A description of the craft of woodcutting & colour printing based on the japanese practice by F. Morley Fletcher with drawings and illustrations by the author and A. W. Seaby. Also collotype reproductions of various examples of printing, and an original print designed and cut by the author printed by hand on japanese taper.
| Title | Wood-Block Printing |
| Author | F. Morley Fletcher |
| Publisher | Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd |
| Year | 1916 |
| Copyright | 1916, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd |
| Amazon | Wood-Block Printing |
Meadowsweet. Collotype Reproduction Of A Woodblock Print By The Author. (Frontispiece.)
The Artistic Crafts Series Of Technical Handbooks Edited By W. R. Lethaby
Editor's Preface- In issuing these volumes of a series of Handbooks on the Artistic Crafts, it will be well to state what are our general aims. In the first place, we wish to provide trustworthy text-books of worksh...
- Author's Note
- This little book gives an account of one of the primitive crafts, in the practice of which only the simplest tools and materials are used. Their method of use may serve as a means of expression for ar...
- Wood-Block Printing. By The. Chapter I. Introductory. Introduction And Description Of The Origins Of Wood-Block Printing; Its Uses For Personal Artistic Expression, For Reproduction Of Decorative Designs, And As A Fundamental Training For Students Of Printed Decoration
- The few wood-block prints shown from time to time by the Society of Graver Printers in Colour, and the occasional appearance of a wood-block print in the Graver Section of the International Society's ...
- Chapter II. General Description Of The Operation Of Printing From A Set Of Blocks
- The early stages of any craft are more interesting when we are familiar with the final result. For this reason it is often an advantage to begin at the end. To see a few impressions taken from a se...
- Chapter III. Description Of The Materials And Tools Required For Block-Cutting
- The wood most commonly used by the Japanese for their printing-blocks is a cherry wood very similar to that grown in England. The Canadian cherry wood, which is more easily obtained than English cherr...
- 1. The Knife
- Fig. 3. - Drawing of the knife. With this knife the most important and delicate work is done. All the lines of the key-block as well as the boundaries of the colour masses are cut with it, befo...
- 2. Chisels
- These are used for removing the wood between the cut lines or colour masses, and should be ordinary carvers' chisels of the following sizes: Fig. 4. - Sizes of chisels. except those under No...
- 3. Mallet
- This is needed for driving the larger chisels. Fig. 5. - Short chisel in split handle. These are all the tools that are needed for block cutting. For keeping them in order it is well to have...
- Chapter IV. Block Cutting And The Planning Of Blocks
- The cutting of a line block needs patience and care and skill, but it is not the most difficult part of print making, nor is it so hopeless an enterprise as it seems at first to one who has not tried ...
- Cutting
- A set of blocks consists of a key-block and several colour blocks. The block that must be cut first is that which prints the line or key of the design. By means of impressions from this key-block th...
- Cutting. Part 2
- A good position for cutting a long straight line towards oneself on the block is shown below (fig. 8). The left hand is on its side, and the middle finger is hooked round and pulls the knife while the...
- Cutting. Part 3
- For all shallow cuts where the mallet is not needed, the Japanese hold the chisels as shown in fig. 11. With practice this will be found a very convenient and steady grip for the right hand. It has al...
- Cutting. Part 4
- The colour blocks are planned and established by means of impressions taken from the key-block. For this purpose the register marks are inked[2] for printing as well as the design on the block, and th...
- Errors Of Register
- However exactly the register marks may be cut in a new set of blocks, very puzzling errors occasionally arise while printing, especially if the planks are of thin wood. Some of the blocks are neces...
- Chapter V. Preparation Of Paper, Ink, Colour, And Paste For Printing. Paper
- The paper made by the Japanese from the inner bark of young shoots of the mulberry and certain other plants of similar fibre is beyond all others the best for wood-block printing. It is in itself a ve...
- Ink
- Next in importance is the preparation of the ink for printing the key-block or any black or grey parts of a design. As a rule the key-block is printed black, more or less diluted with paste; indeed th...
- Colour
- Any colour that can be obtained in a fine dry powder may be used in wood-block printing. Some artists have succeeded in using ordinary water colours sold in tubes, by mixing the colour with the rice p...
- Paste
- A paste must be used with the colour in order to hold it on to the surface of the paper and to give brilliancy. The colour, if printed without paste, would dry to powder again. The paste also preserve...
- Chapter VI. Detailed Method Of Printing
- Success in printing depends very much on care and orderliness. It is necessary to keep to a fixed arrangement of the position of everything on the work-table and to have all kept as clean as possible....
- The Baren Or Printing Pad
- As made by the Japanese, the baren is about five inches in diameter, and consists of a circular board upon which a flat coil of cord or twisted fibre is laid. This is held in place by a covering made ...
- To Re-Cover A Worn Baren With Bamboo Sheath
- Damp the new leaf in water with a brush on both sides thoroughly. Wipe dry both sides. Lay it on a flat surface and stretch wider with the fingers on the inside, keeping the leaf flat with the palm...
- Brushes
- Japanese printing brushes are sold by some artists' colour dealers, but these are not essential, nor have they any practical superiority over well-made Western brushes. Fig. 20. - Drawing Of Br...
- Printing
- To begin printing, one takes first the key-block, laying it upon a wet sheet of unsized paper, or upon wads of wet paper under each corner of the block, which will keep it quite steady on the work-tab...
- Printing From Colour-Blocks
- In printing colour the paper may be slightly damper than it should be for key-block impressions, and a heavier pressure is necessary on the baren if the colour masses are large. If the baren is presse...
- Printing Of Gradations
- Beside the printing of flat masses of colour, one of the great resources of block printing is in the power of delicate gradation in printing. The simplest way of making a gradation from strong to pale...
- Offsetting
- No care need be taken to prevent offsetting of the colour while printing. The prints may be piled on the top of each other immediately as they are lifted from the block, without fear of offsetting o...
- Drying Of Prints
- When the prints are finished they should be put to dry as soon as possible. If they are spread out and left exposed to the air they will soon dry, but in drying will cockle, and cannot then be easily ...
- Chapter VII. Principles And Main Considerations In Designing Wood-Block Prints - Their Application To Modern Colour Printing
- Until one has become quite familiar with the craft of wood-block printing it is not possible to make a satisfactory design for a print, or to understand either the full resources that are available or...
- Chapter VIII. Co-Operative Printing
- A print is shown at the end of this book (page 95) as an example of a first experiment in co-operative printing. An actual print was needed to illustrate the method of block printing, and the number r...
- Appendix
- An original print in colour, designed and cut by the author and printed by hand on Japanese paper, followed by collotype reproductions showing the separate impressions of the colour blocks used for th...
- Books Of Reference
- Tools and Materials illustrating the Japanese Method of Colour Printing. A descriptive catalogue of a collection exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Price Twopence. Victoria and Alb...
- Permanence Of Wood Block Prints
- Artists Interested In The Permanence Of Their Wood Block Prints Now Use The Cambridge Colours Only, Because (1) Only Pigments of the HIGHEST ORDER OF PERMANENCE are included in the Cambridge Palett...
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