Printmaking: Woodcut
Woodcutting is thought to be the earliest printmaking technique
is a relief technique, a similar process to Linocut, but the plate is made of wood instead of lino.
The design is first drawn onto the surface of a wooden block (must be sawn along the grain) and wood-cutting tools are then used for carving marks in the wood.
The areas that are to be white (or paper colour) are carved out below the surface, leaving any raised areas in the block to be printed.
Colour (normally typographic ink) is next applied to the raised areas using a roller.
These are the areas that have not been cut away
(opposite of etching where the carved areas receive the ink).
A sheet of paper is then placed on top of the woodblock and pressed against it. You can use either a printing press or do it by hand.
This pressure will transfer the ink directly to the paper.
The Image will always appear reverse as the wood is in direct contact with the paper.
It is also possible to create multi-coloured woodcuts. This can be done by creating either multiple wood blocks, or by
cutting the one block into pieces and ink each layer with a separate colour. This technique is done the same way as Linocut, where
after having printed the first colour, the block is cut a little bit more, and then re-inked with a different colour.
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