Wood Engraving

Wood Engraving is a very old form of relief printmaking where the wood that is cut away leaves a white mark, when the block is printed,  and the wood that is left untouched prints as an area of black. Fine tools called gravers are used to cut the design into the smooth surface of an endgrain woodblock. Boxwood has always been a popular choice, especially if very detailed marks are to be engraved.

When the design has been engraved, the block is printed by hand burnishing or in a printing press. I use Albion handpresses made in 1865 and 1902 to print the editions of my engravings.