THE PRACTICE OF WOOD ENGRAVING.
Erroneous Opinions About Cross-Hatching -- The Choice and
Preparation of the Wood -- Mode of Inserting a Plug -- Magnifying
Glasses and Engraver’s Lamp -- Different Kinds of Tools -- Cutting
Tints -- Engraving in Outline -- Cuts Representing Colour and
Texture -- Maps Engraved on Wood -- The Advantages of Lowering a
Block Previous to Engraving the Subject -- Chiaro-Scuro Engraving on
Wood, and Printing in Colours from Wood-Blocks -- Metallic Relief
Engraving, by Blake, Bewick, Branston, and Lizars -- Mr.
C. Hancock’s Patent -- Mr. Woone’s Patent -- Casts from Wood-Cuts --
Printing Wood-Cuts -- Conclusion.
Perhaps no art exercised in this country is less known to the public
than that of wood engraving; and hence it arises that most persons who
have incidentally or even expressly written on the subject have
committed so many mistakes respecting the practice. It is from a want of
practical knowledge that we have had so many absurd speculations
respecting the manner in which the old wood engravers executed their
cross-hatchings, and so many _notions_ about vegetable putties and
metallic relief engraving. Even in a Memoir of Bewick, printed in 1836,
we find the following passage, which certainly would not have appeared
had the writer paid any attention to the numerous wood-cuts, containing
cross-hatchings of the most delicate kind, published in England between
1820 and 1834:--“The principal characteristic of the ancient masters is
the crossing of the black lines, to produce or deepen the shade,
commonly called _cross-hatching_. Whether this was done by employing
different blocks, one after another, as in calico-printing and
paper-staining, _it may be difficult to say_; but to produce them on the
same block is so difficult and _unnatural_, that though Nesbit, one of
Bewick’s early pupils, attempted it on a few occasions, and the splendid
print of Dentatus by Harvey shows that it is not impossible even on a
large scale, yet the waste of time and labour is scarcely worth the
effect produced.”[IX-1] Now, the difficulty of saying whether the old
cross-hatchings were executed on a single block, or produced by
impressions from two or more, proceeds entirely from the writer not
being acquainted with the subject; had he known that hundreds of old
blocks containing cross-hatchings are still in existence, and had he
been in the habit of seeing similar cross-hatchings executed almost
daily by very indifferent wood engravers, the difficulty which he felt
would have vanished. “Unnatural” is certainly an improper term for a
_philosopher_ to apply to a process of art, merely because he does not
understand it: with equal reason he might have called every other
process, both of copper-plate and wood engraving, “unnatural;” nay, in
this sense there is no process in arts or manufactures to which the term
“unnatural” might not in the same manner be applied.
[Footnote IX-1: Memoir of Thomas Bewick, by the Reverend William
Turner, prefixed to volume sixth of the Naturalist’s Library, page
18.]
In giving some account of the practice of wood engraving, it seems most
proper to begin with the ground-work--the wood. As it is generally
understood that box is best adapted for the purposes of engraving, and
that it is generally used for cuts intended for the illustration of
books, there seems no occasion to enter into a detail of all the kinds
of wood that might be used for the more ordinary purposes of large
coarse cuts for posting-bills, and others of a similar character. Mr.
Savage, in his Hints on Decorative Printing, has copied the principal
part of what Papillon has said on the subject of wood, intending that it
should be received as information from a practical wood engraver; but he
has omitted to notice that much of what Papillon says about the choice
of wood, can be of little service in guiding the modern English wood
engraver, who executes his subject on the cross-section of the wood,
while Papillon and his contemporaries were accustomed to engrave upon
the side, or the _long-way_ of the wood. “There is no difficulty,” says
Papillon, as translated by Mr. Savage, “in distinguishing that which is
good, as we have only need of taking a splinter of the box we wish to
try, and break it between the fingers; if it break short, without
bending, it will not be of any value; whereas, if there be great
difficulty in breaking it, it is well adapted to our purpose.”
Now, it is quite evident from this direction--independent of the fact
being otherwise known--that the thin splinter by which the quality of
the wood was to be tested was to be cut the long way of the wood:
a similar cutting taken from the cross-section would break short,
however excellent the wood might be for the purpose of engraving.
Papillon’s direction is therefore calculated to mislead, unless
accompanied with an explanation of the manner in which the splinter is
to be taken; and it is also utterly useless as a test of box that is
intended to be engraved on the cross-section, or end-way of the wood.
