Wood engraving is a relief printmaking
process related to wood cut. Unlike wood cuts, which are made with plank-wood
blocks and cut with knives or chisels, wood engravings are made with end-grain
blocks, often boxwood or hard maple, and cut with a variety of small specialized
tools. To make a print, ink is rolled on to the cut block and then transferred
to paper by use of a press or by rubbing the paper with the back of a spoon.
The parts of the block that have been removed will be white, while the uncut
portions will print black. The wood engraving print is unique in printmaking
in that it combines extreme detail with areas of deepest black.
I work with light in the engraving process, from block to finished print. I
think of wood engraving this way: The uncut surface of my block is black, i.e.,
a surface in total darkness. As I cut the block (remembering that the parts
cut from the block will show as white on the print) I let in the light bit by
bit. Eventually the block, clarified by the light I have let in, reveals an
image. That image, of course, is the reverse of the image I intend to produce.
To fully illuminate the image, the block is printed onto paper.