SpeedballProfessional Relief Ink, Supergraphic Black, 5 Ounce Tube

When just starting in lino carving I was trying to find affordable supplies. The price of this ink was very reasonable and it's a lot of ink! Just takes a little bit to do a series of prints. It's oil base so dry time is slower than water base. In the learning curve that is a plus because the ink doesn't dry up on the lino block while you're printing.I use it for mono (one color) prints. On some pieces, I come back with watercolor paints to add highlights. Take some time to clean up the inside of the lid and the lip around the canister to make use less messy. Good ink at a good value.

The ink itself is fine (doesn't seem dry,) but I'll update this review as I use it.But holy damn, the other reviews were correct that Amazon just is incapable of shipping these without damaging the tin. Mine was dented in 3 places and wibble wobbles on the table (see vid,) which isn't great. I'll see if I can gently mallet-whack it back to a stable state. The ink was pretty chaotic inside as well, as it was shipped in a bag, not a box with stuffing so this was jangling around and upside down a lot I imagine.

Tbh this takes an insane amount of time to dry. Not practical if you need it in a pinch (brace for dry times as long as 1 week to 1 month). Transfer was better than the speedball block printing ink but not by that much....

I've been working with Speedball block printing ink and wanted to try the Professional version. The consistency is better and achieves better printing results but ink takes a ridiculously long time to dry. I printed onto a thin blank MDF panel (which is more porous than I thought) and a panel painted with acrylics and this ink is still tacky to the touch almost 10 days later. I've had it in a sunny window in a dry studio and still not completely dry. Will need to anticipate the drying time prior to any future projects. This tin container that the ink comes in isn't the greatest. Two tins were crushed in shipment.

I’ve been using Speedball products for about 50 years. Definitely my preferred brand. I went to college near one of the factories and found them to be super helpful in person as well.