For the purposes of engraving no other kind of wood hitherto tried is
equal to box. For fine and small cuts the smallest logs are to be
preferred, as the smallest wood is almost invariably the best. American
and Turkey box is the largest; but all large wood of this kind is
generally of inferior quality, and most liable to split; it is also
frequently of a red colour, which is a certain characteristic of its
softness, and consequent unfitness for delicate engraving. From my own
experience, English box is superior to all others; for though small, it
is generally so clear and firm in the grain that it never crumbles under
the graver; it resists evenly to the edge of the tool, and gives not a
particle beyond what is actually cut out. The large red wood, on the
contrary, besides being soft, is liable to crumble and to cut short;
that is, small particles will sometimes _break_ away from the sides of
the line cut by the graver, and thus cause imperfections in the work.
Box of large and comparatively quick growth, is also extremely liable to
shrink unevenly between the rings, so that after the surface has been
planed perfectly level, and engraved, it is frequently difficult to
print the cut in a proper manner, in consequence of the inequality of
the surface.
As even the largest logs of box are of comparatively small diameter, it
is extremely difficult to obtain a perfect block of a single piece equal
to the size of an octavo page. In order to obtain pieces as large as
possible, some dealers are accustomed to saw the log in a slanting
direction--in the manner of an oblique section of a cylinder--so that
the surface of a piece cut off shall resemble an oval rather than a
circle. Blocks sawn in this manner ought never to be used; for, in
consequence of the obliquity of the grain, there is no preventing small
particles tearing out when cutting a line.
Large red wood containing _white spots_ or streaks is utterly unfit for
the purposes of the engraver; for in cutting a line across, adjacent to
these spots or streaks, sometimes the entire piece thus marked will be
removed, and the cut consequently spoiled. A clear yellow colour, and as
equal as possible over the whole surface, is generally the best
criterion of box-wood. When a block is not of a clear yellow colour
throughout, but only in the centre, gradually becoming lighter towards
the edges, it ought not to be used for delicate work; the white, in
addition to its not cutting so “sweetly,” being of a softer nature,
absorbs more ink than the yellow, and also retains it more tenaciously,
so that impressions from a block of this kind sometimes display a
perceptible inequality of colour;--from the yellow parts allowing the
ink to leave them freely, while the white parts partially retain it, the
printed cut has the appearance of having received either too much ink in
one place, or too little in another. Besides this, the ink remaining on
the white parts becomes so adhesive, that, should the sheet be rather
too damp (as will frequently happen when much paper is wetted at one
time), it will sometimes stick to the paper; a small spot of white will
hence appear in the impression, while a minute piece of paper will
remain adhering to the block, to be mixed up with the ink on the balls,
and transferred as a black speck to another part of the cut in a
subsequent impression. But this is not all: should the piece of paper
remain unnoticed for some time it will make a small indention in the
block, and occasion a white or grey speck in the impressions printed
after its removal. Soft red and white box, more especially the latter,
being more porous than clear yellow, blocks of those kinds of wood are
most liable to be injured by the liquids used to clean them after
printing. Should the printer wash them with either lees or spirits of
turpentine, these fluids will enter the wood more freely than if it were
yellow, and cause it to expand in proportion to the quantity used, and
sometimes to such an extent as to distort the drawing. If a block of any
kind of box, whether red, white, or yellow, be wetted or exposed to
dampth, it will expand considerably;[IX-2] but with care it will return
to its former dimensions, should it have been sufficiently seasoned
before being printed. When, however, the expansion has been caused by
lees or spirits of turpentine, the block will never again contract to
its original size.[IX-3]
[Footnote IX-2: The following is an instance of the effect of
dampth upon box-wood. I placed one evening a block, composed of
several pieces of box glued to a thick piece of mahogany, against
the wall of a rather damp room, and on examining it the next
morning I found that the box had expanded so much that the edges
projected beyond the mahogany upwards of the eighth of an inch.]
[Footnote IX-3: Some of the blocks engraved for the Penny
Magazine, measuring originally eight inches and a half by six
inches, have, after undergoing the process of stereotyping and the
subsequent washing, increased not less than two inches in their
perimeter or exterior lineal dimension, as has been proved by
comparing the measurement of a block in its present state with a
first proof taken on India paper, which paper, being dry when the
impression was taken, has not suffered any contraction.]
