Hello and welcome onboard !

OIL PAINTS
I made my first linocut (reduction method) with oil paints. This should not be used because in the end the linseed oil they contain will burn the paper. However, this was 5 years ago and the paper is still in good shape. Moreover, real oil based printing inks do contain some linseed oil, only in lower proportions.

I read somewhere you can use oil paints if you remove some of the oil by leaving small amounts of paint for a few hours on tissue paper. The tissue will soak up any extra oil and you will end up with a leaner product.

WATERCOLOR
I also had fun with watercolor. I pasted some thick watercolor on my block then pressed it on damp watercolor or intaglio paper. Great and fun results ! I did this after reading about the japanese water based woodcut method.

There are also some experienced Indian artists on other WC boards, and although not printmakers, they might be able to direct you to some dealers in India ?

I have lived places where art supplies are dear in cost or not existent.

Will oil based commercial letterpress ink or offset ink be worth a shot??

When I lived in Honduras I was able to pick some ink up from a local newspaper. You might check with a local print shop or newspaper and see if you can get some of their ink. I’ve found that sometimes they have near empty cans of ink available for very little. Plus, if you can get black and the three colors (yellow, magenta, blue) you can mix your own colors.

You can store these little bits of ink in a jar and cover it with water to avoid the ink drying out. When you want to use them the water can be lightly taken off the daub of ink with a tissue.

Regarding the expensive inks you can buy… remember that a tube of ink can last a long, long time since you never squeeze out more than you can use. I am always surprised at how long a tube lasts though I print fairly often.

I’ve never used oil paints but the problem with oils is they have much more oil in them than inks, thus your bleeding.

Watercolors probably won’t work very well on lino since the lino is oil-based but it’s certainly worth a try.

Diane

Would recommend a couple of inks…not sure of availability in India.
#1. Akua intaglio ink…now manufactured by Speedball Inks which has worldwide distribution
#2. Graphic Chemical water soluble relief printing ink (glycol). A good product that has no odour and cleans up with warm water. Derived from sugar cane. Open air time is about 4 – 6 hours. Dries on paper within 12 hours.