Woodblock printing

Arakawa's Artisans

Arakawa Ward Traditional Crafts Preservation Society
Artisanal Skills Still Passed Down Today in Arakawa

Mix the paint

Spread the paint

Trace the outline

The ink is coming off

Completed

Woodblock print

Woodblock printing is a painting and printing technique that uses the “relief printing method,” in which a wooden block is carved with a chisel, ink or paint is applied to the raised areas, and the image is then printed onto paper. It is one of the oldest forms of printmaking, and in Japan, the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period are a prime example.
Utamaro’s portraits of beautiful women and Sharaku’s actor prints were sold as photo cards and calendars, while Hokusai’s “Fugaku” (Mount Fuji) and Hiroshige’s landscape prints were sold as picture postcards and in photo albums that enticed the common people of the time to travel.

Publishers were always thinking about what the common people wanted and what would please them. To publish woodblock prints,

Publisher (Capital, Planning, Production, and Sales)
Artist (also known as a “ban-shita,” who creates black-and-white preliminary sketches)
Engraver (who mounts the artwork onto the printing block and carves the ink and color blocks)
Printer (applies ink to the woodblock carved by the engraver and prints it onto Japanese paper using a baren)

The following four parties are required.

The Work of a Printer

I repeat the following steps over and over again to complete a single piece.

[Cutting] Use a cutting knife to cut the washi paper by hand into appropriate sizes. To prevent the paper from shrinking, moisten it the night before printing.
[Line Printing] Using an ink plate to print outline lines
[Color Printing] Using color plates, the colors are printed in layers, starting from light to dark.
1. Apply paint to the printing block and add glue
2. Spread the paint on the printing block with a brush
3. Place the washi paper on the printing block and rub it with a baren
4. Place the printed washi paper between sheets of cardboard or newspaper that have been lightly moistened, and set it aside until you are ready to print the next color.