3 minute read
THE WHITE LINE PROCESS
Pioneers of the PROVINCETOWN PRINT
By | Bill Evaul
Impressions from carved woodblocks have been made by humans for over five thousand years, first into wet clay, then with inks on wood, fabric or skins. It took about three thousand years of this activity before the invention of paper around 101 AD. But it wasn’t until the late 14th century that images from printing became appreciated for their artistic value alone. Once artists were freed to use the medium to express their own voice, instead of printing to serve religious or business purposes, the discoveries and technical developments flowed.
From that perspective it’s been a mad rush ever since. With advancements in chemistry and mechanics and the development of better materials and techniques, it might seem a bit retrograde to look for discoveries in woodcut, the most primitive and low tech of all. Nevertheless, in 1915, a Swedish American artist, Bror Julius Olsen Nordfeldt, made a unique contribution by devising a method of producing full color-palette prints from a single carved block. They first became know as the “Provincetown Print.” More generically they are referred to as white-line prints or white-line woodcuts.
The making of a Provincetown Print is deceptively simple. In actuality, it can be quite tedious and take longer to make a print than it would to make a painting. Typically, one starts with a line drawing of the desired image and transfers that to a block of wood using tracing paper and carbon paper. Then the lines are carved, making “V” grooves with a sharp knife blade or a gouge.
Once the block is carved, a sheet of absorbent paper, usually Japanese "rice" paper, is pinned directly to the block, creating a hinge whereby the paper can be lifted and laid in the exact same place for perfect registration.
Watercolor paint is then applied with a brush, one section at a time. While the paint is still wet, the paper is laid and rubbed from the back with a “baren” (Japanese rubbing tool), a silver or wooden spoon like the early printers or any appropriate tool. Even just hand pressure can be applied. The process is repeated many times until the image is complete.
Utilizing only white-line carving, a unique, full color impression is created. Subsequent prints could repeat the same color scheme with the variations reflecting the hand application, but also completely different color palettes could be employed to create other unique prints.
This is the general methodology of the early printers, but there are numerous variations and techniques that can be used. Whatever one chooses, the basic characteristics of a white-line color woodcut remain the same– the use of a single block of wood, carved in a linear pattern and printed by hand using unlimited color applied with a brush.
