Introduction

 

 

 

RINTMAKING is all about making an impression on paper, both figuratively and literally. Successful woodcut artists use their drawing, carving and printing skills to create images that have an enduring meaning and make a lasting mark. Making prints is both an art and a craft; it combines the art of creating original images and the craft of making them into prints.

If an image is carved on the flat side of a board, with the grain running the length of the plank, it is called a woodcut. If the image is cut into the end grain of a piece of wood, it is called a wood engraving. This distinction is important. Woodcut and wood engraving are two separate techniques, each with its own materials and tools. Both, however, are relief printing processes.

Although there are four traditional printing methods – relief, lithography, serigraphy and intaglio – this book is concerned only with relief printmaking, and in particular the making of a woodcut or wood engraving. Other materials, such as linoleum and plastics, are discussed as alternatives to wood, but the tools and techniques used on their surfaces are the same as those used on wood. The term “block” refers to the piece of material into which the image is cut. A plank block used for woodcut is called a “wood block”; an end-grain block used for wood engraving is called a “wood engraving block”; and a block made of linoleum is called a “lino block.”

To make a relief print, you must cut away the wood in the areas of the block that you do not want to see printed on the page. The raised surface that remains after the cutting process holds the ink and prints, while the lowered surface stays ink-free and does not print. To make a line that will print on paper, two parallel cuts are made in the block. When the wood is removed from these cuts, a raised line remains behind. In a drawing on paper, the black ink lines define the image, but in a woodcut or wood engraving, the excised “white” lines define the image. That is why all relief printmaking is referred to as “the art of the white line.”

Printing the block can be done by hand or with a printing press. Hand printing is the easiest way to make a print because it requires very little equipment. The block is carved, ink is rolled over the raised surface, the paper is laid down over the block, and the back of the paper is then burnished (rubbed) with a spoon or a special tool called a “baren” to transfer the image from the block to the paper.

In the Japanese woodcut tradition, the novice copied the work of the master until he had achieved a level of mastery in the craft that enabled him to express his own creative ideas. How should you begin? I recommend learning woodcut first and then moving on to the more challenging wood engraving techniques. Start by carving simple shapes and patterns into linoleum or basswood, which are both easy-to-cut surfaces. Learning to cut lines and to make patterns without attempting to create an image will help you gain confidence with the tools. Then gradually challenge yourself with more complex imagery.

Novice engravers should not only start with simple designs but with inexpensive materials. Faced with an expensive boxwood or cherry end-grain block, you may find yourself hesitant to make that first cut. It’s a bit like practising basic carpentry skills on pieces of black walnut. A better choice is an inexpensive maple block or one made of Resingrave, a synthetic substitute for end-grain wood. Learn to engrave straight and curved lines before you take the plunge and start to engrave more complex patterns and shapes.

Keep it simple at first. Relief printing is not a complex, intimidating art. If you’ve ever made a potato print or used a rubber stamp and stamp pad to make a print, you’ve had experience making relief prints. In fact, making impressions from raised surfaces is the oldest and most basic form of printing. Although no one knows who made the first relief print, the evolution of this simple technology changed the way we communicate. Being able to create exact copies of images or words made ideas accessible to a large audience.

A Short History

Some scholars trace the woodcut’s beginnings to Empress Shotoku of Japan. In the eighth century, she commissioned an edition of two Buddhist good luck poems printed from wood blocks. Others argue that the Egyptians created the earliest block prints to decorate textiles. Regardless of where it was first developed, we know that the technology for printing from wood blocks was eventually introduced to Europe from Japan in the 14th century.

Over the centuries, the European style of wood-block printmaking diverged from the Japanese style. While the Japanese printmakers continued to use water-based inks and pigments applied to the blocks with brushes, the Europeans began experimenting with oil-based inks dabbed onto the block with a stuffed leather ball. Today printmakers everywhere have rediscovered the Japanese style, while some Japanese printmakers are trying out Western techniques, resulting in a crossover of techniques and tools. This book doesn’t cover the Japanese technique in detail. If you are interested in learning more, I recommend Rebecca Salter’s book, Japanese Woodblock Printing, as a good place to start.

The invention of wood engraving is widely credited to Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), a British silversmith and engraver whose illustrations of birds and animals are often cited as masterpieces of the craft. Bewick’s apprentices spread the new technology throughout England, and it was their technical expertise that led the Victorians to expect finely detailed illustrations in their printed ephemera and books.

Thomas Bewick. The Partridge. c. 1797. 1.85"X3.15"

By the end of the 19th century, the work of the artist, engraver and printer had become separate trades. Most professional engravers in Europe engraved the ink drawings, paintings and wash or pencil sketches created by artists. An unfortunate omission from many histories of wood engraving is any mention of the significant contribution of women engravers to the trade. Women, who in the 19th century were often excluded from professional training, nevertheless engraved many of the dingbats and ornamental decorations that printers offered to their clients. By the 1870s it became commonplace to transfer images as complex as photographs to wood engraving blocks. The Pears Soap engraving on page 18 is just one example of the incredible skill of Victorian wood engravers.

Wood engraving proved to be the most workable method of printing images simultaneously with text set in lead type. But by the end of the Victorian era, wood engraving’s use as a commercial printing technique began to wane, due to innovations in plate-making technology. A revival was led by William Morris, who founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891 (see illustration,Charon’s Fee The Story of Cupid and Psyche). Inspired by medieval woodcuts, he wanted to reawaken an appreciation of woodcut and fine typography. Victorian printers had tried to hide the fact that an image had been reproduced on a wood block. It took an artist of Morris’s stature to recognize the importance of allowing the material to speak for itself, to say, “I’m a wood engraving, not an ink drawing.”

Albrecht Dürer is one of the most recognized woodcut artists of all time. His rhinoceros woodcut from 1515, reproduced on the front cover of this book, is one of the most copied images of the 20th century. Dürer’s wife sold his prints, which paid better than the small commissions he made from his paintings. The marvelous thing for me about a Dürer print is that the image was cut from a block of wood using only a knife.

Death and the Lansquenet. 1510. Woodcut; 3.25" x 4.75"

Illustration from Pear’s Shilling Cyclopaedia. 1899. Wood engraving; 4.12" x 5.75"

A good example of this type of black-line engraving would be the illustrations for Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel (see below). All of his illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s famous children's book were wood engravings. In the illustration below, John Tenniel’s monogram can be seen in the left corner and the engraver’s name can be seen just below Alice’s feet in the crosshatching.

John Tenniel. Illustration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 1869. Wood engraving; 3.5" x 2.9"

Since Morris’s time, printing technology has changed dramatically, and woodcut and wood engraving have become the exclusive domain of the artist and craftsperson. Today many types of artists are working in the medium, creating marks and techniques ranging from the inventive and the strange to the staunchly traditional. When you make your first cut into a block, you are joining a long line of artists who have embraced the possibilities of this remarkable art form.