The Making Centre

Relief Printing

Relief printmaking refers to the process of carving marks out of a surface. Ink is then applied using a roller so that the ink lies on top of the carved surface. Popular 'block’ materials include wood, silk linoleum, rubber and vinyl.

Carving

A carving tool set consists of V- and U-shaped gauges of varying depths and widths. V cutters are generally used for precise linework, where U cutters are best for carving larger areas.

Relief images can also be carved into a wood plate using laser cutting, available through The Makerspace.

Multi-colour Prints

Multi-colour prints can be achieved using three different methods:

Hand colouring – painting in sections of colour after the block has been printed.
Multi-plate – producing multiple blocks, each a different colour, which are then layered to form a single image.
Reduction – carving each colour layer out of the same block, which involves printing each layer before carving the next.

Letterpress

Letterpress features type and fonts created as individual relief letters. To print letterpress, the type is arranged in a frame or chuck, then inked with a roller in the same way as a relief block. Letterpress is best printed using a nipping or platten press.

The Printmaking Workshops feature a range of wood and lead letterpress type for students to use.