Building the Trawler

The trawler was a godsend to the British fishing industry. With fish growing scarce along England’s southern coast, people had to travel farther into the English Channel for their haul. Trawlers like the one being built here, developed in the late 1800s, were sleek and powerful enough to drag big nets to catch fish, then return home quickly. In his book Colour Woodcuts (1938), Platt shared secrets for some of the effects achieved in this print. To make the ground look rough, he just barely touched the paper to the colored woodblock. To make the blue smoke at left dissipate, he smeared rice paste (or sometimes water) on the block where he wanted the color to peter out.