Relief print
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A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process, such as woodcut, where the areas of the matrix (plate or block) that are to show printed black (typically) are on the original surface; the parts of the matrix that are to be blank (white) having been cut away, or otherwise removed. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper; a printing-press may not be needed as the back of the paper can be rubbed or pressed by hand with a simple tool.
This contrasts with an intaglio print, such as an engraving or etching (although there can also be relief etching), where the areas to print black are below the original surface of the matrix, and the original surface of the matrix will print blank. To print these the whole matrix is inked, and the ink then wiped away from the surface, so that it remains only in the lines (classically) that the artist has made below the surface of the matrix. Much greater pressure is then needed to force the paper into the channels containing the ink, and a high-pressure press will normally be required.
The relief family of techniques includes woodcut, wood engraving, relief etching, linocut, and some types of collography. Traditional text printing with movable type is also a relief technique, which meant that woodcuts were much easier to use as book illustrations, as they could be printed together with the text, whilst intaglio prints such as engravings had to be printed separately.
The other traditional families of techniques are:
- but modern developments have created other types.
See also Viscosity printing.
Normally relief and intaglio techniques can only be mixed with others of the same family in the same work.
Relief Printmaking Process
The artist carves the image on a block of wood or linoleum, cutting away some areas and leaving others raised (in relief). Ink is applied with a roller, which contacts only the raised areas, leaving the cutaway parts uninked. The block can be printed by hand or on a printing press. (video link here)
Printmaker Bill Fick (billfick.com) demonstrates his linoleum print process from beginning to end.
Anatomy of a Linocut by Bill Fick from Jim Haverkamp on Vimeo.
Studio Relief Printmaking Explorations for Teachers
Lesson on Block Printing using Softoleum (from Online Art Magazine).
Reduction Printing
Fading Skies - MS Printing Lesson
Think you made a great print? How about turning prints into an animation?
Dehisce Linomation Print: Hand Carved Animation
Dehisce is a biology term describing the process of material being released upon the splitting open of an organ or tissue. Here animator Mark Andrew Webber explores this concept with a piece of animation created using nearly 300 printed hand-carved linocuts as his frames.
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