The Relief and Intaglio Printmaking Process

Describe the Relief Printmaking process. List an artist who uses the form of printmaking. Refer to this video for more information. The Relief Printmaking process is a printmaking process in which someone covers a block of material, such as wood, in ink. Then they proceed to deeply etch out the inked surface in the form of a design. Once that is done, they lay paper over the block with pressure so that the ink is shared generously all over the paper. When the paper is removed, the design will have been transferred and they will have the finished artwork. Using a block of wood is known as Woodcut Relief Printmaking, or “Woodcuts”. There are also Wood Engravings, where a stronger type of wood is used so an artist can engrave an image into the surface rather than cut it out. In my opinion, the second step of the process could be left to remain as the art itself. In the video showing the process as Lyell Castonguay created his piece, “Hydra”, I thought the design in the ink coated wood looked more bold and real than the actually piece. But this may only be for the reason that the finished product lacked color in comparison. Of course, Lyell isn’t the only artist who uses this printmaking process. Another artist who uses Relief Printmaking is Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai used the same process to create his color woodcut piece called “South Wind, Clear Sky”, a portrayal of Mount Fuji. Describe the Intaglio Printmaking process. List an artist who uses this form of printmaking.