Handmade Linocut Prints by Tom Callos
The process is called “relief printmaking.” It requires that I carve (rather than simply draw or paint) the lines that make up the images you see below into a matrix / substrate, like vinyl, wood, and/or linoleum. I then run ink over the block / blocks, press the paper onto the block, and the result is what you see here. Sometimes I make multi-colored prints by a process of reduction, where I carve, then ink, then carve more, for each color in the print. In some prints I’ve used more than one carved block to lay down the colors.
I specialize in portraiture, mostly of people I consider to be upstanders. I print limited editions of my work, usually from 3 to 10 prints only. I’m a small (artisan) maker who works out of his home-studio. I sell my work primarily on Etsy, here.
Some of the prints below may be linked to my Etsy store, but if you don’t find a link, please feel free to reach out to me for availability. The prints below are just a sample of the work I’ve done as I move towards carving 1000 portraits.
Photographer Vivian Maier, Linocut, 11' x 14" limited edition of 8 prints.
Ernest Hemingway, Linocut, 24" x 18", Limited Edition of 10 Prints.
A young Thomas Edison, linocut, 11 x 14 paper, open edition.
Frederick Douglass, linocut, 24' x 18", open edition.
Martial arts master Henry S. Okazaki, linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints. 2022
Harvey Milk, linocut, 11" x 14" paper, 8" x 10" image, open edition.
From my "small prints" series, Maya Angelou portrait in linocut, printed on old paperback pages from one of her books.
Author John Steinbeck, linocut with hand-colored background, 11" x 14", open edition.
H.H. The Dalai Lama, on 24" x 18" paper (smaller image, as shown in photo). Edition of 7 prints.
President George Washington, 11' x 14", 2021. Edition of 6 prints.
Photographer Minor White, Linocut, 24" x 18", 2022.
Helio Gracie, the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. 1 color print, 8" x 10" image on 11" x 14" paper. Open edition.
Harriet Tubman, Linocut, 24" x 18", 2022. Limited edition of just 3 prints.
Photographer Tina Modotti, Linocut, 2019, 11" x 14" paper, limited edition of 10 prints.
Author Kurt Vonnegut, 11" x 14" paper, open edition. Also for sale at the Vonnegut Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana
Self Portrait (Tom Callos). Linocut. Not for Sale.
Jessie Reno, Civil War General and the namesake of Reno, Nevada. Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints.
Grcie Jiu-Jitsu founder Helio Gracie, linocut, 24" x 18", 2022, edition of 10 prints.
Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist, linocut, 24" x 18" (photo shows a close up of print. 2022. Edition of 25 prints.
Booker T. Washington, Linocut 2021. 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints.
Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Linocut. Original print sold out, still available in re-printed 5" x 7" cards, signed by artist.
Sargent Shriver, Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of just 2 prints.
Ernest Hemingway, in Blue and Black. 24" x 18", open edition. 2022
John Kennedy, in gold. 11" x 14" paper, small edition of just 4 prints.
Artist Helen Frankenthaler. Linocut, 24" x 18", 2022. Limited to 4 prints.
Homage to Maynard Dixon, linocut. 24" x 18", edition of 3 prints.
Artist Edward hopper. Linocut. 2022. 24" x 18" limited edition of 6 prints.
Artist Richard Diebenkorn, Linocut. 24" x 18", open edition.
W. E. B. Du Bois, linocut, 11" x 14", edition of 7 prints.
Ms. Rosa Parks. Linocut, 2022, on 24" x 18" paper, edition of 10.
Vincent Van Gogh, Linocut, 24" x 18," edition of 4 prints.
Photographer Ansel Adams. Linocut, 2022. 24" x 18", edition of 6 prints.
Duke Kahanamoku, with flowers. Linocut, 2022. Edition of 10 prints.
Irish author Samuel Beckett, Linocut, 24" x 18, 2022, edition of 5 prints.
Marie Curie, Linocut, 24" x 18", 2021, limited edition of just 2 prints.
Photographer Imogen Cunningham, Linocut, 11" x 14", edition of 5 prints.
Eleanor Roosevelt, linocut, 14" x 11", 2020. Edition of 6 prints.
John Steinbeck, Linocut, 24" x 18", 2021, edition of 10 prints.
Artist Isamu Noguchi, Linocut, 24" x 18", 2022, edition of 5 prints.
Walter Cronkite, linocut, 24" x 18", 2021, edition of 5 prints.
John Muir, linocut, 24" x 18", 2022, edition of 5 prints.
Civil War soldier Frances Clayton, who pretended to be a man to fight. Linocut, 24" x 18", 2021, open edition.
The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints.
Author Henry Miller, linocut, 24" x 18", 2021. Edition of 4 prints (w/ color variations).
My friend and activist Ms. Keshia Thomas. Keshia is best known for a 1996 event at which she was photographed protecting a man believed to have been a Ku Klux Klan supporter. The resulting photograph (by Mark Brunner), was Life magazine's "Pictures of the Year" for 1996.
Nelson Mandela, linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 4 prints.
Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, with quote. 2019, over 5 feet high. Edition of 14.
President Barack Obama. Linocut, 2021. 11" x 14", edition of 6 prints.
John F. Kennedy in blue. Sold out.
President Joe Biden. Linocut. 11" x 14" in an edition of 4 prints.
President Harry Truman. Linocut. 11" x 14", edition of 5 prints.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, linocut. 11" x 14", open edition.
