Wood Engraving

A relief printing technique where a block of wood is incised with a special tool to create the printing surface. The wood is cut transversely to create an end grain. Only very hard wood is used, such as box wood or red maple. The drawing is transferred to the surface and then the cutting is done. The design is made by the nonprinting area of the block. This process was developed in England in the 18th century. William Blake used this process and by the mid nineteenth century, it was the standard method of illustrating books and magazines. The use of the process for these purposes came to an end with the introduction of photoengraving. Scratchboard imitates the wood engraving technique.