Antique Prints
It is a very old craft, antique print older than bookprinting from type. It quickly became the chief means of decorating and illustrating books, antique print and continued to be so until the invention of photographic processes, antique print which, antique print for general purposes have supplanted it. Some of the old blocks, antique print cut in simple outline, antique print fit the printed page in a most admirable manner ; in their particular style they have not been surpassed. An example of this is the re-cut from The Decameron 1492. These early blocks were all cut on the long grain of the wood, antique print a method that continued until it was discovered that the end grain was a better medium for cutting of fine lines for shading or outline. It is a disputed point whether artists like Durer or Holbein engraved their own work. It was probably left to the expert to cut in faithful facsimile the drawings done by the artist on wood. With a few notable exceptions, antique print this method of the division of labour, antique print the artist being one person and the engraver another, antique print continued until wood engraving was supplanted by process. For reproductive purposes it was a natural division. After that a completely new style of engraving, antique print that of the present day, antique print came into being. Thomas Bewick was one of the great exceptions to this division of artist and engraver. Not only did he engrave his own drawings, antique print but he evolved a completely new style. He abandoned elaborate cross hatching, antique print and for the most part cut in the most direct and simple way. Nevertheless, antique print for ordinary reproductive purposes the artist and engraver continued to be different persons; the artist continued to draw on the wood, antique print filling the shading with a wash of Indian ink and finishing by means of pen or pencil lines, antique print or perhaps using the pen alone, antique print but whether drawn by pen or pencil the engraver faithfully reproduced it, antique print line by line. This necessitated great skill on the part of the engraver, antique print for the merest thickening or thinning of the lines altered the effect of the drawing. But sometimes the drawing was done by wash only, antique print in which case the engraver kept as nearly as he could to the shade or tone of the original without the aid of cross-hatching. This continued until photography made itself felt. It is remarkable that a vast industry, antique print of which the cinema is the latest development, antique print should have arisen as the result of the discovery that certain substances changed their colour and character in the presence of light. It first greatly influenced wood-engraving and finally ousted it as a means of reproduction. Photographers found a way of photographing on to the wood not only drawings but other photographs, antique print and the engraver had to adjust his style to the new medium, antique print for to cut direct from a photograph was very different from cutting facsimile from a drawing. The black lines of cross-hatching disappeared and white lines took their place. Whenever possible a white line was cut and cross-hatching, antique print where it was necessary, antique print consisted of white lines crossing each other. Not only so but a method of cutting short white lines or dots, antique print known generally as stippling, antique print came to be used. Reproductive engraving speeded up and became a miracle of skill. The use of stipple reached its outstanding development in the work of the American, antique print Timothy Cole. In his engravings of the Old Masters he got amazing effects of atmosphere by means of stippling alone. The same photographic influence made itself felt amongst the commercial engravers of machinery. The black outlines of the machine became altered to white lines whenever possible, antique print and as in the pictorial field, antique print the style became completely altered. Here let me say that the engraving of machinery for commercial catalogues is one of the most exacting forms of engraving that I know. As a means of showing the object perfectly it holds its own to the present day. There are a rapidly dwindling few who still manage to get a living from it. The great skill of the reproductive engraver was amazing. On the staff of some of the periodicals, antique print where speed joined to excellence of cutting was essential, antique print there were engravers who could cut a good portrait in two hours, antique print and this in the style just described, antique print line upon line in the perfectly free precision of the time. But this skill of the old reproductive engraver, antique print skill largely for its own sake I fear, antique print made more easy his undoing. Individuality became partly lost in the skill of technique. It sometimes seemed as if he were imitating his great competitor, antique print the process block. The Americans were, antique print I think, antique print great offenders in this. Though a most lovely craft, antique print wood engraving, antique print just before it was superseded by process, antique print had not within it sufficient originality and power to hold its own. It was largely reproductive only the real artist was too often left out. Process developed rapidly as the more effective way of reproducing originals of one sort or another, antique print and the reproductive engraver was bereft of his craft. The output of engravings had been enormous. Some of the old-established printing and publishing firms cherish their old wood blocks they belong to the furniture of the past. Others sold their blocks to the boxwood merchant, antique print not by the block but by the ton! The period just preceding the influence of photography was one, antique print in the writer s opinion, antique print when reproductive engraving reached its highest level for book illustration. The engravings of this period, antique print if properly printed, antique print appeal for the quality of their softness, antique print their skill, antique print and a sweetness of effect seldom accomplished by the modern style. In many of the volumes of this period are wood-engravings unequalled in their fidelity to the objects shown, antique print and that have a beauty not surpassed by modern or any other engraving. But the days when they were engraved are long since past. We wait again for their revival, antique print which I believe will come, antique print for it is too good a thing to be entirely lost. But it cannot come as it came before: that never happens. The difference will be that the artist will do his own engraving. There are engravers of the present time, antique print who, antique print almost unconsciously, antique print are doing work much in the style of this period. The modern revival of wood-engraving, antique print which came just after the war, antique print is quite different in style from any that preceded it. The artist and engraver are now one, antique print as they should be where original work is to be done, antique print and every exponent of the craft expresses his or her own individuality. The technique of the old school was swept completely away. 'Start engraving with an axe' was an exhortation overheard, antique print and some of the earliest examples, antique print with their masses of unrelieved black, antique print rather look as if they had been engraved by that implement. Design is the outstanding quality of the present style. Twenty years has brought command of the engraving tool and now most excellent work is produced with the originality of the artist-craftsman upon it. The early crudeness having gone, antique print the modern engraver brings to the printed page a decoration outstanding in effect. Amongst the mass of process reproduction is the Wood engraver, antique print engraving his own designs, antique print thereby expressing an originality which will most certainly mark the present age of book production as something well worth examination. It is therefore essential that the modern engraver design his own engravings and he will select the kind of tools which will best express his own individuality, antique print for it is this individuality of the artist which alone amongst all its competitors will keep alive Wood-engraving as a vital craft.
