Background

The limitations of the first printing techniques required illustrators of the past to work within the constraints of relief printmaking methods. Initially, such methods consisted of artisans painstakingly cutting around the lines of a provided pen drawing as they prepared a printing block for the press—that is to say, tediously reproducing the techniques of pen and ink with a graver and wood. But soon wood engravers would develop techniques characteristic of their own medium. This new method of engraving gave prominence to “the white line” or the negative space cut away by the graver and allowed for wider and more accurate representations of value and texture.

Today, these illustration techniques remain incredibly effective in both print and digital media due to the high level of contrast they afford—not to mention the beautiful effect produced by hundreds of meticulously scrutinized over lines.

This collection of work was produced using a combination of pens and scrapers on paper and scratchboard.

Left: wood engraving tool.
Right: scratchboard tool