Printing

Printing Printing is a process of making multiples.

The process dates back to the early Chinese and Japanese with woodcuts. woodcuts are nothing more than an artist or craftsman carving into a piece of wood, applying ink to the raised surface and applying a piece of paper and pressure to the wood and paper producing a print when the paper is pulled from the wood.

This is a chinese woodcut dealing with women and control by the male counterpart.

This Japanese woodcut is one that is thought to have influenced many European Impressionist including Van Gogh. The color was hypnotic and the simple directness of the image most likely became the focus.

The woodcut and the print. The actual woodblock for the woodcut. The lines help register the paper that makes the print.

This is a contemporary woodcut.

A contemporary landscape. Notice the shadows.



A print from the above woodcut.

Albrect Durer was one of the most innovative artist of his time and he documented a lot of it in his prints both woodcuts and etchings.

A Durer woodcut. Incredible, just incredible.

A black and white proof of the print below.



The color proof of the above black and white and white. Many times an artist would pull a proof in black and white to check for details, print correctness, cuts and overall image.

One of Durers most famous images, The Praying Hands.

A press Durer may have used. A wood cut proof being pulled. An early printing press. Imagine the structure of this being made of wood and what you have is what Durer and his contemporaries would have used for their printing needs. See above. A Marinoni press



A contemporary press.

A computerized press.

An Audubon print. Most likely not a woodcut but compare the techniques and details. This one would have been etched into a metal plate, then printed.