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Wood Engraving
The tool has to be held in such a way that none of the fingers nor the thumb is underneath it. The handle rests in the lower part of the hand, the fourth finger in the groove of the inner part of the handle and the third finger by its side; these two fingers touch the handle and keep it in position within the hand. Following the third and fourth, the two forefingers rest on the outer side of the blade while the thumb, extending beyond the fingers almost to the point, is on the inside. The thumb is the only part of the right hand that touches the block. The fingers touch each other in natural order: there need be no space between any. The tool should be laid flat upon the table, and may be taken up in one movement. Seen from below it should then show as Fig. 15. Held in this way the tool will pass flat over the wood without any obstruction from any part of the fingers or hand. The block is held on the sandbag by the left hand, generally towards the corners, which allows the greatest freedom for turning. When cutting straight lines the block is held stationary, the tool-hand cutting forward; when cutting curves the block is turned round, the tool-hand remaining in one position. There is no hard rule in this, the hands acting flexibly for each other, but it can be seen at once when engraving that a circle cannot be cut unless the block is turned round in precise ratio to the cuts of the tool, while to cut a straight line the wood cannot advance to the tool's point. Engrave the lines one under the other, not one above the other; for circles it is much more easy to start the cut at the top than to start underneath, though to be able to start underneath is sometimes useful. The flat part of the handle should be just above the surface of the wood in cutting lines or tints, but this does not apply to all work; the angle at which tools are held must be determined by the shapes to be taken out. Do not attempt to cut a long line with one cut, but with a succession of short ones, and do not cut too deeply, or the line or wood on which the belly of the tool presses will be bruised and will print broken instead of clean and definite. If the tool be sharp the wood will chip out crisply at each cut; the lines should be cut out, not pushed or pressed out. Blunt tools are more responsible for slips than anything else except perhaps a disturbed mind. Should there be any danger of rubbing the drawing during engraving, cover the block with a piece of thin paper after the manner of a tracing, first making a small hole where work is to commence. The craftsman is advised to practise by engraving something definite,something that can be used. Aimless cutting and digging about on bits of wood leads nowhere, for it is a very simple matter to cut a line that need not be cut in any particular place, whereas to cut the lines exactly to the subject, to produce something that is required is not only getting experience, but the result is known at once in success or failure. Roughly speaking there are four different kinds of engraving, of which any variations and combinations can be made. The first and most natural is to cut white lines on black, and in many cases the subject will be sufficiently expressed without further work; Fig. 16 is cut in this way. Fig. 17 shows the background tinted or shaded, that is, lines cut one under the other. is the black letter cleared (scauped) away leaving it white, while shows all wood cleared away except outlines. Bold simple lettering is an excellent subject to begin with. See that the corners are joined cleanly: little jagged bits left in look slovenly and print in a dirty manner. The larger tint-tools and scaupers are used for scauping or clearing, that is, for clearing a wide line round the work and cutting away all wood not wanted. While doing this it is essential to protect the surrounding work from the belly of the tool by a thin piece of card . It must be thin yet of sufficient substance to withstand the pressure of the tool, for the work is done by levering out the wood as well as cutting it. Card soon wears out. A thin piece of hard wood or bone will do well if smoothed and bevelled off a little on the edge to be used under the tool. The thickness should be about that of a penny. When scauping start the cut a little away from the work gradually approaching until the tool has cleared away all unnecessary wood. Smaller pieces must of course be taken away by the smaller tools. It is a good plan to extend the first finger of the left hand over the block until it presses against the end of the thumb of the tool hand. This position gives great control and prevents much slipping. With the scauper clear a line round the work a little more than its own width. This is sufficiently wide to enable a proof to be taken. If all the wood is taken away it is almost impossible to proof some subjects (thin lettering, Fig. 23 for instance) without a handpress, for this wood supports the roller and burnisher and gives protection to the work while proofing.