Speedball : Professional Relief Ink

Speedball Professional Relief Inks are lightfast and archival oil-based printmaking inks which can be washed up with just soap and water. These inks are designed for all types of relief printing, especially linocut and woodcut.

Created with world renowned relief artist Bill Fick, Supergraphic Black is the flagship color in the Professional Relief Ink line. This is a rich, velvety black which holds detail well and will not clog up a block halfway through an edition. Like all colors in the range, this ink is a lightfast and fully archival oil-based printmaking ink which can be washed up with just soap and water.

Speedball Professional Relief inks can all be mixed to produce a relief ink in the color of your choice. To increase the transparency of this ink, add Speedball Professional Relief Transparent Base. The ink can be stiffened with talc or magnesium carbonate, and thinned with water. Because the ink can be thinned with water, it is preferable to print onto dry paper; wet paper might produce a less precise print.

Speedball Professional Relief Inks can be mixed to create a wide range of colors, including orange, raw umber, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber and red oxide. The recipes for each of these colors are as follows:

• Orange = 7 part Hansa Yellow + 1 part Crimson Red + 2 dots Supergraphic Black
• Raw Umber = 4 part Hansa Yellow + 1 part Crimson Red + 2 part Supergraphic Black
• Yellow Ochre = 10 part Hansa Yellow + 3 part Crimson Red + 2 dots Supergraphic Black
• Burnt Sienna = 10 part Hansa Yellow + 3.5 part Crimson Red + 3 dots Supergraphic Black
• Burnt Umber = 2 part Diarylide Yellow + 1 part Crimson Red + 3/5 part Supergraphic Black
• Red Oxide = 2 part Crimson Red + 1 & 1/2 part Diarylide Yellow + 2 dots Supergraphic Black