What is Relief Printing?

 By Jim Hingst 

I assumed that everyone in the graphics arts market knew what relief printing was. You know what they say about assuming. I discovered that many of my friends were unfamiliar with the term.

Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer - Coat of Arms of the House of Dürer. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, PD-1923.)

While you may never have heard of relief printing, I am sure that at some point in your life, you have engaged to some extent in this form of this visual expression. If you can remember your kindergarten years, you might recall putting your paws into paint and then transferring the impression onto a piece of paper. That’s a type of relief printing. So is inking a rubber stamp on an ink pad and making an impression on some stationery. In fact, this type of printing has been around since some Neanderthal left prints of his hands on a cave wall.

More sophisticated forms of relief printing involve carving a design in a flat substrate called a printing block, which is made of solid wood, plywood, medium density overlay (MDO) or linoleum. The raised portion of the printing block that was not carved away is coated with ink using a brayer or roller. Over the inked block a piece of paper or fabric is positioned and then burnished, transferring the image.

Created by Japanese artist Hokusai c. 1830, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is an example of  multicolor woodblock printing. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, PD-1923.)

In Japan and China, artists were carving woodblocks and making prints as far back as the 8th century. Europeans were making woodcuts by at least the 15th century. The really high tech form of relief printing came about when  JohannesGutenberg invented the letterpress with movable type. Not much has changed since then.

The Abbot. Woodcut  by Hans Holbein the Younger from the series known as The Dance of Death. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, PD-1923.)

Today, in the automated world of wide format digital printing, relief printing is admittedly primitive. While the technology of woodcuts and linocuts has not advanced greatly in the last 500 years, this form of printing is still popular among hobbyists and practiced by serious artists. 

In the field of fine art some of history’s greatest artists have used this printing method, including Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin. Whether used for commercial applications, home crafting or fine art, relief printing continues to fascinate the public.


Link to a video about the Bigelow collection of Hokusai woodblocks 

RELATED ARTICLES
What are Ukiyo-e Prints?
How Japanese Printmaking Influenced Western Art
The Evolution of Color in Japanese Woodblock Printing

How do Woodblocks, Woodcuts and Wood Engravings Differ?

The Division of Labor in Ancient Japanese Print Production

The Shin-hanga and Sōsaku-hanga Art Movements

Checklist for Relief Printing with Oil Based Ink
Japanese Carving Tools for Woodblock Relief Printing
Japanese Carving Knives for Woodblock Printing
Safely Carving Woodblocks, Woodcuts and Linocuts
Linocut Tips
Japanese Papers for Printmaking
How Japanese Mulberry Paper is Made
How Handmade Papers in the West are Made
Selecting a Brayer for Relief Printing
Selecting Wood for Relief Printing
Selecting an Ink for Relief Printing
Inking the Woodblock Panel
Clean Up After Relief Printing

About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 485 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

Slides of Jim's Artwork

© 2017 Jim Hingst