Emma Risher Printmaking Blog

Thea Risher

Relief Printing

April 17, 2017

Printmaking is a very important skill. It has been used for generations, and the art that can be made from prints has no limits. You can essentially make any design that you choose, and replicate it as many times as needed. This is a feature that no other art form has in the same way. Today, I researched relief printing, how it has revolutionized printmaking everywhere, and how it is still an impressive art form today.

Relief printing is a method of printing in which you print from raised images. In this process, a protruding design is created on a surface. It is then covered with ink, and firmly pressed upon a paper to create the desired image. It is a very unique type of printing. It contrasts directly with Intaglio printing, which is where the the image is carved into a surface, and is indented. Some elements of relief printing has inspired other kinds of printing, such as viscosity. It is different from all different types, including lithography, viscosity, and many other kinds of printing. It is distinguished by the fact that the image is on a raised surface, and that is not present in any other methods of printmaking.

The invention of Relief printing is still very controversial and there seem to be more than one origin. It was believed that relief printing was first found in Egypt in 500 BC. It was made by the Egyptians. Their original method was different than the relief printing that we see today. It was made by using a knife and wood, and using ink and pressing the print onto fabric. It was also found very early on in China. In China they carved stone and used it for chinese scholars to read scriptures. They were also used to make seals for letters. It can’t be determined where it originated first, but it is thought that these two different variations of relief printing were created separately but in the same time period. They could have had similar ideas and therefore two possible origin periods.

The history of relief printing has been going on for centuries. Relief printing slowly made its way through the middle east in 100-1300. It began to start in India. They started to use relief printing to mass produce books and famous paintings. In 1300, it was brought back to europe by crusaders and they adopted the method of printing as well. In Germany, a man named Gutemberg created the first printing machine. It spread and relief printing made art easier for everyone. Over time, the art of relief printing has been changed and adapted to different cultures and styles, but it has remained strong through it all. It is now a major part of the art industry.

Relief printing was revolutionary in art because there had never been anything like it before. It was the first printing that could allow mass production of any single work of art. It was also revolutionary because it had many different uses that went far beyond art just for pleasure. Finally, it was revolutionary because it remains a major art form today and never died out and is still making history.