What is a Linocut Jigsaw Print

A linocut jigsaw print is a unique type of printmaking where an image is carved onto a linoleum block, and the block is then cut into separate pieces that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. This technique allows you to create an image that can be assembled and disassembled, adding an interactive and tactile element to the artwork.

Jigsaw Linocut print and carved linoleum, 'Rendlesham Forest', 2023 C Staunton

How to Make a Linocut Jigsaw Print: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve been linocut printing for a while and fancy a new challenge, jigsaw printing might just be the technique that reignites your practice. I teach this technique often, there’s something about this technique that changes the whole feel of printmaking, from a careful, controlled craft into something genuinely playful.

What Is a Linocut Jigsaw Print?

A linocut jigsaw print is a printmaking technique where a carved lino block is cut into separate pieces, like a puzzle, so that each piece can be inked individually, often in a different colour, before being reassembled and printed as a single image.

It takes real precision to get those pieces fitting together accurately, but the payoff is worth it. You end up with a piece of printmaking that’s also, in a lovely way, interactive art: the pieces can be rearranged and reprinted in endless new combinations, so the artwork itself can keep evolving. That’s a very different relationship with a print than the fixed, single-outcome feeling you get from traditional linocut. Once you start thinking of your composition as something that can shift and transform, it opens up all sorts of new creative avenues for exploring a theme or a narrative.

'Swishy, swashy', 2023. Jigsaw linocut of 8 pieces

Getting Started: Choose Your Lino and Practise First

I always recommend softcut lino for jigsaw printing. It’s soft enough that your pieces fit together smoothly and cleanly, without the fighting you can get from firmer lino types.

Before you touch your actual block, grab a bit of cardboard packaging and practise on that first. It’s such a useful step, cardboard shows you exactly how scoring works and how much control you have with your knife, without the pressure of “wasting” a proper plate. Once you’re happy with your design, transfer it onto your lino using a sharpie (steer clear of blue or black ink, as it can be hard to see clearly against the lino surface)

Cutting Your Jigsaw Pieces

Here’s the golden rule of jigsaw linocut: cut all your internal design lines before you separate the pieces.

Softcut lino has edges that can be a little unpredictable to control once cut, so keep your plate as one whole piece for as long as possible, right up until every cut you need has been made. At this stage, it’s well worth taking a test print to check your progress before you go any further.

Once you’re happy with the cutting, you can carve up your plate into its separate pieces. If you’re new to jigsaw printing, keep it simple at no more than five pieces to start with. It’s tempting to go big and ambitious straight away, but a smaller number of pieces gives you much better results while you’re learning how the technique behaves.

Ice cream cone jigsaw print created by student of Barnet Guild of Artists at 2023 workshop.

Now the Fun Really Starts: Colour and Ink

This is my favourite part of teaching jigsaw linocut, because it’s where the real experimentation begins. With each piece able to take its own colour, you can play with combinations you’d never usually put together on a single block.

Try a blended or rainbow roll across individual pieces. It introduces a real sense of depth and lets you explore a whole spectrum of colour within one small area. You can also combine jigsaw printing with reduction or multi-block techniques, layering colour and detail across your pieces for an even richer, more intriguing final print.

Honestly, this stage is just an excuse to get properly inky and have some fun with it. Don’t overthink your colour choices too early. Sometimes the best combinations come from just trying something and seeing how it sits.

Student Examples from Barnet Guild of Artists

Some of the loveliest jigsaw prints I’ve seen have come out of the workshops I run for Barnet Guild of Artists. Seeing how differently each student approaches colour and piece arrangement, even from a similar starting design, is one of the best parts of teaching this technique. No two jigsaw prints ever come out the same way twice.