Woodcut

Xilogravura is a technique of printing in xilogravure in which the text or image is sculpted by hand with a goiva or burin in wood. Next, the block is impregnated with ink and pressed against a support (normally paper or fabric) obtaining a replacement print. Traditionally, they have been used as the most suitable woods: buxo, pêra or cerejeira due to their hardness. Currently, synthetic materials such as wood chipboard or linoleum are also used.

It is believed that China was the origin of wood engraving. No Ocidente was used for the first time to print textiles and later paper. It was often used at the beginning of the impression, but later it had to be lost in relation to those twelve, being linked to popular materials. Sheet is still always used for artistic purposes.

There are two radically different types of wood engraving based on the characteristics of the matrix, two instruments and two final results: “fio wood engraving” and “head wood engraving”. The wood is not first extracted from the trunk by cutting the fiber and not the other by cutting the end (perpendicular to the fibers); As for the instruments to record it, in fiber wood engraving only sheets or goivas are used, and in the rest only buris are used.