Production (ITAP 8)

Illustration started as early as the prehistoric times with cave paintings. As time has gone on and technology and access to materials has improved, so has illustrations. 

In the 15th Century the most popular method of producing illustrations was using woodcuts also known as xylography. The illustration are carved into the surface of a block of wood. The white spaces in the illustration are cut out of the block leaving whats left of the surface   to be covered in ink with an ink roller and transferred and pressed to paper or fabric. 

I have never attempted using woodcuts, however i have used lino instead. The process is very similar with the lino just being easier to cut into. These methods can be challenging and need a large amount of concentration, as you need to expose the correct surface. Its the opposite to drawing where you make the marks that make the illustration, whereas here you are cutting around the illustration. So it can be an easy mistake to start cutting away your illustration. Woodcuts were and still can be a helpful process of making many prints using one block cheaply. 

My experiment with Lino Printing  

In the 16th and 17th century etching became the new popular process. Similar to wood cuts, etching uses metal plates and acid to expose specific parts of the surface. Metal covered with a wax is used instead of wood. As the wax is resistant to the acid, parts of the wax is removed from the surface in the same way was wood is cut from wood cuts. The metal plate is then dipped into a bath of acid. Where the wax has been removed leaves the metal exposed to the acid for the acid to bite into the metal and leave behind a sunken part in the plate. Finally like the wood cut the metal plate is inked up and then put into an inkpress. Wood cuts are too large for this giving metal plates an advantage to produce better print quality when used with a high pressure ink press. 

Then in the 18th century saw the creation of lithography which uses stone instead of metal. The stone produces a smoother print.