The colour-woodcut (reduction-technique):

The woodcut is a graphic technique by which a drawing is cut out of a wooden plate. When inking the plate with an ink-roller the ink covers the wood-plate except for the cut-out parts.

For a Japanese woodcut one uses a different block of wood for each colour.   Dijkstra works in slightly different method called reduction-cuts. In this process, the entire image is created from one block of wood, and the number of prints to be created must be decided before the process begins.

First the drawing of the entire image is put on one plate of birch-plywood, then the artist rolls on the brightest ink-colour and prints it on paper. Inking and printing are repeated until the desired number of prints are being achieved. After this the artist make the plate ink-free so that the underlaying drawing emerges again. Then all parts of the image to retain the first color is cut away . Next a darker colour of ink is applied to begin forming the image, and the printing process is repeated for the second printing-process. Cutting, applying ink and printing are repeated with colours becoming darker and darker and after that with brighter colours a couple of times. Dijkstra's prints are thus built up from as many as 15 phases of cutting away from the board and printing each separate color. Each printing-process is a definitive step. You can't turn back. At the end of the process, not much remains of the plate. In producing a detailed woodcut the cutting performs an essential part.

Dijkstra prints his works on a very thin Japanese (washi) paper.