Hand-carved Lino Block Prints - A Return To The Old Ways!
Alex Haines
Rattler The Great Magician: Two Print Bundle
There is something about a traditional lino block print that no digital process can replicate. The pressure of the hand, the resistance of the block, the slight irregularity of ink on paper that tells you that this was made by a person rather than a machine. Every print is unique - not because a number has been stamped on the back, but because the physics of the process guarantee it. No two pulls from a lino block are ever identical.
That is the quality we have been chasing at A. Haines for some time - and it is what has led us, quite naturally, to lino printing. We are a studio that hand-draws everything, that refuses AI and stock elements at every turn, that believes the evidence of human craft in an object is not an imperfection to be corrected but the entire point. Lino block printing is that philosophy taken to its most direct form: a carved block, a roller, an ink, a press of the hand. The result is on the wall. No filters, no processing, no algorithm involved at any stage. You've noticed it with our premium British playing cards - now experience it with our block prints!
King Of Hearts 5 x 7 Lino Print
The Prints
We are launching three hand-carved lino block prints simultaneously - all sharing the same format and production details. Each is 5" x 7", printed in red over black on 300gsm premium card stock, mounted on backing card with corner stickers, and individually signed and numbered on the reverse out of a total of 20x units of each. A label of provenance on the back of each piece of backing card includes all the relevant information plus an extra signature of authenticity. Because the lino printing process introduces natural variation at every pull, every copy is genuinely unique - the ink sits slightly differently, the impression varies fractionally, the result is always its own thing.
Rattler The Great Magician - Hats Off Lino Print
Two of the three prints introduce Rattler the Great Magician - an original A. Haines character, skeletal and theatrical, with a dark sense of humour that sits comfortably in the tradition of Victorian broadsheet illustration and vintage showman imagery. The third is a King of Hearts court card rendered in antique one-way style, rooted in heritage British playing card design that runs through everything we make.
King Of Hearts 5 x 7 Lino Print
What Comes Next?
These prints are not a standalone project. They are the first public appearance of a creative direction we have been developing quietly alongside the playing card work: Rattler the Great Magician as a character, and the lino block print aesthetic as a visual language. We are currently hand-carving an entire deck of playing cards in this style - every card, every court, every detail carved by hand - planned for a Kickstarter launch in 2027. If you are interested in following along with this project and being notified when it goes live, click HERE.
If you like the look of our new block prints, be sure to sign up to our email newsletter at the bottom of the page to stay up to date with all our latest artwork!
The prints are available now from our Art Prints collection. Each one is hand-carved, hand-pulled, signed, numbered, and genuinely unique. No AI. No digital shortcuts. Just carving tools, a block, a roller, and a human hand. Support real human-made art & a small family business right here at A. Haines Playing Cards!
Rattler performing some escapology! "Upside Down" 5 x 7 block print
If you are new to A. Haines, the same philosophy runs through everything we make - from how we design and illustrate our premium British playing cards, to how we create and prepare our art prints. Check out the full AHPC range by clicking HERE or have an introduction to collecting playing cards by clicking HERE.