In the world of printmaking, the relief print is the most well known and commonly used form throughout the centuries. In relief printmaking, the parts of the printing surface that carry ink are raised while the remaining areas are cut away. The oldest kind of relief prints are woodcuts, where a (smooth) block of wood is used as the medium.
Woodcut does not offers very little in the way of color, so most artists have to work in black and white only. If an artist wants to add color, he/she needs a separate block for each individual color, which is much more difficult and time consuming. Such an obstacle was no problem for Utagawa Hiroshige, a Japanese printmaker who lived in the 19th century. His work Light Rain at Shono is a prime example
Woodcut does not offers very little in the way of color, so most artists have to work in black and white only. If an artist wants to add color, he/she needs a separate block for each individual color, which is much more difficult and time consuming. Such an obstacle was no problem for Utagawa Hiroshige, a Japanese printmaker who lived in the 19th century. His work Light Rain at Shono is a prime example