The Process and Techniques of Wood Engraving:

There are many processes of printing.  I, however, am only going to discuss two of these because the process of wood engraving combines techniques from both. 

The first process is that of woodcut.  Woodcuts are produced by carving out the design with a knife.  The tools used are like exacto-knives.  This kind of printing is called relief printing.  This is when roll ink on the block and you print what is on the surface.  For an example of a woodcut, see my print, Soaring.

The second process is that of engraving, also called Intaglio printing. For this process you use a burin, or graver.  The burin is held in the hand and pushed into the surface of the metal plate in order to incise the lines that are to be printed.  The word “Intaglio” means “cut in.”  Therefore, the black lines (e.g. the lines that will show when printed) are those that are incised into the metal.  One prints this by rolling ink into the grooves, wiping off the excess and printing on damp paper. 

Wood Engraving, the process that I use to create most of my own blocks and prints, is a combination of techniques from these two processes.  Basically, Wood engraving uses the base and printing process of woodcut with the tools of engraving (i.e. the burin).

The burin is an engraving tool with a wooden knob-like handle and a long metal shank with a V-shaped point.  When pushed across a metal plate, the burin creates a clean, V-shaped groove.  There are many different types of burins. Some are used to make small lines, some for big lines, some are for carving out big spaces, while others are used to make funky designs and shapes (although these are more what is called a graver).

When it comes to actually carving the block, wood engraving is a relief process.  That means that the lines you cut with that burin are actually the negative space, i.e. what you are taking away.  This is different from engraving in which you are adding lines to white paper.  Here you are adding white lines to a black surface.  So whatever is on the surface of the block when you’re ready to print gets printed. To get an idea of what a woodengraving looks like, see my Gallery Page.

 

Techniques:

Holding the burin:

To hold the burin, hold out your hand as if you were shooting a gun but with your first two fingers instead of just one.  This is the hand position you are basically going to stay in.  To position the burin inside that hand position, place the handle of the burin in the palm of your hand.  Pull in your pinky and ring finger to hold the handle against your palm.  Rest the tip of the shaft on the pad of your index finger and bring your thumb to rest on the side of the shaft. 

This way you can use your middle finger as a stabilizer when cutting.

 

How to cut into the block:

In order to make a cut, rest the shaft at a little less than a 45-degree angle from the block.  You then use your wrist to push the handle of the burin forward.  This will make a kind of downward motion, shortening the angle between the shaft and the surface of the block.  When the angle gets to about 10 degrees, the tip will start to move forward. 

TIP # 1:  You always cut away from you, and you move the block, not your arm.

TIP #2: The more pressure you exert, the deeper the cut will be. 

To cut a straight line without picking up the tip of the burin, the middle finger acts kind of like a caterpillar, arching and unarching itself in order to move forward.  This finger is the stabilization that keeps the tip of the burin in place while you get ready to move forward again.

 

Making a black line:

To make a line in a wood engraving you have to cut away to either side of a black line.  You do this by cutting a line on either side of your mark, then slowly working your way out around it. In the image to the right, A) draw the line on the block, B) cut a parallel line on one side, C) cut a second parallel line on the other side, D) begin widening the lines, and E) clear white space on either side of the line.

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Printing the Block:

 

Once the block is finished, you then must print it. I use a cylinder etching press because that is what I have, but you can use any little tabletop press or a bigger one. 

First you set up the block in a chase (a metal frame used to lock up images before printing) and create some method for keeping the alignment of the block to paper the same each time (this is called the registration). We used a manila folder with paper tabs to keep our sheets aligned.

 

Use a roller and ink the plate. Pay attention to the amount of ink, and keep in mind that some areas will require more ink for complete coverage.
Place a piece of paper in your registration system and roll it (or press it) through the press. Don't let the paper shift, or you will end up with ghosting.
After you remove the paper, it should be perfectly aligned and printed.

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This is, of course, only how I create my blocks.  Other artists use multiple blocks to create overlaid colors.  Some artists work on metal plates.  Others handcolor images after they have been printed.  I prefer to use unusual papers to add depth and color to my images.  As you will see in my Store, many of my prints for sale can be purchased on a number of different papers. 

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For information on the History of Wood Engraving, go to the Printing History Page.