Wood Block Printing

Wood Block Printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220, and from Egypt to the [...]

Studio Visit

The School of Visual Art in Dawson (SOVA) is a new accredited art school with a terrific foundation year curriculum. Instructor Veronica Verkley (photo on the left) – a great artist in her own right – brought some of her students over to my printmaking studio the other day for some show and tell. It’s [...]

Spitsticker

Here’s another profile in the family of wood engraving tools – or cutters. Note that the sides are not straight but rather bowed like the hull of a boat. When incising a line with this tool a skilled engraver can vary the width of the line according to the depth of the cut. Some engravers [...]

Printing on an Etching Press

I don’t have one of those massive old iron printing presses that you see in some studios and campuses (wish I did), like an Albion Press for example or better still; a Vandercook proofing press. Although it would be great to own one someday, I use my etching press very well for relief printing. The [...]

Gravers

This is the first of a series of articles I’d like to post regarding the different types of cutting tools used for wood engraving starting with the graver. In cross-section this is a lozenge or diamond shape. They come in various sizes but some are sharpened on different angles relative to the length of the [...]