Recommended Printmaking Tools & Supplies:
Gel Printing: Speedball Gelatin Plate One of my favorite tools! I suggest beginning with a 5x7 size gel plate so that you can do lots of practice prints without using up large sized paper. Note: Use printmaking inks only with these, they aren't for use with acrylic paint. I like to use the basic speedball ink listed below.
Block Printing: Speedy Carve: the "Pink Stuff" - a soft rubbery material that I prefer over traditional linoleum for carving and block printing on fabric or paper.
Speedball Block Printing Ink: Water soluble means easy clean up, and this basic level ink comes in many colors including some florescent and metallic. I use this ink when doing my gel plate printing, and it's also good for testing carved blocks.
Fabric Block Printing Ink by Speedball - This ink is oil-based but it's water soluble prior to drying so you can clean up with only soap and water. There is a bit of a learning curve because it dries fast but once you get the hang of how much ink you need to get a clean print on fabric, the fast drying time and easy setting (no heat needed) is a benefit for completing projects.
Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink: This ink is oil-based but water-soluble and rolls out smoothly with lovely saturated colors. It takes longer to dry than the other inks I have listed, typically a few weeks, but I like it for especially detailed prints on paper and a little ink goes a long way.
Acrylic Plate: A sturdy surface for mixing and rolling out ink. You can also wash and reuse styrofoam trays from grocery store packaging. I also use this plate as a base for my gel plate, it adheres well enough that I can flip the base over and press it down onto the paper, instead of the other way around, which helps with registration for multiple layers.
Palette Knife: I like this blue-handled knife from RGM, made in Italy, with a slightly flexible blade. You can also use wooden craft sticks for mixing, but I think the knife makes it easier to manipulate the ink and scoop it up into a container if you need to store it for later.
Brayers: Speedball Soft Rubber Brayers are a good choice for getting started and I also recommend the Japanese hand brayers at https://www.imcclains.com/ when they are in stock.
Carving tools -
- Basic Set by speedball
- Micro palm set by FlexCut
- SlipStrop for sharpening tools by Flexcut
Baren: This is a printmaking tool for burnishing (rubbing) your paper to transfer the ink from your block. A classic baren is the back of a wooden spoon such as you would use in your kitchen. I recommend upgrading when you are doing enough hand block printing to get hand fatigue from the process. I love my Print Frog glass baren by https://www.ironfrogpress.com/ - you can read more about it on their website.
*Please note: I may receive compensation on certain links for products. I only do this for supplies and tools which I have used in my own practice, and not all the links on this list are affiliate links. If you shop using these links, it helps support my own work as an artist and my efforts to be a helpful resource to other creative individuals.