Printmaking Processes

Woodcut

Woodcut is one of the oldest forms of relief printing, in which the printed image is created in positive from raised areas on the matrix (the printing surface), akin to a stamp. I begin by drawing or transferring an image onto panels of plywood, then I use specialized tools to carve away the wood around the drawing. This removes the negative space and leaves the drawn image level with the surface of the wood. Ink is then rolled onto the surface of the block with a rubber brayer or roller, and transfered to paper using a printing press. Multiple colors can be achieved by carving additional blocks and layering the prints on the same sheet of paper.

Mokuhanga

Mokuhanga (meaning "woodblock") is a traditional Japanese relief printing technique making use of water-based inks. I carve the block in the same manner as a woodcut. The ink (goauche and watercolor pigment can also be used) is daubed onto the matrix with a hard bristle brush, and then transferred to the paper by hand using a flat tool called a baren to exert pressure on the back of the paper. The best papers for this process are lightweight but strong washi papers made from bark fibers, and are still manufactured with traditional methods in East Asia.

Linocut

I carve sheets of soft linoleum in much the same way as a woodcut. Ink is rolled onto the block, and the print is transferred with a press or by hand. Unlike wood, which will always transfer some of its grain pattern into the print, linoleum creates a very smooth, even tone.

Foil Lithography

Also known as "kitchen lithography", this process is an adaptation of lithography that utilizes accessible, nontoxic materials for home studio work. Lithography is an industrial-era printing technique which takes advantage of the antipathy between grease and water, based on chemical alterations to the matrix (traditionally, limestone etched with a solution of nitric acid). The matrix I use in this case is a clean piece of aluminum foil, smoothed and mounted on a plastic backing plate. An image is drawn on the surface of the foil with oil-based tools, such as grease pencils or litho crayons. Next, a weak acid (I use a carbonated soft drink) is applied to the plate to etch the unprotected areas and make them hydrophilic, in contrast to the hydrophobic greasy drawing. When the plate is sponged with clean water before rolling on a layer of oil-based ink, the water adheres in a thin film to the etched areas, forcing the ink to remain in the areas where the drawing was made. As with traditional lithography, a very fine level of detail can be transferred to paper, but a large motorized press is not needed. My foil lithographs are hand printed with a baren in the same manner as mokuhanga printing.