1. The Woodcuts of Georges Braque
Patterns in Print
The Woodcuts of Georges Braque

2. Georges Braque was a French painter who is known for inventing the art style called Cubism along with his friend, Pablo Picasso. Besides being a painter, Braque also worked in the medium of printmaking. His prints were lithographs, a planographic process, and woodcuts, a relief process.

3. The Woodcut Process
For the plate, a wood surface such as plywood or pine is prepared. The drawing for the design is transferred to the wood, then all the areas that are blank are carved away with knives and gouges leaving raised parts that will print.
Ink the plate thoroughly with a rubber brayer and water-soluble block printing ink.
When the plate is ready, cover it with a sheet of paper and apply pressure with a clean brayer, a rolling pin, or a baren.
Carefully peel the paper away from the plate and allow it to dry.

4. Braque created simple, bold abstract images.
Braque L'Oiseau et L'Arbre /62
Woodcut on colored textured paper

5. Some of the objects in Braque’s prints are recognizable, but they have been simplified or distorted. This is called an abstract image as opposed to a naturalistic representation.
When more than one color is planned for a design, a separate plate is needed for each color. This print needed one plate for the blue and another one for the black.

6. How many plates were needed for the print above?

7. When more than one color is used, the paper must be carefully aligned or registered with the plate before printing each successive color.