Woodcuts: Antique Way To Print On Paper And Cloth

Printing at large scale was possible with woodcut. Many of you have seen this form of art but dont know what it is. It is also known as xylography. It is a printing technique in which an image is carved on the surface of a block wood. The sections which need to be printed are craved on the wood and the non-printing parts are removed from the wood. The non-printing areas are cut away from a knife. The printed area is shown in black at the surface level. Ink is applied on the surface by a roll over technique. No ink is applied on the non-printing area.

History

This art form was created in China around eight century. It came to Europe in the year 1400 century. Woodcut is considered to be the oldest technique in printing in Europe. The use started on paper and lead to cloth printing. The most sort after art in this printing is The Fire Madonna and in the Cathedral of Forl, in Italy.

The Reason Of Popularity

It became a very famous way of printing because it was the cheapest way to get an artwork printed. The print had a set standard as it is cut on a wood and then printed on paper. The piece of art was printed in different color for. Printing was given a new direction with this form of printing. Many copies of one art work could be printed. Art was now reaching out more and more people. Good quality of wood was used for creating the artwork.

Different Methods of Printing:

Woodcuts printing were very popular lead to the formation of the press-printing. Different ways were followed to print a book. Usually, printed was done on paper and later on lead to the creation of books with illustration. The methods were:

Stamp: It is oldest of printing in the Europe started in 1400-40. It was done on paper or fabric. The surface below should be completely flat otherwise the good printing results will not be good. The block needs to press on the fabric or paper from the top.

Rub: It started in the 15th century. It was mainly used in Japan. There it was called a baren. The technique of pressing was used for printing. Different colors where introduced in this printing process. Color printing was possible. It become very popular as printing was giving a new thought.

Press-Printing: Printing was taken to a new level when it was introduced in printing-press. The technique of pressing was used which was done with heavier material from the top. It leads to the creation of woodcuts book illustrations.