Japanese prints are, till this day, made from etched wood blocks.

The technique used to produce Japanese prints can be called "wood engraving" or "woodcut printing".

The original four-step process:

The realization of Japanese woodblock prints calls for the union of four different craftsmen / artists:

#1. That of the designer: during the period of old fashioned engraving, the designer would draw a dark outline on white paper so as to give an indication of the ultimate picture to the color printer.

In the twentieth century, the designer usually paints a watercolor image. Then he hands this to the engraver and printer. It is usually the name of the designer that history of art takes note of (eg. Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige and so on, they were all designers of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints).

#2. That of the carver: he carves, sculpts rather, blocks of wood, each and every block for a unique color to be used in the final printing process.

#3. That of the printer: he paints the colors on the blocks and then presses each block successively on to the unique Japanese paper. He creates the various color gradients, which were especially virtuosic in the "Shin-hanga" posters. These gradients are referred to as "Bokashi" in Japanese.

#4. The publisher: this is the "boss". He discovers the talents needed to produce these artworks; the designers, engravers, and printers. He then puts them under contract and coordinates them in an effort to generate the engraved work. The publisher's identify is known to us only when the works are pieces of great cartoonists (eg. Tsutaya, publisher of Utamaro).

Presently, the methods of creating a hand made print remains as described above. Yet the twentieth century saw the creation of a new method, where the artist / designer creates his own prints. This technique is now called the "Sosaku-Hanga" (Creative Engraving).

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