Authors: Tommi Kaplas Kari Laitinen Tuula Moilanen Yrjö Tolonen Kristoffer Albrecht Raimo Silvennoinen
Publish Date: 2010/06/05
Volume: 17, Issue: 3, Pages: 252-256
Abstract
Traditional Japanese woodblock printing is a centuries old art form This timehonoured form of art is at risk of extinction as a consequence of the increasing lack of availability of wild cherry trees which are a traditionally used woodblock material Solutions for this material problem have been investigated for several years but none of the tested materials has been sufficient when compared with the watercolour print quality imprinted by wild cherry woodblocks To contribute to overcoming this material problem we have investigated the physical properties of heattreated woodblock materials made from different wood species The International Commission on Illumination CIE tristimulus values the CIELAB coordinates the total reflectance and the gloss as well as the water contact angle from the woodblock surface is observed to have a strong relation to the surface treatment of a woodblock The surface treatment of a woodblock in turn relates to its water delivery which is the basis for watercolour printing
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