PRINTMAKING TECHNIQUES

RELIEF (GER. HOCHDRUCK)

Printing on linoleum and wood with paint on elevated places. As a printing technique, it is the oldest. The work done on the printing surface is based on the principle of recessing the places that will not be printed, with consideration for the elevated areas for printing. Later, paint is applied to the elevated surface to be printed.

a) Woodcut (Wood Engraving, Fr. gravure sur bois, Ger. Holzschnitt): A hard or soft texture wood to be used in printing is cut according to width or length, prepared as a printing surface and etched with special engraving tools to create a printing mold. The artist, who draws patterns on hard textured surfaces such as boxwood, walnut or hornbeam, then carves out the printing areas with chisels and burins. A transverse cut of hardwood is preferred as it facilitates carving. However, soft-textured wood is cut vertically to obtain larger surfaces, also enabling the artist to benefit from the texture. The artist integrates their work with the wood textures, and can further enhance them in their work. In this technique also, separate molds are prepared for each color. The paint is applied to the surface with a roller, and the image is transferred to paper utilizing a spoon or special press.

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b) Linocut (Fr. linoléum, Ger. Linoleumdruck): A preferred technique by artists, linocut is used to reproduce works and is also taught broadly in many art schools. In this technique, linoleum is prepared as a mold using linocut carving tools. In this method of print, as in wood printing, the preparation of a separate mold for each color is necessary.