Shandong Province
QuanBei Village
DaZhao Village
Lang Village
LiShe Village
LuLiu Village
MiaoJia Village
Xiaozhan Village
Nie Jiazhuang Village
Gaomi City
Weifang City
Cultural Heritage: Woodcut Painting in China
Chinese woodcutting is an art that has had intentions to be used as a tool for enlightenment, presently and with the many precedents of the earlier Chinese tradition. A woodcut, simply put, is an image carved into the surface of a block of wood by using knives and gouges. The image to be viewed is left level to surface for printing purposes, similar to modern rubber ink stamps. To print an image, black or different colored paint or ink may be hand painted or rolled onto the surface. The traditional Chinese painting technique involves freehand brushwork.
The creative print of the 1930s was new in content and style. It focused on the facts of everyday life, especially class contradictions, and depicted labor of those on various levels of the social scale. Designs were simple and avoided elaboration. Contrast between black and white was used clearly, and was permeated with "vigor" and "sprightly spirit".
In the production of the traditional Chinese print, the drawing, engraving, and printing were all separate processes performed by different artists. However, for many of the newer forms of Chinese woodblock print, the same artist will draw the design, cut the blocks, and print the images. An artist’s vision is all sculpted and carved into the wood, and individualized skill can be seen just by the way the artist creates different marks with his or her knife or chisel.
There are multiple methods used to print the images created. The major methods are stamping, rubbing, or the use of a printing press. There is also a traditional woodblock technique known as shuiyin, which is based on waterprinting. With stamping, fabrics are first placed on a table or flat surface. The block is then placed on top of the fabric, the image with the coloring laid against the fabric. To ensure a solid print, the back of the block is then pressed or hammered down. On the other hand, to create a print with the rubbing method, the block is placed face up on a table. The paper or fabric is then placed on top of the block, and the back of the paper is rubbed, usually with a flat piece of wood, a hard pad, a burnisher, or a tool known as a baren.
