Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Minimal Carving, Minimal Tools

Damascus steel marking knife and partially carved white-line block 

White-line woodcuts have a giant advantage over other types of relief printmaking - There is very little carving. 

Only the outlines around your shapes are removed. That means that you only need one knife. Yours could be very fancy - like the one I had made for me by New Hampshire Bladesmith, Zack Jonas - or you could get a less expensive Japanese Sho To, or use a utility knife. The point is, you don't need an array of gouges and chisels.

And the carving is very easy. Compare the small lines carved out of the block above to the retired block from the print Upright Wave:

 Block used to print Upright Wave, 24"x12"

The light parts on the blue block and the golden colored part of the brown blocks all had to be carved away.

If you want to try woodcut printmaking, but you are afraid your hands can't handle all that carving, give white-line woodcuts a try.



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