What is relief printing?

Relief printing is a printmaking technique where the image to be printed is raised above the surface of the printing plate. The artist carves or cuts away areas of a block (often wood or linoleum) so that only the raised parts remain, which hold ink. When pressed onto paper, the inked raised surfaces transfer the image, creating a print. This method is one of the oldest forms of printmaking and includes techniques like woodcut and linocut.