Woodblock carving

Arakawa's Artisans

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

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 paintings of beautiful women and Sharaku’s actor prints were sold as photo cards and calendars, while Hokusai’s “Fugaku” and Hiroshige’s landscape prints were sold as picture postcards and in photo albums that enticed the common people—who were popular at the time—to travel.
Publishers were constantly 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)

These four parties are required.

The Work of a Tattoo Artist

Once the artist has obtained the publisher’s approval for the artwork, it is pasted face down onto a mountain cherry wood block (which is hard, resistant to wear, and ideal for woodblock printing). After it dries, the ink lines are carved into the wood using a small knife. Since the artwork is drawn in a rough style, the carving is done to produce clean lines without losing the brushwork’s energy and texture. The excess material around the lines is chiseled away, and the lines carved with the small knife are raised to form a relief (completion of the ink plate).
Print the ink blocks onto washi paper one by one for each color (a process called “kōgō-zuri”; for ukiyo-e prints, this involves 10 to 13 blocks).
Use red and black ink to color-code each color
Affix the color-coded proof sheets to the new blocks and carve them (with the exception of the ink block, affix them to both sides and use them).
Carve so that the areas painted vermilion remain (color panel complete).
Hand it over to the printer for a proof run (from this point on, it’s the printer’s job).