As publishers frequently provide the drawings which are to be engraved,
perhaps a knowledge of the different qualities of box is as necessary to
them as to wood engravers themselves. In reply to this it may be said,
why not require the engraver who is to execute the cuts to supply proper
wood himself? Where only one engraver is employed to execute all the
cuts for a work, the choice of the wood may indeed be very properly left
to himself. But where several are employed, and each required to send
his own wood to the designer, very few are particular what kind they
send; for when the designer receives the different pieces he generally
consigns them to a drawer until wanted, and when he has finished a
design, he not unfrequently sends it to an engraver who did not supply
the identical piece of wood on which it is drawn. Hence scarcely any
engraver pays much attention to the kind of wood he sends; for where
many are employed in the execution of a series of cuts for the same
work, it is very unlikely that each will receive the drawings on the
wood supplied by himself. Even when the designer is particular in making
the drawings of the subjects which he thinks best suited to each
engraver’s talents on the wood which such engraver has supplied, it not
unfrequently happens that the person who employs the engravers will not
give the blocks to those for whom the artist intended them. Publishers
have a much greater interest in this matter than they seem to suspect.
If soft wood be supplied, the finer lines will soon be bruised down in
printing, and the cut will appear like an old one before half the number
of impressions required have been printed; if red-ringed, the surface is
extremely liable to become uneven, and also to warp and split.
As box can seldom be obtained of more than five or six inches diameter,
and as wood of this size is rarely sound throughout, blocks for cuts
exceeding five inches square are usually formed of two or more pieces
firmly united by means of iron pins and screws. Should the block,
however, be wetted or exposed to dampth, the joints are certain to open,
and sometimes to such an extent as to require a piece of wood to be
inserted in the aperture.[IX-4] Perhaps the best way to guard against a
large block opening at the joining of the pieces would be to enclose it
with an iron hoop or frame; such hoop or frame being fixed when nearly
red-hot in the same manner as a tire is applied to a coach or cart
wheel. If the iron fit perfectly tight when forced on to the block in
the manner of a tire, it will be the more likely, by its contracting in
cold and damp weather, to resist the expansive force of the wood at such
times.
[Footnote IX-4: Sometimes a piece of metal--such as part of a thin
rule--is inserted in the chink by printers, when the part injured
is dark and the work not fine. Such a temporary remedy is sure to
increase the opening in a short time, and make the block worse.]
Besides the hardness and toughness of box, which allows of clear raised
lines, capable of bearing the action of the press, being cut on its
surface, this wood, from its not being subject to the attacks of the
worm, has a great advantage over apple, pear-tree, beech,[IX-5] and
other kinds of wood, formerly used for the purposes of engraving. Its
preservation in this respect is probably owing to its poisonous nature,
for other kinds of wood of greater hardness and durability are
frequently pierced through and through by worms. The chips of box, when
chewed, are certainly unwholesome to human beings. A fellow-pupil, who
had acquired a habit of chewing the small pieces which he cut out with
his graver, became unwell, and was frequently attacked with sickness. On
mentioning the subject to his medical adviser, he was ordered to refrain
from chewing the pieces of box; he accordingly took the doctor’s advice,
gave up his bad habit, and in a short time recovered his usual
health.[IX-6]
[Footnote IX-5: One of the original blocks of Weever’s Funeral
Monuments, 1631, preserved in the Print Room of the British
Museum, is of beech.]
[Footnote IX-6: A few years ago I allowed a rabbit to have the run
of a small garden, where it soon eat up everything except a small
bush of box. Happening to leave home for two days without making
any provision for the rabbit, I found it in a dying state, and all
the leaves nibbled off the box. The rabbit died in the course of a
few hours, and on opening it the cause of its death was
apparent--the stomach was full of the leaves of the box.--See
Brand’s Popular Antiquities, vol. ii. page 265 (Bohn’s edit.), for
an account of yew poisoning two cows.]
Box when kept long in a dry place becomes unfit for the purpose of
engraving. I have at this time in my possession a drawing which has been
made on the block about ten years, but the wood has become so dry and
brittle that it would now be impossible to engrave the subject in a
proper manner.
When the wood does not cut clear, but crumbles as if it were too dry,
the defect may sometimes be remedied by putting the block into a deep
earthenware jug or pan, and placing such jug or pan in a cool place for
ten or twelve hours. When the wood is too hard and dry to be softened in
the above manner, I would recommend that the back of the block should be
placed in water--in a plate or large dish--to the depth of the sixteenth
part of an inch, for about an hour. If allowed to remain longer there is
a risk of the block afterwards splitting.
[Illustration]
Box, of whatever kind, when not well seasoned, is extremely liable to
warp and bend; but a little care will frequently prevent many of the
accidents to which drawings on unseasoned wood are exposed by neglect.
