Here a few quick tips on getting your linocut block prepared ready for printing.
* Before you start carving or printing a linocut block you can gently remove the waterproof coating. Linocut blocks are coated in a waterproof coating – if you place a drop of water on the surface it will bead and not soak in. I remove this coating with a superfine grade ‘wet’ sandpaper – using a small amount of water I gently rub the surface with the sandpaper. You will see the coating coming off easily – I then towel dry the block. If you then place a drop of water on the surface it will soak in.
* I trim the edges of the block to make a clean line for the print using a steel ruler and a sharp bladed knife. Traditional linocut blocks have a hessian backing.
* When you trim a linocut block this hessian backing needs to be further trimmed back to ensure none of the hessian stringing is left – this string can easily pick up ink when you are printing and create unsightly marks onto the surface of the print.
* I use scissors to trim – first from the front and then I turn the block over and check of there are any pieces of string that may slowly come undone whilst printing and I trim these back as well. I regularly check the block whilst printing to ensure no stray fine hairs are still there and picking up ink. It is easy to miss one and it is not until it marks the print that you realise it is there.
Within the black and white section of the above image on the left you can see a fine white line – this is one of the small and often extremely fine hairs that can easily ruin a great print – just ask me I know!! The image on the right shows the fine marks that can occur from these hairs picking up the ink. I have discarded many prints (which is quite costly) because of this. I try to keep a particular standard to the prints I include within an edition and work at improving my skills on an ongoing basis. I am finding that as my actual printing technique and knowledge of printmaking improves so the standards I want within each print of an edition, also increases. I am always seeking to learn new and improved techniques and tips through a variety of sources. I am very aware that over time my printmaking skills have improved and as a result so have the prints! I hope this information helps other linocut printmakers in identifying this and other common printing mistakes.
As you can all guess I finally got to print my Tawny Expressions blocks tonight – after spending time in Sydney, being unwell and the awful wet weather (that I tend to try to not print in – now that’s another issue of damp, limp paper in wet and humid weather) I have managed to do some printing this afternoon – fine sunny and actually quite warm for this time of year. Speaking of weather tonights printing listening music – Crowded House!
Wildflowerings - Art Studio Diary 
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Counter strike 2.0 also known as Counter Strike: Condition Zero is a continuation of the one of the best arcade games of all times which is the Counter Strike. It was released in 2004 and was modified using the GoldSrc game engine which was basically a Half-Life engine.
counter strike 2.0 engine was so heavily modified and was capable of rendering high quality 3D graphics to enrich the gaming experience. The game started to develop in the early 20’s in different developing houses. counter strike 2.0 was fully created in early 2003 by Ritual Entertainment who entirely recreated it and the game was made into a single death match mode having different missions and different bots.
Later the development of the CS 2.0 was handed over to Turtle Rock studios they made final changes in the games, updated the bots, the missions and the maps and the new mod called the deleted scenes. After the final updates the game was released on March 23, 2004. counter strike 2.0 became so popular among the arcade games playerbase-base and record number of gamers purchased the game
Condition Zero actually comes up with the online multiplayer mode which actually contains updated maps, textures and updated characters. The multiplayer gaming can also be achieved via LAN play or via online gaming. The game contains amazing graphics and texturing which became the source of its popularity.
The games is basically zero ping and it runs smoothly if the PC fulfills the requirements. The offline playing mode was actually made to comfort the players in the ruthless universe of the online gaming. In the offline playing mode there are total eighteen missions.
The player has to deal with several hurdles which actually test the user’s patience and the capability of making strategies.The hurdle are actually in the form of sets containing three missions each. One has to complete each set of challenges in order to surpass the game levels.
The difficulty level of counter strike 2.0 goes on increasing and it literally tests the user’s gaming skills on whole new level, even the stager Condition Zero players will be sweating in the end. The game has the same usual killing or saving style. By this one can easily understand that the either the user has to be terrorist or counter-terrorist.
If the user is a terrorist then he has to plant the bombs and assassinate the good guys in order to successfully complete the mission and on the other hand if the user is a counter-terrorist then he has to defuse the bombs or rescue the hostages in order to complete the missions. The users get some handsome virtual money on killing the opponents with which the users can buy variety of weapons.
There are about 4-5 different characters who have different skills and priorities. Each character comes up with his own preferable weapon in which he specializes his skills. At the start the user has to surpass his opponent by winning more than two matches in order to complete the task.
It may sounds easy and piece of cake but actually each level has its own challenges that one must fulfill. These challenges change with the increasing difficulty like in some challenges the user has to complete the task within the specific time or the user has to kill specific number of enemies with a special weapon etc.
Hence the product has what it takes to be the best arcade games of all times with its exciting fun stuff the Counter strike 2.0 aka Condition Zero is indeed one of the best games.
https://counterstrikeonline.org – CS Online