Editing Printmaking (section)

=== Woodcut ===
<div style="width:35%; float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 8px; border: 1px solid #8888aa;">Artists using this technique include
[[Albrecht Dürer]],
[[Hans Burgkmair]],
[[Ugo da Carpi]],
[[Hiroshige]],
[[Hokusai]],
[[Frans Masereel]],
[[Gustave Baumann]], 
[[Ernst Ludwig Kirchner]],
[[Eric Slater]],
[[Antonio Frasconi]]
</div>
{{main|Woodcut}}
[[File:Vallotton-Raison.gif|thumb|[[Félix Vallotton]], ''La raison probante (The Cogent Reason)'', [[woodcut]] from the series ''Intimités'', (1898)]]
[[File:Kirchner - Bildnis Otto Mueller.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Ernst Ludwig Kirchner]], ''Portrait of [[Otto Mueller|Otto Müller]]'', 1915]]

Woodcut, a type of [[relief print]], is the earliest printmaking technique. It was probably first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper.<ref name=woodcut>{{Cite web |title=Woodcut |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/drawings-and-prints/materials-and-techniques/printmaking/woodcut |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref> Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Europe, and slightly later in Japan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Printmaking as a fine art |website=Fineart.cz |url=https://www.fineart.cz/about_graphics.aspx?langId=2#:~:text=Woodcuts%20of%20images%20on%20paper,is%20transferred%20to%20the%20wood. |access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref> These are the two areas where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text. 
[[File:Some woodcutts of Stanislaw Raczynski.jpg|thumb|''Woodcuts of Stanislaw Raczynski (1903&ndash;1982)'']]
The [[artist]] either draws a design directly on a plank of [[wood]], or transfers a drawing done on paper to a plank of wood. Traditionally, the artist then handed the work to a technician, who then uses sharp carving tools to carve away the parts of the block that will not receive ink.<ref name=woodcut/> In the Western tradition, the surface of the block is then inked with the use of a [[brayer]]; however in the Japanese tradition, [[Woodblock printing in Japan|woodblocks]] were inked with a brush.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Watton|first=Jill|date=2019-04-26|title=Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Explained|url=https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2019/04/26/relief-printing-japanese-woodblock-printmaking/|access-date=2021-07-24|website=Jackson's Art Blog|language=en-GB}}</ref> Then a sheet of [[paper]], perhaps slightly damp, is placed over the block. The block is then rubbed with a [[Baren (printing tool)|baren]] or [[spoon]], or is run through a [[printing press]]. If the print is in color, separate blocks can be used for each [[color]], or a technique called reduction printing can be used.

[[Reduction printing]] is a name used to describe the process of using one block to print several layers of color on one print. Both [[woodcut]]s and [[linocut]]s can employ reduction printing. This usually involves cutting a small amount of the block away, and then printing the block many times over on different sheets before washing the block, cutting more away and printing the next color on top. This allows the previous color to show through. This process can be repeated many times over. The advantages of this process is that only one block is needed, and that different components of an intricate design will line up perfectly. The disadvantage is that once the artist moves on to the next layer, no more prints can be made.

Another variation of woodcut printmaking is the cukil technique, made famous by the [[Taring Padi]] underground community in Java, Indonesia. Taring Padi Posters usually resemble intricately printed cartoon posters embedded with political messages. Images—usually resembling a visually complex scenario—are carved unto a wooden surface called cukilan, then smothered with printer's ink before pressing it unto media such as paper or canvas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Woodcut |url=https://www3.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/drawings-and-prints/materials-and-techniques/printmaking/woodcut |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref>