One of the oldest of all forms of printmaking, woodblock prints are made by carving a design into the surface of a flat piece of wood, applying ink to the remaining surface—either by a roller or a brush, and then pressing a piece of paper onto the inked surface.The piece of paper with the ink pressed into it is an original print, a piece of original art.

Color woodblock prints are made either by using a separate block for each color in the print (multi-block prints) or by using the same block for each successive color, but cutting parts of the block away after each color is printed (reduction prints).

Both of the prints on this page are reduction prints. The River in Autumn is a two block reduction, and Beehive Lake is a one block reduction. To see a demonstration of the stages of printing a two block reduction print, click the link below.

Click here to see the stages of printing
for The River in Autumn, a reduction print.