Beginner Stamp Carving Notes

I recently taught my first beginners stamp carving workshop to a group of wonderful participants who made such beautiful stamps. The energy in the room made my heart sing as each participant carved, inked up and shared delight for themselves and for each other as they lifted their stamps from the paper and saw their very own print! 

Where you can buy your stamp making supplies?

I buy my products in store in The Blue Mountains and Sydney from some beautiful art supply stores that I’d really recommend. It’s such a wonderful experience to be able to have a tactile experience with the materials you’re buying, seeing the colours in real life and feeling the texture of the paper.

Katoomba The Artist’s Store
Springwood ColourArt  
Newtown Art on King 

There are so many more, but these are ones that I have personally bought from. I’d love to hear about your local art store in the comments below and I can add it to the list!

If you can’t get to a local store online is another great option:
Eckersleys
Art Supplies Australia
Sydney Art Store

In no way is this post sponsored, I’m just sharing the places I have personally shopped and the materials I pay for in full and use in my own practice. 

What supplies do I recommend?

There are so many to choose from! Here is my list of products that I recommend for beginners:

Carving tools 
– speedball lino carving set 
– I can’t remember the brand but I bought a beautiful set of japanese wood carving tools from the Springwood Colourart store. They have an amazing selection of carving and print making tools. 

Ink pads
– I love the vibrancy of versafine ink pads and as a bonus you can buy refills for them! 

Lino & blocks 
– These rubber blocks are super easy to carve and are thick so you can carve on both sides.

Paper
– Any smooth paper works well, I like to use 300gsm because it’s nice and thick, but even printer paper will work! If the paper is textured the stamp won’t press flat on the page and you might get an undesired added texture.

Other things you might need:
– tracing paper (baking paper works well)
– charcoal for alternative transfer onto your block
– baron (the back of a spoon works too)

I hope this has been helpful! Looking forward to seeing your progress. Ask me any questions in the comments on this post. Talk soon!