Pressure Ink: Relief Process

In the relief printing process an artist will use tools to carve wood and then transfer the image that was carved onto a piece of paper. The relief printing process could be used before the days of the printing press, so it presumably was a favored method amongst artist to copy images. This method is useful today because you can use this technique with your own wood carved pieces. Those interested in wood carving would find this method useful because it gives them the opportunity to transfer their work on to paper.

1. When carving the wood an artist will use tools similar to that of a carpenter or cabinet maker and will be able to manipulate the depth of the image with different sized tools
2. The wooden block is first toned with Indian ink wash or jet black film ink 
3. After that, a carbon paper transfer is used and an artist can see the outline of his or her work on the wooden canvas
4. Next an artist decides weather to use a white line or black line technique in showcasing his work
5. Ink is then rolled over the image and prepared for printing 
6. The ink is then transferred on to a thin sheet of paper