Design Resource
Pethapur Block Making
Documentation of the fine craft of Block Making
by
Types of Blocks Based on Purpose
Blocks can be classified primarily into three categories: the Rekh, the Gad, and the Dattla. Rekh blocks are the most important in that they are used to print the motifs' fine outlines. The blocks in the previous subsections of the documentation are Rekh block, characterized by their 'linelike' appearance (hence the name Rekh which means line).
The Gad Block prints the pattern and motif's background area color, leaving negative spaces for the primary design. Lastly, the Dattla Block is used as a filler block for coloring the motif's inner areas. Each color in a design is printed with a separate Dattla block, and these can number anywhere from just one to as many as six - the more the number of colors, the more the number of blocks. In terms of the printing sequence, the background is printed first with the Gad block, followed by the outlines using the Rekh block, and finally applying the fill colours with the Dattla block.
