The saying “it takes a village” applies to the ukiyo-e printmaking process. Bringing an image to life involved artists and their studios, publishers, carvers, and printers. The image at left depicts some of the steps required to make a print.
Publishing prints involved a lot of people and steps. A publisher or a commissioner would approach an artist with a theme. Then the artist would submit a drawing to a publisher for acceptance. In general, drawings would be in red ink and changes were made in black ink. Since paper was valuable, artists used any paper available.
Once a publisher accepted the design, in the form of a sketch, the artist would create a more detailed drawing. It could include instructions for colors and clothing patterns. This line drawing was the last “original” work by the artist. It was then copied and further detailed by a student, and this final drawing was used for the black keyblock—and then destroyed when the carver pasted it on the block and carved the design.
The carver, following the artist’s instructions, carved a different block for each color, making sure they aligned as much as possible. The blocks were owned by the publisher, who had them delivered to a printer. If a design sold well, the publisher would order more impressions from the printer. In the printing process, the woodblocks would wear down, such that later impressions did not look as crisp as the first ones.