Linocut vs Scratchboard
リノカット / スクラッチボード
Linocut comes from Relief Printing and Scratchboard from Hand-drawn. They are reached for with different intent, which is the fastest way to tell them apart.
Linocut
Cuts the smooth block boldly, giving few colors and repeated figures a driving rhythm.
Scratchboard
Scratchboard removes black ink from a white clay-coated board, drawing light and contour out of darkness; blade width, crossing and retained black create fur, metal and nocturnal contrast.
| Linocut | Scratchboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1890s– | 19th century– |
| Family | Relief Printing | Hand-drawn |
| Kind | Technique | Technique |
| Cues | Large cut planes / Overlapping color blocks / Simplified figures / Repeating movement | Sharp white lines cut from a black ground / Contour and highlight joined by the same blade marks / Crossed lines and dots producing middle values / Broad retained black with concentrated white detail |
| Best used for | Showing crowds and daily motion as rhythm · A friendly hand-printed feel in few colors | High-contrast illustration of animals, machines and figures · Giving dark packaging and posters a hard engraved light |
| Type | Letters sturdy enough to hold against the shapes; one color per block | Use bold reversed headlines and keep fine copy in uninterrupted black fields. |
| Composition | Repeat forms with aligned motion; change the current in one place | Begin with black and cut only lit contours and focal detail into white. |
| Material | Two to five color blocks, broad cut planes, the paper's ground | Ink a white clay board and scratch varied lines and dots with needles, blades and scrapers. |
| Caution | The difference from woodcut is not mere roughness. Use linoleum's smooth curves and planes. | Inverting a black-and-white photograph is not scratchboard. Direction and width of cuts must describe surface and light. |