What is a Japanese woodblock print ?
The woodblock printing technique begins with the artist who creates the image and designs the colors for the print. The image is then taken to the block carvers who create the wood blocks from which the final print is printed. Each woodblock print is the product of anywhere from one to over a hundred individual wood blocks, all individually carved. Each color and texture of the original design has to be carved onto a separate piece of wood and printed in order. For example, a simple woodblock print with three colors, green, black, and red, would require three carved wood blocks. Needless to say, each woodblock print is the culmination of the artist, publisher, and skilled carvers working together.Each color of a woodblock print must be carved as a separate block and printed one at a time. A single print may have as little as one color or more than a hundred.
