Introduction to Woodcut

Woodcut is a relief printing technique which uses the side grain of the wood, allowing for larger scale work with an expressive range of marks. Working with hand carving tools, the printmaker removes areas from the surfaces of the wood block to create negative areas, a roller is used to ink the surface of the block, areas that have been cut away remain clear of ink. Printmaking paper is laid on the surface of the inked block before it is taken through the press to leave the impression of the positive image.