letterpress

pilot press

My Letterpress

Here’s a Chandler & Price letterpress I recently purchased. It’s a platen press with a chase size of approximately 6 inches by 10 inches. This acquisition is something that’s been on the back burner for years. I’ve been harboring a desire to experiment with letterpress equipment for a long time. This past summer I took […]

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History of Wood Engraving

Here is an article about wood engraving from 1844, reprinted along with illustrations from a sheet that I purchased at a very cool bookstore in Astoria, Oregon last November. Box is the wood mostly used by modern wood-engravers; pear-tree, and other wood of a similar grain and fibre, being now only used in executing large […]

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Timothy Cole

Timothy Cole is another master wood engraver whose technical proficiency amazes me. He spent his entire career in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s interpreting the work of master painters like Constable and Hogarth. I happen to have in my possession his engraving of Mona Lisa, signed by him in pencil. It’s printed on a […]

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Engraving letters of the alphabet

Engraving letters of the alphabet on the end grain block presents itself as a challenge for the engraver. If the goal requires a faithful rendering of the letter shapes and curves, then very careful planning and cutting will get you there. Practice and more practice continues as a sound way to achieve mastery. These are […]

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Tiny Moose challenge

Here’s a wood engraving of mine I found amongst my stuff in the studio of a baby moose. This is a very small postage stamp sized print ( 1 3/4 x 1 3/8 inches). I did this one a long time ago but it still seems attractive to me. As you can see it is […]

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