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Introduction to relief printmaking
Discover how artists create different effects with linocuts and woodcuts. Did you know that MoMA offers studio courses online? Check out the list of offerings including online courses on collage and painting techniques. Created by The Museum of Modern Art.
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I don't understand what the "image" area is. Is it the ink part or the background/paper part? Can someone enlighten me?(3 votes)
Yes, it's the area that gets covered in paint/ink.(3 votes)
Is it possible to tell from a print whether it was a woodcut or a linocut?(1 vote)
Depending on the artist and process it can be tricky. A woodcut might possibly have a wood grain texture to the print, if it hasn't been sanded smooth. Linoleum cuts use a different tool, so you might notice different kinds of lines. Also, linoleum is thin, so if you try to cut out a large gap in the print, it might still leave little marks. Whereas, a woodblock is usually very thick, and it's easier to cut out deep gaps.(6 votes)
So you can keep making copies from the original..(2 votes)
Yup! Just copy it, and then you will be copied someday most likely! : )(1 vote)
What countries if any still use this technique?(1 vote)
This technique can be found all over the world. Chinese and Japanese woodblock prints tend to be more traditional while more contemporary examples can be found elsewhere.(2 votes)
- Text has to be carved in reverse for it to print correctly, right?(1 vote)
Yes, you have to carve it backwards (in mirror writing)(2 votes)
Would I an art dummy be able to do this?(1 vote)
Sure! You can start by carving erasers as they are easy to carve. Then you just need an ink pad to transfer the image.(1 vote)
can you use differtane colored ink(1 vote)- For relief printing such as lino, you often do prints in one colour, cut of what should remain that colour, and print the next colour.(1 vote)
Currently, what are the advantages of printmaking production on digital production? Thank you(1 vote)- Traditional vs digital? Well... For skilled artists, working digitally is much faster, both in the painting and printing phases. And, with a variety of brushes and techniques, digital software allows artists to mimic many different traditional media. You can make a digital picture that feels like an oil painting, a watercolour, a woodblock print, etc. You can fake or suggest all these looks, or mix them in interesting ways. The main difference is you lose some of the handmade feel that traditional print making has. The inks are different. relief prints typically have ridges of ink (except maybe for lithography?) and an embossed surface on the paper.(1 vote)
where do artist get those stuff(1 vote)
Can you do it with other color ink ?(1 vote)
Video transcript
Relief printmaking, the
first print process invented had its origins in seals
in China around 255 B.C. If you think of relief
printmaking as a stamp, which is a very basic transfer of an image from one surface to another. That is the initial concept
of relief printmaking. The image area is raised, whereas the non-image area is lowered. So if you think of a plank of wood and you carve away the white areas, what is raised would
become the image area. One of the modern inventions, linoleum, for what we call a
linocut or linoleum cut, provided artists with the opportunity of working on the material in
a way that was new and unique. Relief printmaking, as the
earliest form of printmaking, is still the most accessible
form of printmaking. Because a press is not
required to transfer the image from the block to paper, it allows artists just about anywhere in the world who have access to a
small amount of materials, whether they be wood or linoleum, and a small amount of ink, to
be able to create an image. Artists like relief printmaking
because it affords them the opportunity to have a
very direct low-tech way of working to produce bold graphic images with strong blacks as well
as fine detailed lines. Its accessibility allows for a variety of marks and sensibilities, both
abstract and representational, both things that involve
text as well as images.