1. Printing is a process text and images, usually with ink on paper using a printing press but it can also be done on textiles and other materials. The
first printing was done on cloth in China during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and was done in so called woodblock printing.
Paper was used for printing for the first time in 7th century.
Wooden movable type appeared in China by the 11th century and metal movable type in 12th century.
The two main printing techniques in Asia were woodblock printing (so called xylography) and printing with movable type. With woodblock
printing, text or image would be carved into a block of wood in negative (in mirror) and covered in ink. This block would be pressed onto paper
and left a correct image. Printing with movable type was done by assembling the board with different letter types which could be changed for
every different text.
Process of printing with woodblock went like this: Professional calligrapher would write a text on the slightly waxed sheets of paper. This paper
would be placed face down on a wooden block that had a thin layer of rice paste. Paper would then be rubbed with a flat palm-fiber brush and
the trace of ink would be left on the wood. Characters would be cut by the engraver who would cut out all the space around them with sharp-
edged tools. When all cutting is done, board was placed on the horizontal table, fixed and inked with a round horsehair inking brush. Printing was
done by lying of the paper on the inked surface of the block of wood and rubbing it with a long narrow pad. Paper is then taken off and left to dry.
This process only allowed for one side printing.
The first movable type was, again, invented in China in the 11th century and was made made of ceramics. Each character was one piece and text
was arranged in an iron frame that was set on an iron plate. Characters were arranged until the frame was full and then were placed near the fire
until they were warm. After that all set would be pressed with a board until they were leveled. Each character would exist in many copies to allow
for repetitions. At the same time, bronze movable type was used for printing money while wooden movable type was used for printing books.
Wooden movable type, which appeared for the first time in Western Xia period (1038–1227), was more durable during excessive printing,
repeated printing wore the character faces down and new character pieces needed to be carved. Wood printing existed in Europe since 1300 and
was used for printing on cloth. Johannes Gutenberg, of the German city of Mainz, developed European movable type printing technology around
1439. While movable type was much quicker than wood carving in Europe, in Asia turned out slower because of problems with handling the
several thousand logographs that were needed to make a text. But that didn’t lessen the importance of the printing and its influence on the
culture of the world.
2. Introduction
Block printing refers to the printing technique of pressing and stamping fabric with carved wooden blocks filled with
color. “Hand blocked” or “hand block printing” are other terms that refer to block printing.
There are so many steps involved, from carving each wooden block to preparing fabric, mixing dyes, and applying final touches.
Each block printing technique requires artistry, skill, and patience. It is the sum of these tasks that produces our gorgeous block
printed fabrics.
History
Block printing has a long history that spans thousands of years. Originating in East Asia, the technique existed in China as early as
the 2nd century CE; one of the earliest surviving woodblock printings was done before 220 CE. Images and text were cut into
blocks of wood and printed on silk cloth. Eventually, the printing made its way to paper, and by 600 CE the approach was used to
display religious texts, calendars, calligraphy, and more.
Early prints were stamped in one color beginning with black ink. Vermillion followed next, and the addition of this second color
was a big deal because, for every new hue introduced, a second carved block had to be produced and match up perfectly with
the other color. The Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) was the peak of woodblock printing; the imagery produced during this time
comprised many different subject matter, from the opera to folklore to Chinese New Year. Starting in the 19th century the
technique was in decline as other forms of printing became in vogue.
Block printing is thought to have its origins in China over 4,000 years ago, before disseminating throughout Asia and the world.
The earliest record of block printing, though, isn’t on fabric but on a book known as the Diamond Sutra, which was printed 300
years before the Gutenberg Bible. The story of India’s journey to becoming the epicenter of block printing, though, is
complicated.
3. The dye is then applied using one of three methods. The direct method is the simplest: Dip a block into a dye, and then
stamp it onto the fabric. Discharge printing is used to create a white pattern on a colorful background. Printers place a
simple bleaching agent on the wooden blocks and stamp them to achieve this. Resist printing happens in reverse. The
wooden blocks are dipped in a waxy paste and stamped to create a pattern before the entire piece is dyed the final
color. Once it is dried, the paste is removed, and the untouched pattern remains.
The post-Mughal era saw increasing consolidation of power amongst Europeans in India, culminating in the British Raj,
which ruled until 1947. The rise of European industrialization meant that Britain began exporting their textiles to India,
forcing domestic weavers and printers to shut down and people to buy cheap imitations of their once iconic textiles.
British desire for complete control often turned violent: “They literally cut off the fingers of many weavers in India,” says
Gopinath. It also threatened to crush the once flourishing industry.
A 2015 exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, entitled “The Fabric of India: Textiles in a Changing World,”
chronicled the state of Indian textiles during the British Raj. The craft became akin to a political statement, according to
the museum. Mohandas Gandhi even encouraged people to weave their textiles and don a khadi, a traditional garment
that soon became the symbol of Indian nationalists.
After the Raj ended, the textile industry took on a new life. Writer and activist Pupul Jayakar traveled to New York to attend an
exhibition opening at the Museum of Modern Art on Indian textiles in 1955, where she met Charles Eames. The two struck up a
friendship. Shortly thereafter, Eames and his wife Ray toured India and presented the newly formed government with a
document called The India Report, which examined the ways in which India could sustain and improve their traditional craft
industries. The resulting National Institute of Design was founded in 1961 and today is considered the preeminent authority on
Indian crafts, working tirelessly to protect and proliferate the art form.
