Tugboat Printshop: Woodblock Cuts and Prints

Tugboat Printshop is the home woodblock print studio of artists Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth. They create their prints completely by hand—art, woodblock carving, printing and all. In doing so, they hope to preserve and expand the art of woodcutting and woodblock prints. They try to keep pieces affordable but of high-quality, using only top-shelf materials. It's amazing to me how much work goes into each print and how every little detail must be precise, or the final image will flop. I'm thankful that they share their process, because, not only does it show the labor involved, but, to me, each process piece is artwork in itself, and I love seeing the prints unfold from the blocks. A number of prints include handcrafted type, which is fun to see, and all of the prints have bold lines and rich color characteristic of the genre. They show their prints and processes at their blog. Some other posts you might enjoy on our design blog:

Space & Space / Nature-0411 - On the Cutting Edge Exhibition Title Space & Space / Nature-0411 Artist Susumu Endo Year 2004 Process Offset Lithograph Size 52x38cm Crimson Flower-No 2 (1) - On the Cutting Edge Exhibition Title Crimson Flower-No 2 Artist Keisuke Akahoshi Year 2005 Process Etching/hand-coloring/gold and platinum leaf Size 61x43cm