Wood Engravings

Background

Wood engraving is a relief printmaking process in which an image is made by cutting into a block of end-grain hardwood, such as boxwood or maple, using gravers or burins. The development of this technique is credited to Thomas Bewick, the son of a goldsmith, who, in the late 18th century, began using jewelers' tools to produce beautifully engraved illustrations of animals and scenes of daily life in the English countryside. By the beginning of the 19th-century wood engraving had become an industry staple for reproducing artwork in books and other printed publications.

Although no longer widely used by artists and print makers today it is not hard to find remnants of this medium still lingering. The aesthetically pleasing and highly reproducible quality of images made by this medium still makes it a go-to choice for many in the world of branding and packaging design. Although now, primarily, replicated on scratchboard or in a digital format, nothing beats the look and feel of a print pulled from a hand engraved block.

Below is a look at several wood engravings that I have completed over years.