What is a woodcut ?
Sometimes called a woodblock print, a woodcut is an ORIGINAL print (see ‘What is an original print?’ above) made by carving a design in the side grain of a block or set of blocks of wood. It is a RELIEF printmaking method, which means it is printed from the RAISED surface. On each block I cut away what I DON’T want show up when I roll ink over the block’s surface. Essentially there is a separate block and a separate printing process for each color (the exceptions being where one or more colors are blended on one block, or when color areas are far enough removed from one another on the block that colors can be applied separately with small rollers). The woodcuts on this website were done in my studio using a wonderful old Vandercook typesetter’s proofing press, and each was hand-pulled by me. Click here to read more about my woodcuts.