BY Admin
For many early years, hand block printing was earlier used to be famous because of exclusive art created on fabric by the hands of artists itself. Today, the art is slowly and steadily getting rare but it’s not that rare to find and experience because the art is mainly practiced in Jaipur.
What else you can easily find in a spree of market or bazaars in India mainly at Rajasthan side is the block prints of different colour contrasts and elegant designs. Even when you look at the design, you’ll find no difference at all and many retailers sell fake block prints as well. So it becomes really difficult to find the original piece of this art. Reason being, the block printing process contains a large process including washing of raw fabric, colour mixing, hand stamping, drying, and more of steps to follow for a perfect outcome. Also, when it comes to Indian Dabu Prints, then not more than 20-25 meters of fabric can be printed in a day because Dabu prints involve a huge process to be followed.
If you are someone who is looking for an original Block Printing in Jaipur, then here are some of the 4 main tricks to consider while recognizing the real one –
Trick 1: A pattern which is not regular in shape and size is real block print, but is this true or not?
Let’s be practical in this situation. When you draw a leaf with the help of pen and paper, then you make the same leaf design on Photoshop. Difference in this case is quite clear but nowadays computerized prints are also made in irregular shape and size to look like a hand block. But what you need to consider for checking its authenticity is repetition of regularity and irregularity of motif designs on fabric. If the prints are computerized then you’ll find either regular or irregular motifs but in the block printing process there is no repetition of any motifs.
Trick 2: Impression and uniformity of colour says it well
Colour consistency on the fabric is not all that is the same in hand blocks. Wood blocks are stamped or hammered by putting on fabric while printing so that colour can appear on fabric completely. Sometimes you can see the light shade of colour on fabric and somewhere it is darker. In screen printing colours are flown onto the screen and thus all the motifs have uniformity in its shade of colour.
Trick 3: Hand block printed fabric can’t be printed from both the sides
Yes it’s a real fact that a fabric printed by hand blocks cannot be printed from both the sides. The reason is that in handmade processes wooden blocks are pressed harder on fabric so that the fabric can engross the colour completely and due to this the shade appears on the back side of the fabric as well. So, the back side cannot be separately printed.
Trick 4: Imperfect design is authentic and beautiful
Imperfection is always perfect. Easiest way to find the real and fake is by checking if a design is imperfect in colour, shape, or size.
Don’t worry, start exploring and you’ll love it gradually. Also, you can choose for a factory visit on a Block Printing Bagru Workshop to learn more about this art. Book your workshop tour now and witness the traditional style of printing.