For instance, when a block is received by the engraver from the designer
or publisher, it ought, if not directly put in hand, to be placed on one
of its edges, and not, as is customary with many, laid down flat, with
the surface on which the drawing is made upwards. If a block of
unseasoned wood be permitted to lie in this manner for a week or two, it
is almost certain to turn up at the edges, the upper surface becoming
concave, and the lower convex, as is shown in the annexed cut,
representing the section of such a block.
The same thing will occur in the process of engraving, though to a small
extent, should the engraver’s hands be warm and moist; and also when
working by lamp-light without a globe filled with water between the lamp
and the block. Such slight warping in the course of engraving is,
however, easily remedied by laying the block with its face--that is, the
surface on which the drawing is made--downward on the desk or table at
all times when the engraver is not actually employed on the subject. The
block so placed, provided that it be not of very dry wood, in a short
time recovers its former level. When a block of very dry wood becomes
_dished_, or concave, on its upper surface, as shown in the preceding
cut, there is little chance of its ever again becoming sufficiently flat
to allow of its being well printed. When the deviation from a perfect
level at the bottom is not so great as to attract the notice of the
pressman previous to taking an impression, the block not unfrequently
yields to the action of the platten, and splits. The fracture remains
perhaps unobserved for a short time, and when it is at length noticed,
the block is probably spoiled beyond remedy.
When box is very dry it is extremely difficult to cut a clear line upon
it, as it crumbles, and small pieces fly out at the sides of the line
traced by the graver. The small white spots so frequently seen in the
delicate lines of the sky in wood-cuts are occasioned by particles
flying out in this manner. If a block consist partly of yellow wood and
partly of wood with red rings, the yellow will cut clear, while in the
red it will be almost impossible to cut a perfect line. When the same
piece of wood is yellow and red alternately it is extremely difficult to
produce an even _tint_ upon it. Wood of this kind ought always to be
rejected, both from the difficulty of engraving upon it with clearness,
and from the uncertainty of the surface continuing perfectly flat, as
the red rings are more liable to shrink in drying than the other parts,
and, from their thus not receiving a sufficient quantity of ink, to
appear like so many rainbows in the impression.
The spaces between those rings are greater or less, accordingly as the
seasons have been favourable or unfavourable to the growth of the tree.
Besides the injurious effect which those red rings are apt to produce in
an impression, wood of this kind is very unpleasant and uncertain to
engrave on; for as the yellow parts cut pleasant and clear, the
engraver, unless particularly on his guard, is betrayed to trust to the
whole piece as being of the same uniform tenacity, and before he is
aware of its inequality in this respect, or can check the progress of
his graver, its point has entered one of those soft red rings, and, to
the injury of his work, has either caused a small piece to fly out, or
carried the line further than he intended. Wood of this kind is unfit
for anything except very common work, and ought never to be used for
delicate engraving. There is no certain means of forming a judgment of
box-wood until it be cut into slices or trencher-like pieces from the
log; for many logs which externally appear sound and of a good colour,
prove very faulty and cracked in the centre when sawn up. Turkey box is
in particular so defective in this respect that a large slice can seldom
be procured without a crack. This, probably, is occasioned by the manner
in which the tree is felled. Previous to their beginning to cut down a
tree the Turkish wood-cutters fasten a rope to the top, by means of
which they break the tree down when the bole is little more than half
cut through. The consequence is that a _shiver_ frequently extends
through the most valuable portion of the log.
Many artists, who are not accustomed to make drawings on wood,
erroneously suppose that the block requires some peculiar preparation.
Nothing more is required than to rub the previously planed and smoothed
surface with a little powdered Bath-brick, slightly mixed with water: as
little water as possible is, however, to be used, as otherwise the block
will absorb too much, and be afterwards extremely liable to split. When
this thin coating is perfectly dry, it is to be removed by rubbing the
block with the palm of the hand. No part of the light powder ought to
remain, for, otherwise, the pencil coming in contact with it will make a
coarse and comparatively thick line, which, besides being a blemish in
the drawing, is very liable to be rubbed off. The object of using the
powdered Bath-brick is to render the surface less slippery, and thus
capable of affording a better _hold_ to the point of the black-lead
pencil.
When the principal parts of the drawing are first washed in upon the
block in Indian ink, it is of great advantage to gently rub the surface
of the block, when dry, with a little dry and finely powdered
Bath-brick, before the drawing is completed with the black-lead pencil.
