There is a Chinese proverb that states that to steal is an elegant offense. What was meant is that there is an older cultural attitude in which copying, transmitting, reworking, and learning from earlier works could be seen as intellectually respectable in China. This was done especially around books, scholarship, calligraphy, and their artistic tradition. In many classical traditions, including Chinese artistic and literary culture, students learned by copying masters, recopying texts, imitating admired brushwork and internalizing models before making their own variations.

When you copy a linocut – you learn where the artist left black, where they cut, how much detail they used, how they balanced the composition, how texture was built and how they avoided over-carving. Ultimately you are not copying the image but more importantly you are copying the decisions the artist made. That is an extremely valuable practice. Below is an example of one of the elements in an Angela Harding print which I have experimented with. The lines in one image are drawn by hand in the other image they’re drawn with a ruler. I was curious to see what effect the difference would make to the final outcome.

This is exactly how traditional print makers learned

In Japanese woodblock training apprentices would copy masters, copy prints, copy brush drawings and copy key blocks. They would do this for years. The purpose of this practice was to learn line economy, composition, rhythm and restraint. Only once they had mastered these things did they go on to design their own prints.

European woodcut / engraving tradition

Artists learned by copying Dürer, Bewick, early wood engravings and book illustrations. This taught line control, texture logic, spacing of cuts and the balance of black and white. Exactly the same skills needed in lino cut.

Why black paper copying is better than pencil copying

If you copy in pencil, you tend to copy outlines, shapes and shading. But if you copy on black paper, you copy cut marks, highlights, texture decisions, negative space and printing logic. That makes it much closer to carving.

Think of it as: black paper = ink and white pen = gouge.

So what are the best types of lino / woodcut to learn from?

Good artists to study include Japanese woodblock artists. Don’t forget also the early wood engravers, modern linocut artists with strong contrast, folk printmakers, wildlife lino artists and botanical woodcuts.

Good subjects to copy include animals, plants, landscapes, borders, decorative prints, and circular compositions. These all teach structure, not just drawing. Here is an example of Angela Harding’s work which I have copied in black and white.

How to copy properly

It is important not to trace. Instead look at the print, or a portion of the print, draw it yourself on black paper. Then try to understand each mark and ask yourself why each cut exists. Ask questions like: Why is this area left black? Why is this line thick? Why is there no detail here? Why is the background simple? Why does this texture follow this direction? In this way you learn the logic and style of the artist and not just the picture.

A very good exercise

Do this regularly: Find a linocut artist you like, copy their work on black paper with white pen, then draw a new subject using the same style. For example copy a hare and then design a rabbit. This builds style without stealing the artist’s work.

Benefits for your own lino work

Copying helps you learn the better use of black. Copying teaches better texture control, better composition, better carving decisions, more confidence. It also assists with a faster design process as you learn what works and what doesn’t. Ultimately is produces a stronger personal style later because you have come to understand the lino language.

Why copying does NOT stop you having your own style

Style comes from what you choose to draw, what you leave out, the subjects you like, how much detail you use and your hand signature when carving. Each of us has our own carving signature. Copying simply teaches the grammar. Your style is the voice.

A weekly practice routine using copying

Day 1 — copy a lino print on black paper
Day 2 — copy another artist
Day 3 — copy a woodcut
Day 4 — design your own using what you learned
Day 5 — black paper study
Day 6 — small carving
Day 7 — review prints

This builds skill quickly.

A useful rule

Copy to understand, Not to publish, Not to sell, Not to claim as yours. Use copying as training. This is how printmakers have learned for hundreds of years.

Effects of Paper Choice in Printmaking