Japanese Woodcut

Learn how to create a woodblock using traditional Japanese methods during this supportive workshop.

What will you learn?

Woodcut is one of the oldest relief printmaking techniques. A design or drawing is made on a piece of wood and the untouched areas are then cut away with gouges, leaving the raised image which can then be inked and transferred.

Woodcut is one of the simplest and oldest forms of relief printmaking. Its roots date back to ninth century China. Following trade routes in the Islamic world, the technique spread through Asia and Europe. It wasn’t until the development of large-scale papermaking operations in the fifteenth century that relief printing became economically viable as a means of printing for mass distribution of religious and informative imagery of all kinds.

A reverse design or drawing is made on a piece of wood and the untouched areas are then cut away with gouges, leaving the raised image which can then be inked and transferred to paper or fabric.

Topics covered:

• A brief history of relief printing and its terminology
• Paper types, tools and materials in printmaking
• How to produce your own prints using the methods covered
• How to sign and edition your prints