Native American activist, Winona La Duke. Not for sale.
Artist David Park. Linocut, 11" x 14", 2020. Edition of 4 prints.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 24' x 18", 2022, edition of 9 prints. All proceeds have gone / go to Ukrainian family on the run.
Author Eudora Welty, linocut with hand painted background and eyes. Linocut, 11" x 14", open edition.
Full Contact Karate Pioneer, Jeff Smith. Linocut, 11" x 14", edition of 6 prints.
Anne Frank. Not for sale.
Margot Frank (Anne's sister). Not for sale.
Writer Jordan Fisher Smith. A gift to the author. Not for sale. Click on the image for his website.
Woman's face. Not for sale.
Author Mary Hallock Foote. Linocut. 11" x 14", edition of 5 prints.
Author and activist Sarah Winnemucca. Linocut, 2019. Open edition.
Artist Alexander Calder, Linocut, 24" x 18," edition of 5 prints. 2022
A young Ernest Hemingway, Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 8 prints.
Pablo Picasso, Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 6 prints.
Ms. Alice Roosevelt - Longworth, Linocut, 24" x 18", Edition of 6 Prints.
Boise photographer and patron of the arts, Gregg Mizuta. One of my series "People of Boise." Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints. See Gregg's site by clicking his image.
Ms. Erma Hayman (1907 - 2009), Linocut, 24" x 18", NFS. Ms. Erma is a part of my "People of Boise" print series. See the website about her and her lovely home by clicking on her image.
Ishi, Linocut, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints. Read about Ishi by clicking on his image.
Ms. Adrienne Nicole, one of my "People of Boise" series. She, among her many skills and talents, is a maker of fine jewelry. See her work by clicking on her image.
The Mayor of Boise (2022), Lauren Stein McLean. Not for sale. 1 of my People of Boise prints. 24" x 18" on Bee Paper, Safewash inks, hand-printed with a Boise Baren.
Artist / Art Teacher and Boise resident, Sue Latta. Not for sale. One of my People of Boise prints.
Portrait of Willam De Kooning, 24" x 18" edition of 6. Click image to visit the listing on my etsy store.
Portrait of Grace Hartigan, Abstract Expressionist. Linocut, 24' x 18", edition of 4 prints.
Portrait of Sensei Mizuta, 7th dan in judo and father of my friend Greg Mizuta. Linocut reduction print, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints. Not for sale.
Ishi, with Beatles lyrics. Linocut reduction and multi-block print, 24" x 18", small edition. Not currently listed for sale.
Photographer Dorothea Lange Portrait, 24" x 18", edition of 4 prints.
From my menu-print series, judo players printed on a discraded menu from Boise's Modern Hotel and bar.
Menu series, T-Rex. On discarded menu from Boise's Modern Hotel. Linocut.
Scientist Alice Ball with the chaulmoogra plant, which Ms Alice turned into the first treatment for leprosy. Linocut, 11" x 14", edition of 10. Click picture to find it on my Etsy store.
Ms. Joan Didion. Linocut reduction, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints. 2022.
Print for charity, Jiu-Jitsu Mike Bates rowed across the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for the Leed's Children's Hospital. Click the image to visit Mike's Instagram page. Linocut, 24" x 18", not for sale.
Mr. Ray Bradbury, part of my Modern Hotel discarded menu print series.
Architect Samuel Mockbee, co-founder of The Rural Studio. Linocut, 2 blocks, 24" x 18", edition of 6 plus some variants. For sale on Etsy, just click image.
Another version of architect Samuel Mockbee
Author Toshio Mori. His book, Yokohama, California, originally released in 1949, is the first published collection of short stories by a Japanese American. Set in a fictional community, these linked stories are alive with the people, gossip, humor, and legends of Japanese America in the 1930s and 1940s.
Printmaker Amos Kennedy. Linocut 24" x 18" edition of 6 prints.
A commission. Gabe! From the UK. NFS
Jiu-Jitsu / Judo master Mitsuyo Maeda. Mitsuyo Maeda, a Brazilian naturalized as Otávio Maeda, was a Japanese judōka and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions, also being one of the first documented mixed martial artists of the modern era for he frequently challenged practitioners of other martial arts and combat sports.
Tracy, the mate of a friend. Gift. NFS. Great coloring.
Kurt Vonnegut
Frida Kahlo
Edward Weston
Robson Gracie
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
Renzo Gracie
NFS: Bruce Lee, two block Linocut print, 18" x 15", made on the day, 50 years prior, that Mr. Lee passed away. Made for a friend.
Issac Asimov, Linocut Reduction, varying sizes, Variant Edition of 5 prints.
Chief Winnemucca, aka Bad Face, Linocut Reduction, 24" x 18", edition of 5 prints.
Sarah Winnemucca, Linocut Reduction, 24" x 18, edition of 6 prints.
Masahiko Kimura, Linocut Reduction, 15" x 20", Edition of 1 Print
Arthur C. Clarke, 24" x 18" edition of just 4 prints. Currently on sale at Etsy.
Ray Bradbury, Linocut 24 x 18 inches, edition of 4 prints. For sale on Etsy.
Dr. Jane Goodall, Linocut Reduction, 24' x 18" limited edition of 2 prints in brown/gold.
Dr. Jane Goodall, Version 2, linocut reduction, 24". x18" and an edition of just 6 prints.
James Baldwin, Linocut, 17.5' x 15.5", limited edition of 3 prints.