To print cotton fabric with hand block method in direct
style, discharge and resist style printing.
Theory : The first textile-printing
technique (making impressions) was that using blocks with raised printing
surfaces, which were inked and then pressed on to the fabric. By repetition, the image from a single
block builds up into a complete design over the fabric area. Some early blocks
were made of clay or terracotta, others of carved wood. Wooden blocks carrying
design motifs were found in tombs near the ancient town in Upper Egypt. A
combination of block printing and painting (usually described as penciling) was
used for some time. The biggest problem was that of achieving bright and fast
colours. Madder (madder is a fast, rich red colour natural dye stuff obtained
from the root of a herb) was the most important dye that was able to satisfy
the
need.
Block making: The
typical hand block print had no large, uniform areas of colour but was skillfully
built up from many small coloured areas, because wooden surfaces largerthan
about 10 mm in width would not give an even print. This had the advantage that a
motif such as a flower would have an effect of light shade obtained from three
or four blocks, each printing a different depth of the same colour or shade. A
fairly hard wood was required, such as pear wood, and four or five layers were
usually glued together with the grain running in different directions. The
design was traced on to the surface and a fine chisel used to cut away the
nonprinting areas
to a depth of perhaps 1 cm. To obtain
more detail from some blocks, strips and pins of copper or brass (more usually)
were hammered into the wood.
Different techniques of hand block
printing:
Discharge printing: In
this technique before the printing is carried out first the fabric is dyed to desired
colour, then the dye is to be removed at selected places by chlorine or other colour
destroying chemicals (which yields a white pattern on a coloured ground) from the
part of the fabric where the design is to be printed. Coloured patterns on a
dyed ground are possible in this method by adding to the bleaching paste a dye
not affected by the bleaching agent used, so that another colour is substituted
for white on the dyed ground.
Direct block printing:
The
fabric is first bleached and then dyed with desired colour. After that the hand
block printing is done with carved wooden blocks in borders and in the inside
of the
fabric.
Resist printing: In
resist printing the design desired, is printed on the fabric with a material (Wax
or resin) which will resist dyeing. The fabric is then dyed with desired
colour. Washing after dyeing removes the resist material in which
design is printed leaving a white pattern like the following print effect
is achieved on the fabric.
