Linocut illustrations are perfect for chapbooks. They are easy to replicate, cover to cover or page to page; they don’t require a printer, and therefore printer-friendly paper; and they look badass, even when stamped by amateurs. They’re also a throwback to the medieval woodcut-style, which will tickle your antiquarian book fetish.
There is a variety of Lino block sizes and densities at Art Placement in Saskatoon, which is where I picked up a stack of (actually, rubber) blocks that look, feel, and smell like erasers. I opted for rubber because it is easier to cut, and we wanted to keep things accessible. The denser the block, the fancier and more detailed you can get with the cut, but the more difficult it is to carve.
So, here’s what happens at a Linocut jam (this one was hosted by JackPine and the Saskatoon Public Library.)