The Chinese term “木口木刻” is developed from the English term “Wood Engraving,” and translated as engraved wood blocks. Thus “木口木刻” has been a familiar term after it was translated into Chinese. Wood Engraving is a kind of printmaking technique that originated in the United Kingdom. Although there was some wood engraved prints and technical materials found available for reference in the 17th and 18th centuries, the specific origin of wood engraving remains open to discussion. Wood engraving is a relief printing method, which means printing from the raised images after the wood plates are engraved. It is different from “木口木刻”-“Woodcut” in English, regarding engraving tools and materials. Wood engraving usually works on the end-grained surface, which is fine and uniformly erected, without distinction between the vertical and horizontal textures. Thus finer lines and more delicate changes on the layers could be achieved. Based on the characteristics of the blocks, wood engraving carried the expression of woodblock print to extremes.
In the middle of 17th century, the emergence of Wood Engraving gave a shot in the arm to the long-declined art of woodblock print, and this invention made wood engravings featuring its delicate engravings compete fiercely with drypoint etching. Wood engraving in France has been influenced by the new technique from the British and was in vogue at the moment. Then, a French wood engraver, Jean Michel Papillon (1698-1776) used durable end grains as plates and worked on it with copperplate hand graver. With the compactness of block materials and his exquisite engraving technique, an outstanding engraving effect has been achieved. While the one who has revived wood engraving from a long silence was Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), a British illustrator and printmaker, and he was known as the “Father of Wood Engraving.” Not only did Bewick expand and improve the techniques and materials of traditional woodblock printing, but he also revived it for the society through the illustrated expression in wood engraving. The revolutionary changes Bewick has brought to wood engraving were that he transformed the visual information clearly and accurately of exquisite images produced with wood engraving technique. Initially, Bewick made illustrations for a book named Selected Fables. He chose to use copper graver to engrave images on the cross-section of the boxwood, and this method was soon developed as the most common way to produce illustrations. Chinese writer Mr. Lu Xun once mentioned in his article that, “Berwick’s new method was imported into continental Europe, and it has soon motivated the renaissance of woodblock printing.”
Low cost and short production period are the main advantages of Wood Engravings in the printing market. Gravers usually choose to use a kind of multiple line graver with four cutters on the tip, and each cutter could engrave a line. Wood engraving breaks the main expressive means of black lines in traditional woodcuts and uses a range of degrees of gray, from black to white to compose its image, while the gray tone is controlled by the white lines being engraved in different directions, with different thickness, thus large areas of black could be avoided to appear in the images. That is why wood engraving can present human figures and landscapes with exceptional vividness and rich delicacy. Before the invention of the technology of photography and printing, wood engraving was the only way to reproduce oil paintings. Thanks to its unique material and engraving method, the original texture was duplicated then restored to its most vivid state. It should be said that wood engraving is the pioneer that led to mechanical reproduction.
The Chinese term “木口木刻” is developed from the English term “Wood Engraving,” and translated as engraved wood blocks. Thus “木口木刻” has been a familiar term after it was translated into Chinese. Wood Engraving is a kind of printmaking technique that originated in the United Kingdom. Although there was some wood engraved prints and technical materials found available for reference in the 17th and 18th centuries, the specific origin of wood engraving remains open to discussion. Wood engraving is a relief printing method, which means printing from the raised images after the wood plates are engraved. It is different from “木口木刻”-“Woodcut” in English, regarding engraving tools and materials. Wood engraving usually works on the end-grained surface, which is fine and uniformly erected, without distinction between the vertical and horizontal textures. Thus finer lines and more delicate changes on the layers could be achieved. Based on the characteristics of the blocks, wood engraving carried the expression of woodblock print to extremes.
In the middle of 17th century, the emergence of Wood Engraving gave a shot in the arm to the long-declined art of woodblock print, and this invention made wood engravings featuring its delicate engravings compete fiercely with drypoint etching. Wood engraving in France has been influenced by the new technique from the British and was in vogue at the moment. Then, a French wood engraver, Jean Michel Papillon (1698-1776) used durable end grains as plates and worked on it with copperplate hand graver. With the compactness of block materials and his exquisite engraving technique, an outstanding engraving effect has been achieved. While the one who has revived wood engraving from a long silence was Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), a British illustrator and printmaker, and he was known as the “Father of Wood Engraving.” Not only did Bewick expand and improve the techniques and materials of traditional woodblock printing, but he also revived it for the society through the illustrated expression in wood engraving. The revolutionary changes Bewick has brought to wood engraving were that he transformed the visual information clearly and accurately of exquisite images produced with wood engraving technique. Initially, Bewick made illustrations for a book named Selected Fables. He chose to use copper graver to engrave images on the cross-section of the boxwood, and this method was soon developed as the most common way to produce illustrations. Chinese writer Mr. Lu Xun once mentioned in his article that, “Berwick’s new method was imported into continental Europe, and it has soon motivated the renaissance of woodblock printing.”
Low cost and short production period are the main advantages of Wood Engravings in the printing market. Gravers usually choose to use a kind of multiple line graver with four cutters on the tip, and each cutter could engrave a line. Wood engraving breaks the main expressive means of black lines in traditional woodcuts and uses a range of degrees of gray, from black to white to compose its image, while the gray tone is controlled by the white lines being engraved in different directions, with different thickness, thus large areas of black could be avoided to appear in the images. That is why wood engraving can present human figures and landscapes with exceptional vividness and rich delicacy. Before the invention of the technology of photography and printing, wood engraving was the only way to reproduce oil paintings. Thanks to its unique material and engraving method, the original texture was duplicated then restored to its most vivid state. It should be said that wood engraving is the pioneer that led to mechanical reproduction.