By this means the hard edges of the Indian-ink wash will be softened,
the different tints delicately blended, and the subsequent touches of
the pencil be more distinctly seen. Some artists, previous to beginning
to draw on the block, are in the habit of washing over the surface with
a mixture of flake-white and gum-water.[IX-7] This practice is, however,
by no means a good one. The drawing indeed may appear very bright and
showy when first made on such a white surface, but in the progress of
engraving a thin film of the preparation will occasionally rise up
before the graver and carry with it a portion of the unengraved work,
which the engraver is left to restore according to his ability and
recollection. This white ground also mixes with the ink in taking a
first proof, and fills up the finer parts of the cut. If a white wash be
used without gum, the drawing is very liable to be partially effaced in
the progress of engraving, and the engraver left to finish his work as
he can. The risk of this inconvenience ought to be especially avoided in
making drawings on a block, as the wood engraver has not the opportunity
of referring to another drawing or to an original painting in the manner
of an engraver on copper.
[Footnote IX-7: Instead of gum-water, French artists, who are
accustomed to make drawings on wood, use water in which parchment
shavings have been boiled.]
The less that is done to change the original colour of the wood--by
white or any other preparation--so much the better for the engraver;
a piece of clear box is sufficiently light to allow of the most delicate
lines being distinctly drawn upon it. When the surface of the block is
whitened, another inconvenience arises besides those already noticed. It
is this: when the drawing is made upon a white ground, and the subject
partially engraved, the effect of the whole becomes very confused and
perplexing to the engraver in consequence of the parts already engraved
appearing nearly of the original colour of the wood, while the ground of
the parts not yet cut is white, as first drawn. The engraver’s eye
cannot correctly judge of the whole, and the inconvenience is increased
by his neither having an original drawing to refer to, nor a proof to
guide him: until the cut be completed he has no means of correctly
ascertaining whether he has left too much _colour_ or taken too much
away.
The engraver on copper or on steel can have an impression of his etching
as soon as it is _bit_ in, and can take impressions of the plate at all
times in the course of his progress; the wood engraver, on the contrary,
enjoys no such advantages; he is obliged to wait until all be completed
ere he can obtain an impression of his work. If the wood engraver has
kept his subject generally too dark, there is not much difficulty in
reducing it; but if he has engraved it too light, there is no remedy. If
a small part be badly engraved, or the block has sustained an injury,
the defect may be repaired by inserting a small piece of wood and
re-engraving it: this mode of repairing a block is technically termed
“_plugging_.”[IX-8]
[Footnote IX-8: This mode of repairing a block was practised by
the German wood engravers of the time of Albert Durer. The “plug”
which they inserted was usually square, and not circular as at
present. The French wood engravers of the time of Papillon
continued to employ square plugs. There are two or three instances
of cuts thus repaired, in the Adventures of Sir Theurdank,
Nuremberg and Augsburg, 1517-1519.]
When a block requires to be thus amended or repaired, it is first to be
determined how much is necessary to be taken out that the restoration
may accord with the adjacent parts; for sometimes, in order to render
the insertion less perceptible, it may be requisite to take out rather
more than the part imactually perfect or injured. This being decided on,
a hole is drilled in the block, as is represented in the next page, of a
size sufficient to admit “the _plug_.” The hole ought not to be drilled
quite through the block, as the piece let in would, from the shaking and
battering of the press, be very likely to become loosened. Should it
receive more pressure at the top than bottom, it would sink a little
below the engraved surface of the block, and thus appear lighter in the
impression than the surrounding parts; while should it be slightly
forced up from below it, would appear darker,--in each case forming a
positive blemish in the cut.[IX-9] When the shape of the part to be
restored is too large to be covered with one circular plug, it is better
to add one plug to another till the whole be covered, than to insert one
of a different shape, and thus fill the space at once. When a single
plug is used the section appears thus; the plug being driven in like a
wedge, and having a vacant space around it at the bottom. If an oblong
space of the form No. 1. is to be restored, it will be best effected by
first inserting a plug at each end, as at No. 2, then adding two others,
as at No. 3, and finally wedging them all fast by a central plug, as at
No. 4, like the key-stone in an arch. When a plug is firmly fixed, the
top is carefully cut down to the level of the block, and the part of the
subject wanting re-drawn and engraved. When these operations are well
performed no trace of the insertion can be discovered, except by one who
should know where to look for it.
