How I Turned a Stunning Wildlife Photo into a Linocut Print

I have always been fascinated by wildlife photography, especially the ones that capture the drama and beauty of nature in action. That’s why I was instantly drawn to the work of Alex Brax, a Belgian photographer who specializes in wildlife. His Instagram account is full of amazing shots of a wide variety of animals from all over the world in their natural habitats.

One photo in particular caught my eye. It was titled “Those last seconds” and it showed a mother zebra trying to save her foal from the clutches of a cheetah. The photo was taken at the Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya, and it won the gold prize at the London Photography Awards in 2023, it was the 'Behavior' category winner in the Wild Art Photographer of the Year in 2022 and won the Africa Geographic Photo Contest in 2022. The photo was so powerful and emotional that I felt compelled to create a linocut print based on it. 

• Contact: The first step was to get the permission of Alex Brax to use his photo as a reference. I contacted him via Instagram and he kindly agreed to let me use his photo for my project. He also shared some insights and stories behind his photo, which made me appreciate it even more.
• Plan: The next step was to sketch the outline of the image on a sheet of A2-size linoleum. I used a pencil to draw the main shapes and contours of the zebra, the cheetah, and the background. I also marked the areas that I wanted to keep white, black, or grey in the final print.
• Carve: Then, I started to carve the linoleum with a set of gouges and knives. I removed the parts that I wanted to be white, leaving the parts that I wanted to be black or grey. This was the most time-consuming and delicate part of the process, as I had to be careful not to cut too deep or too shallow, and to preserve the details and expressions of the animals.
• Printing: After carving the linoleum, I inked it with a roller and black oil-based ink. I placed a sheet of Fabriano paper on top of the inked linoleum and then ran it through a heavy, traditional press. The press applied even pressure and transferred the ink from the linoleum to the paper, creating a mirror image of the carved design.

I repeated this process several times until I had a series of prints that I was happy with. I let them dry overnight, and then I signed them. I also scanned one of them and sent it to Alex Brax, who was very impressed and complimented me on my work. I am very proud of this print, as I think it captures the essence and the emotion of the original photo. I also learned a lot from this project, both about wildlife photography and linocut printmaking. 

If you would like to purchase this print please go to our shop. with this purchase, you will be supporting the fine artist and the wildlife photographer!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my process and seeing my print. If you want to see more of my linocut prints, you can follow us on Instagram. And if you want to see more of Alex Brax’s photos, you can follow him on Instagram or visit his website.

Thank you for reading!