Chapter 5
Basic Principles and Chemical Action of PlywoodgraphIn plywoodgraphy, a plywood board is used instead of stone or aluminum for printing plate. The technique has characteristics of planographic printing and relief printing as follows:
- The process is composed by drawing and cutting.
- Cutting is embossed on paper.
- Plywood board leaves an impression of the grain on the prints.
- It enables creating new textures on the plywood board by using mixed gesso and talc.
- It allows for creation of polychromatic prints using oil ink and watercolors together with one plate.
- Lacquer or silicone is used for making plates, similar to aluminum lithography.
- It also makes it possible to create waterless plywoodgraphs by using the waterless lithographic process.
However, there is no way to make the action on the printing plate for redrawing at the present time: my research is mainly focused on this point.
Of significance, the solution of chrome alum does not act on the wood plate for redrawing. A solution to this problem remains open to research. I would like to focus on this area - Restoring plate after acid solution treatment in plywoodgraphy: Research of common food containing enzyme for decomposing gelatin of wood-filling and Gum Arabic.
About the version of the plywood printing plate, I will describe the following process and my practices based on the theories of lithography as mentioned the preceding paragraph.