To make a woodblock, the artist carves away all areas or blocks of wood that he does not want printed, thus creating a surface that is the shape of the image desired. The resulting surface can then be textured and treated in a variety of ways to create a more complex image. By carving surfaces that are only slightly different in height, the artist can create an embossed effect. Finally, when the wood plate is complete, the artist hand inks the surface, places paper on it and runs it through a press, thus transferring the ink to the paper. The wood plate must be re-inked to make each print.

In the case of Kazumi Amano's woodblocks, no press was involved as he developed his own technique for pressing the paper into his wood plates by hand.

Go to Top