body. Go round slowly so the pencil does not tear the foam.
A turtle shell from above with plates like a honeycombPress: the plate lines, a rim of small squares. Prints: each plate. Trim the foam to an oval first.
An owl with rows of pressed U shapes for feathersPress: the rows of U, two ringed eyes. Prints: the owl. Start the rows at the feet and work upward.
Your name on a banner, pressed in mirror writingPress: the letters, backward. Prints: the banner. Write it on thin paper, turn it over, trace the back.
Monoprint from an inked sheet 12
A bare tree traced on the back of the paperDraw on the back: trunk and branches. Prints: a soft dark line. Touch the paper only with the pencil.
A cobweb wiped out of one corner with a pointed stickWipe away: the spokes, then the rings. Prints: the dark corner. Add the spider in pen on the print.
A feather laid on the ink so that its shape prints blankLay on: the feather. Prints: the ink around it. Then press the inky feather itself onto a second sheet.
A field of tall grass combed through the inkWipe away: comb strokes, bottom to top. Prints: the gaps between blades. Change the angle so the blades cross.
A full moon wiped out of a black sky with a rag on a fingertipWipe away: the moon and two clouds. Prints: the night. Every light is lifted out of the ink.
A ghost print kept as the fog behind a second drawingSecond pull: the thin ink left on the sheet. Prints: a pale copy. Draw hills over it in pencil when it is dry.
A portrait in one unbroken line, drawn without lookingDraw on the back: the face, pencil never lifting. Prints: a furry line, and a smudge where your hand rested.
A row of bottles lifted out as pale shapes on a dark shelfWipe away: each bottle, with a rag. Prints: the dark between. Leave one streak of ink down every bottle.
A storm sea brushed onto the sheet in thick strokesPaint on: waves in two blues. Prints: the strokes, flattened and mirrored. Work quickly.
One word written into the ink with a fingertip, backwardWipe away: the letters, mirrored. Prints: white letters on a dark ground, reading the right way round.
Reeds at the edge of a pond, drawn into the ink with a cotton swabWipe away: the reeds, a few ripples. Prints: dark water. One stroke for each reed, root to tip.
Your own hand, outlined on the back and rubbed at the knucklesDraw on the back: the outline; rub the knuckles with a fingertip. Prints: a line, and tone where you rubbed.
Eraser and vegetable stamps in a repeat 12
A carrot end trimmed to a hexagon and printed as honeycombCut: six flat sides. Prints: the hexagon. Set each print against the last with a hair of paper between.
A dark leaf and a white leaf from two erasers, printed alternatelyCut: on one, the leaf; on the other, all but the leaf. Prints: white leaf, dark leaf, white leaf.
A plaid built from the long edge of an eraserCut: nothing; ink the long edge. Prints: a bar. Three bars across and three down, in two colors.
A potato diamond printed point to point as a harlequin gridCut: four straight sides. Prints: the diamond. Fill the gaps with a second color or leave them as paper.
A vine border of potato leaves printed in pairs up the marginCut: round the leaf, plus one groove for a vein. Prints: the leaf, vein white. Pairs lean left and right.
An eraser arrow printed nose to tail in rows that swap directionCut: two notches for the head. Prints: the arrow. Odd rows point right, even rows point left.
An eraser with a single wavy groove, printed end to end as a riverCut: one wave with the V tool. Prints: the bar, wave white. Match the wave ends so it runs on.
An eraser with one arc cut across a corner, turned to build ringsCut: one curved groove. Prints: the square with a white arc. Four prints, each turned a quarter, close a ring.
Brussels sprout halves printed row on row as a field of small rosesCut: the sprout in half. Prints: its folded leaves. Shift each row along by half a sprout.
Cucumber slices printed as a grid of spots with the seeds showingCut: a slice, patted dry. Prints: the rim and the seed ring. Space the spots a slice apart.
Fish-scale rows from an eraser cut to a half circleCut: two corners off one end. Prints: a half disc. Overlap each row on the row below, like roof tiles.
Leek slices printed in overlapping rings like chain mailCut: one clean slice. Prints: its rings. Overlap each print on the last by a third, all along the row.
Two colors from two blocks 12
A beetle: black legs and outline over green wing casesBlock 1: the wing cases, green. Block 2: legs, head and outline, black. Print the black block last.
A fox in orange with black ears, feet and noseBlock 1: the whole fox, orange. Block 2: only the dark tips, black. Mark a corner on both to line them up.
A goldfish in orange inside a bowl of blue waterBlock 1: the water, blue, fish cut away. Block 2: the fish, orange. The second block fills the blank.
A lemon: a yellow shape under a black outline with pipsBlock 1: the whole fruit, yellow. Block 2: outline and pips, black. Print the pale color first.
A red barn in a green field with doors left as bare paperBlock 1: the field, green. Block 2: the barn, red. Cut the doors out of both blocks so paper shows.
A robin: a brown bird with a red breastBlock 1: the bird without its breast, brown. Block 2: the breast, red. The second block is one oval.
A striped mug: odd stripes from one block, even from the otherBlock 1: stripes one, three and five. Block 2: stripes two and four, and the handle. Leave paper between.
A teacup in blue with gray steam and a gray saucer shadowBlock 1: cup and saucer, blue. Block 2: steam and shadow, gray. Keep the steam to three loose shapes.
A watermelon slice: red flesh, green rind, seeds cut from the redBlock 1: the flesh, red, seeds cut out. Block 2: the rind, green. Leave a thin line of paper between.
A yellow sun going down behind purple hillsBlock 1: sun and rays, yellow. Block 2: hills and two birds, purple. Cut the sun's place out of the hills.
Two cherries in red with stalks and a leaf in greenBlock 1: the fruit, red. Block 2: stalks and leaf, green. Cut a small shine mark out of each cherry.
Your name with a drop shadow in a second colorBlock 1: the letters, reversed. Block 2: the same letters, shifted down and right. Print the shadow first.
How it works
A print is drawn in reverse and built from what you take away. These 60 printmaking drawing ideas are sorted by method: lino, a foam plate, an inked sheet, stamps in a repeat, and two blocks for two colors.
Read the full guide
Decide what is left
In relief printing the raised surface takes the ink and whatever is cut away stays the color of the paper. So choose first: is the drawing the line or the ground? The hand holding a pencil is cut as lines only and prints white on dark. The three row houses lose everything but their outlines.
Letters go on backward
The block is a mirror image of the print. Anything with a right way round, your initials, a name on a banner, a word wiped into ink, is drawn reversed. Write it on thin paper, turn the sheet over and trace what shows through.
Cut away from the hand that holds the block, with that hand behind the blade. An adult stays beside a child who is cutting.
No press is needed. Lay the paper on the inked block and rub the back by hand or with a clean roller.
After a monoprint, press a second sheet onto what is left. It may give a fainter copy, called a ghost print.
Questions and answers
What are easy printmaking ideas for beginners?
Start with a foam plate. Press the drawing in with a pencil, roll ink over the plate and print: the pressed lines stay white. A fish made only of scales, or a leaf with every vein, needs no cutting tool at all.
What is the difference between a linocut and a monoprint?
A linocut is cut into a sheet of linoleum and inked with a roller. A monoprint of this kind, also called a monotype, is drawn or painted on a smooth sheet and gives one print: most of the ink comes off in the first pressing.
Is lino easier to cut than wood?
Generally, yes. Linoleum has no grain running in one direction and does not tend to split, so it is widely used in schools to introduce printmaking.
How do you make a print with two colors?
Cut a separate block for each color and print one after the other on the same sheet. Two colors from two blocks holds twelve, such as an orange goldfish set into a bowl of blue water.