How prints are made
The Process
The process of traditional woodblock printing, modern variations are not covered here, is accomplished through the work of: the artist who draws the prints and decides on the colour scheme for each one, the publisher who commissions the work, the carver who cuts the prints out of either cherry or pear wood (or similar) and the printer who finally produces the print. The process starts with a black ink block and follows through with successive colour blocks which ultimately produces a finished print.
The ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period produced a preparatory drawing, the shita-e, in accordance with the publisher who commissioned the work. The drawings could vary widely in their detail and completeness. The artist would often only suggest the figures and background, whose details were completed by advanced students of professional copyists called hikko. This was not always the case and sometimes the artist would himself produce a drawing to a high degree of finish. It was then submitted to the censor who was either a representative of a wholesale dealer, or in later times a government official. On approval the final drawing was then traced by placing a thin sheet of strong minogami paper and the outlines of the drawing were then traced in black ink. This final block copy, exactly the same size as the finished print to be completed, is called the hanshita-e ('block design' or 'block sketch').
After being given to the block carver the hanshita-e was pasted face down on a dried block of straight grained cherry wood, sakura. This wood is of moderate hardness and weight, fine textured and straight grained - almost ideal for high relief intricate designs that were to be carved on it. The blocks were relatively stable when worked under moist conditions as when taking the wet pigments or printing onto moistened paper. Especially in the earlier impressions the wood grain was sometimes visible. Eventually through wear the natural pattern of the wood was smoothed down. Key blocks were hard and close-grained and were planed to be very smooth. Colour blocks could be softer and not so close-grained and were sometimes selected for their rippling patterns to give texture in the large, flat colour areas. Sometimes the grain was even accentuated to 'bring up' the grain by applying rough paper to the surface. The prepared block was then carefully carved, following the details of the pasted down hanshita-e, so that the lines of the drawing were left in high relief. Complicated areas were carved with small knives, while the large areas to be left blank were hollowed out with round or square chisels. The final design block is called the key block.
At the printers the impressions from the key block were then achieved by rubbing the back of a slightly moistened paper over a painted block with a round shaped pad called a baren. The baren pressing pad is made up of a core of cord arranged in a tight spiral, placed on a backing disk made of hosokawa paper, tissue and black laquer and then wrapped in tightly wound and twisted fibres of bamboo sheet. Baren of different thicknesses are used to achieve variable pressures during printing. The printer would throw his weight onto this pad using a zig-zag or circular motion. Ten or more impressions, roughly the same number of colours to be used in the finished print, were made. The proofs were delivered to the artist who indicated on them the colours for which the various colour blocks were to be carved. One proof was used for each colour and the artists marked in red the areas that were to carry that particular colour.
Having received the proof sheets the colour block carvers pasted each on a separate block and carved out all but the areas indicated for the individual colours. On the ink block all the outlines were raised but now only the individual colour areas remained in relief. To assure an accurate register on the same piece of paper guide marks, called kento, were carved in relief on the key block and all subsequent colour blocks. The kento is comprised of a right angled mark (kagi) in the lower right hand corner and, to the left of it, a straight mark (hikitsuke) in line with its lower arm. This ensured synchronisation of each colour in the print. A carver was required to serve an apprenticeship of about ten years under a single master before he was considered to have mastered his craft. The master, for his part, customarily distributed the work among his apprentices according the their respective levels of skill, and therefore benefited from the division of labour.
After leaving the carvers the ink block and colour blocks were handed to the printer, who had prepared the sheets of printing paper by sizing them with a mixture called dosa and then moistening them. The printing stand was covered with a wet cloth to prevent the blocks from sliding. First, the ink block was placed on the stand and painted with black ink. Next a sheet of printing paper was placed on the block in careful alignment with the guide marks. The printer then pressed the paper down and rubbed it with the baren pad. After the ink impression had been made the ink block was removed from the stand and the colour blocks were employed in succession to produce the first complete print. This print, the specimen proof, was made exactly according to the artist's specific instructions. Once it had been approved production went ahead in earnest. The number of impressions is broadly varied according to the style and success of the print. An edition of 200-300 would take approximately two weeks to complete. Lower standards such as less colours and less care could reduce this time drastically.
The paper mainly used was a variety called hosho and was made from the bark fibres of the Mulberry tree. Its soft texture allowed good penetration by the pigment and yet was strong enough to resist the rubbing of the baren. The handmade paper had visible lines, called 'chain lines' or 'laid lines' in the West, which were parallel bands slightly thinner than the rest of the paper. They were the result of the traditional Japanese paper making process in which bamboo mesh or screen was used to capture the wet paper fibres while draining off the excess liquid. The structure of the screen imparted the lines into the papers. Sometimes, as the paper aged, weaknesses along these lines emerged. Traditional papers varied in texture due to differences in preparing the pulp and applying the sizing called dosa, which was a mixture of animal glue (sanzembon) and alum (myoban). Papers were typically sized to varying degrees on both sides to prevent excessive absorption of the pigments and sticking of the paper to the wood blocks during priming. On occasion some papers were minimally sized (or not sized at all) to allow for greater absorbency. More sizing meant stiffer, less absorbent paper (more characteristic of modern papers). Still, there was a relatively standard quality for the less expensive, less absorbent commercial papers (generally called koz0) that can be contrasted with the fairly standardised, high quality, more expensive, more absorbent, and thicker special occasion papers used for surimono (special edition, privately issued prints).
Nearly all printmaking colourants were applied with a brush directly to the colour blocks, and then a small quantity of a binding agent made from a water dispersible rice flour paste, himenori, was mixed with the pigment already on the block to thicken the pigment and facilitate control and rubbing into the paper. The paste also improved the uniformity of colour and avoided a granular texture upon drying. The dampened paper was then placed in the block while aligning with registration marks carved into the blocks. The colours were then rubbed with the baren against the back of the paper and thus the design taken was taken up on the paper's front surface as the colourants and binder were absorbed.
A clear distinction was made between colour printers and ink printers, and the production of polychrome prints was, of course, the business of colour printers. The master printer, like the master carver, divided the labour among his subordinates according to their various abilities. It is interesting to note that during the Edo period the artist would never furnish the printers with a proof that he himself had coloured, regardless of how complex the colour requirements might be.