In the 60 years since the formation of the NID, design lovers have fostered renewed interests in block-printed textiles. While their
global popularity was cemented during the Mughal period, Indian textiles have experienced something of a rebirth abroad, with
reverberations felt in India. “So many younger men are getting into the printing business,” says Shreya Shah, the founder of
4. This celebration of handicrafts and exuberant patterns fit right in with the maximalism that has come and gone (and
come again) over the last 60 years. Chintz and block print is a classic combination. As the National Institute of Design
rose to prowess, more Westerns found their way to the printers of Jaipur or Ahmedabad. John Robshaw, noted textile
designer and block print lover, was among them as he spent time at the NID. “These textiles are the same as art to
me,” says Robshaw. “It’s art that you are living with and using.”
Art is what these textiles should be considered, says Gopinath. “When I think of block print, a few things come to my
mind: the exquisite design, color, composition, and the hand and heart of a craftsperson.” For Shah, it’s much the
same. “As Indians, we know how much beauty we live around,” she says, “and I want the world to know it too.”
History Of Block Printing
As this art has a history starting from India, China, and Japan so many artisan communities in these countries practice this art
even today, and
each one of them has their particular way of doing this. Let us take a tour to Jaipur and learn this art majorly from this city of
Rajasthan.
As with most ancient practices, every process in this hand block printing is done with the help of a cloth and is labor-intensive
and
time-consuming. In the traditional method, cotton is torn by hand and scoured with soda ash before being washed and thrashed
repeatedly to
remove natural oils and scratches. Then it is treated with cow dung and castor oil to bleach it. Finally, a myrobalan nut bath
introduces tannins
that give the cloth a pale yellow color. All these steps need time to complete approximately two weeks, so a lot of effort is
involved in this
traditional practice.
In India, we have such communities in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh that follow the same traditional centuries-old
method of block
5. After mixing and testing the dyes, it’s time to prepare the dye pad. A dye pad consists of a rectangular wooden tray fitted with a
metal frame
wound with yards of nylon rope. (The taut rope mesh supplies a spring effect during printing.) Several layers of coarse sacking
material pile on
top of the rope mesh. The final layers are pieces of finer fabrics like silk, chiffon, or voile. The choice of the final layer depends on
the dye
saturation required for printing.
Next, we pour dye into the pads and even out the surface of the dye pad with a wedge of wood. At this point, we distribute the
woodblocks
color-wise among carts and organize them in the order of printing.
The block printing technique
Placement plays an important role when it comes to block printing techniques on fabric Printing follows an outside-in
orientation: the border is
printed before the main design. Before using any of the color blocks, artisans print the outline of the design. The block printer
dips the outline
block into the dye pad and moves down the length of the table. He carefully places the block onto the fabric and then strikes it
with the heel of
his hand.
The block carver chisels registration points on the outline block, which help with aligning the remaining blocks. The printer’s
hands are his only
tools here—he doesn’t use any other rulers!
6. •
If dyeing is required, it is done before printing.
The fabric is stretched over the printing table andfastened with small pins.
•
The printing starts from left to right.
•
When the block is applied to the fabric, it isslammed hard with the fist on the back of thehandle so that a good impression may
register.
The color is evened out in the tray with a wedge of woodand the block dipped into the outline color.
•
types of dyes: pigment dyes and rapid fast dyes (rapid dyesonce prepared for printing have to be utilized on that dayonly).
•
After printing, the garment is dried in the sun.(steaming isdone for both silk and cotton fabric).
7. Wood block preparation
Carved blocks absorb moisture during the printing process, and it’s critical that the wood doesn’t warp. To prevent warping, the
blocks stand in
trays of mustard oil for a few days. They drain over wads of fabric for several days more cure.
Block carvers then drill tiny holes into areas intended for application of flat color. Stuffing cotton into these holes at the time of
printing ensures
even color application.
To block print a design, artisans fill each element one block and one color at a time. They also use separate sets of blocks to
create the fabric
borders. Just like the main design, a border design might require multiple sets of carved wood blocks.
Creating colors for woodblock printing
Part of the woodblock printing process includes making determinations about the best dyeing technique for the design at hand.
Some warrant
easy-to-mix pigment dyes while others require the luminous colors achieved by vegetable dyes. Other designs need the color
fastness
guaranteed by rapid indigo sol and discharge dyes.
8. to an oil bath in order to prevent pigments from permeating deep. Two to three weeks into the bath, a block is ready for printing.
Each block has to be pressed firmly onto the cloth so that the print can take effect at one go. Multiple impressions of the same
dye are avoided to ensure consistent impressions.
But before a fabric can be printed, it’s cleaned and bleached to remove impurities and ensure that it takes the dye evenly. In
traditional facilities, use of camel dung, soda ash, and castor oil is still prevalent for treating the fabric, the process repeated
multiple times until the desired state of the cloth is reached.
A dye fixative or a mordant is used to capture the dye on to the fabric. The mordant, natural or chemical, laches with the dye and
fixes the color firmly. The way it works is that only the areas that have been treated with the mordant take the pigment.
Another technique of fixing the dye is to use resist printing, most popularly referred to as Dabu. Here, a resist (such as a mud
paste) is block printed to the areas designated to remain undyed. After imprinting the resists, the fabric is immersed in a pigment
vat until it takes the color of choice. The fabric is then left out in the sun to dry and for the printed colors to take firmly to the
cloth.
