The engraving was invariably done by a second person and not by the designer.
The wood used was that of the wild cherry (Yamazakura), the timber of which
was not allowed to be exposed to sunshine, but was carefully seasoned
in the shade. Fig. 1 illustrates the most economical way of cutting
up logs into blocks; the harder portions of the wood - those nearer
the centre - being used for the key-blocks (see below), and the
softer for the colour-blocks. When possible, wood from the same tree
was used for all the blocks in each series. The outlines of the
drawing were incised with a knife-edged graver, and the superfluous
wood then hollowed out with chisels or gouges of various form, for
all practical purposes identical with those used by European
woodcarvers. The result is an intaglio block, the printing surfaces
alone remaining in relief.
The block first made from the drawing is called the key-block (Daiban) and gives, in relief, the lines only of the design. From it a number of proofs are taken, one for each colour-printing to be made. On each of these proofs the separate portion of the design covered by one colour is painted; and is then pasted on a block and cut in the manner described above. Every part of the surface of the block, however, which is not required for the one colour in use, is cut away.
To produce a colour print, therefore, a key-block is required and also a separate block for each colour in the design. For the sake of economy, colour-blocks are sometimes cut on both sides; and, for small details, two portions of the design may be cut on one side, but only one colour is printed at each operation.
In the actual cutting of the block, the old Japanese engraver adhered to an important principle - that of following the direction of the brush strokes of the original drawing, in such a manner as to reproduce the actual quality of the brush-mark. This is less apparent in the ordinary colour-prints; but in reproductions, by the same process, of paintings and drawings, the results obtained are extraordinarily faithful to the originals.
Blocks were often framed, to prevent warping, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. This device was more generally employed in the case of those especially made for book-illustration. A block that had warped could often be straightened out again by being well soaked in water and then placed under a weight.
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