Progression of the carving on the “Waratahs” can be seen on the left. It is a slow but that’s because it has a lot of fine intricate carving that needs to be taken carefully.

I generally use 4 different sizes gouges in my carving tool – seen below.

When carving small complex areas with a number 1 blade – with fine lines I use the smallest v-shaped gouge in the lino carving tool handle – the small definite V gouge can be seen on the far left of the image above. You will need to go slowly and carefully. The artists lino whilst easier to carve than wood because it is ‘softer’ it also chips or breaks off more easily. So taking intricate sections slowly and carefully really pays off in the end as you get less of this chipping occurring and are better able to achieve the image/effect you are trying to achieve in a finely patterned design.

Copyright – Lynette Weir