Hollander's

Words from the Instructor: Jim Horton and Wood Engraving

August 26, 2011 at 9:37 pm Leave a comment

Over several days in September and October, Jim Horton will be teaching Wood Engraving: Beginning & Continuing at the Hollander’s School of Book and Paper Arts. Jim Horton, the creator of the 2011 Kerrytown Bookfest Poster, is an expert on historical letterpress printing, a wood engraver, and a long-time art teacher. The following are Jim’s words on his current ventures in teaching wood engraving.

Since March of this year, I’ve been traveling and teaching wood engraving workshops. I was at John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina; the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Frogman’s Print & Paper (perhaps the most intensive and finest printmaking workshop in the US, now in its 30th year, located at U of SD in Vermillion); and finally The Augusta Heritage Center at D & E College in Elkins, West Virginia. I will be at Bookworks in Asheville, NC in early October.

These workshops give me an adventure in travel, and I meet really neat people. People that take a class in wood engraving are usually taking a bit of a risk, as it is not as mainstream a medium as say intaglio or lithography. Many times these students just want to venture into something unknown, or they are professionals looking to expand their repertoire of skills.

Wood engraving is a cousin to letterpress printing, which has hugely increased in popularity in the past few years. To have the ability to illustrate with extreme detail to many is a valuable tool to have in your repertoire. Wood engraving produces beautiful solid areas of positive shape, and also gives amazing tonal gradation. When printing off an end-grain block, it is noticeable how much stronger the image is than those of photoengraved images. Wood engraving does give one the ability to use the strengths of other mediums. For example, one can stipple to create wonderful soft tones that you would think could only be achieved in aquatint, mezzotint or lithography. The downside of wood engraving is there is no immediate gratification. It is a slow, precise and calculating process. It is almost meditative in the focus it demands. For some, this is exactly what attracts them to the medium. A wood engraving can empower a drawing (like any printmaking method) but the essential part is the expression is in the drawing.

Finished Bookfest Poster

Drawing takes practice, and that is a concept that seems to get crowded out in the mad rush of contemporary living. To me, the more one can find a life-style that will allow practice, as well as time to contemplate, to explore and experiment, to notice your surroundings (even the small) produces a rich life, where the ego fades, and you are connected with a much deeper experience in living.

To sign up for this and other workshops, visit hollanders.com or call 734.741.7531.

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