Relief Printmaking

A relief print is one where the image is printed from a design raised on the surface of a block. The plate is made by cutting away those areas of the block which you do not want to appear in the design, and rolling ink onto the top surface. In this type of print the ink lies on the top of the block and is transferred to the paper under light pressure. Most popular examples of this style of printmaking are woodcut and linocut but collagraphs can also be printed as relief plates. Relief printing presses typically have a bed on which the block is placed face up, a dry sheet of paper placed on top and an upper surface is brought down to press the paper onto the block.