[Footnote IX-9: In a tail-piece at page 52 of Bewick’s Fables,
edition 1823, a plug which has been inserted appears lighter than
the adjacent parts, in consequence of its having sunk a little
below the surface; and in the cut to the fable of the Hart and the
Vine, in the same work, two large plugs, at the top, are darker
than the other parts in consequence of their having risen a little
above the surface.]
[Illustration: THE PLUG OUT.]
[Illustration: No. 1.]
[Illustration: No. 2.]
[Illustration: No. 3.]
[Illustration: No. 4.]
When a cast is taken from a block which requires the insertion of a
plug, the best mode is to have the part intended to be renewed cast
blank. In this case a hole of sufficient size is to be drilled in the
block, and afterwards filled up with plaster to the level of the
surface. A cast being then taken, the part to be re-engraved remains
blank, but of a piece with the rest of the metal, so that there is no
possibility of its rising up above or sinking below the surface, as
sometimes happens when a plug is inserted in a wood-block. When the part
remaining blank in the cast is engraved in accordance with the work of
the surrounding parts, it is almost impossible to discover any trace of
the insertion. The following impression is from a cast of the block
illustrating the “plug,” with the part which appears white in the former
cut restored and re-engraved in this manner. A white circular line, near
the handle of the pail, has been purposely cut to indicate the place of
the plug.
[Illustration]
Before beginning to engrave any subject, it is necessary to observe
whether the drawing be entirely, or only in part, made with a pencil. If
it be what is usually called a _wash_ drawing, with little more than the
outlines in pencil, it is not necessary to be so cautious in defending
it from the action of the breath or the occasional touching of the hand;
but if it be entirely in pencil, too much care cannot be taken to
protect it from both.
Before proceeding to engrave a delicate pencil drawing the block ought
to be covered with paper, with the exception of the part on which it is
intended to begin. Soft paper ought not to be used for this purpose, as
such is most likely to partially efface the drawing when the hand is
pressed upon the block. Moderately stout post-paper with a glazed
surface is the best; though some engravers, in order to preserve their
eyes, which become affected by white paper, cover the block with blue
paper, which is usually too soft, and thus expose the drawing to injury.
The dingy, grey, and over-done appearance of several modern wood-cuts is
doubtless owing, in a great measure, to the block when in course of
engraving having been covered with soft paper, which has partially
effaced the drawing. The drawing, which originally may have been clear
and _touchy_, loses its brightness, and becomes indistinct from its
frequent contact with the soft pliable paper; the spirited dark touches
which give it effect are rubbed down to a sober grey, and all the other
parts, from the same cause, are comparatively weak. The cut, being
engraved according to the appearance of the drawing, is tame, flat, and
spiritless.
[Illustration]
Different engravers have different methods of fastening the paper to the
block.[IX-10] Some fix it with gum, or with wafers at the sides; but
this is not a good mode, for as often as it is necessary to take a view
of the whole block, in order to judge of the progress of the work, the
paper must be torn off, and afterwards replaced by means of new wafers
or fresh gum, so that before the cut is finished the sides of the block
are covered with bits of paper in the manner of a wall or shop-front
covered with fragments of posting-bills. The most convenient mode of
fastening the paper is to first wrap a piece of stiff and stout thread
three or four times round the edges of the block, and then after making
the end fast to remove it. The paper is then to be closely fitted to the
block, and the edges being brought over the sides, the thread is to be
re-placed above it. If the turns of the thread be too tight to pass over
the last corner of the block, A, a piece of string, B, being passed
within them and firmly pulled, in the manner here represented, will
cause them to stretch a little and pass over on to the edge without
difficulty. When this plan is adopted the paper forms a kind of moveable
cap, which can be taken off at pleasure to view the progress of the
work, and replaced without the least trouble.
[Footnote IX-10: French wood engravers are accustomed to rub the
sides of the block with bees’-wax, which on being chafed with the
thumb-nail becomes slightly softened, and thus adheres to the
paper.]
I have long been of opinion that many young persons, when beginning to
learn the art of wood engraving, have injured their sight by
unnecessarily using a magnifying glass. At the very commencement of
their pupilage boys will furnish themselves with a glass of this kind,
as if it were as much a matter of course as a set of gravers; they
sometimes see men use a glass, and as at this period they are prone to
ape their elders in the profession, _they_ must have one also; and as
they generally choose such as magnify most, the result not unfrequently
is that their sight is considerably impaired before they are capable of
executing anything that really requires much nicety of vision.
I would recommend all persons to avoid the use of glasses of any kind,
whether single magnifiers or spectacles, until impaired sight renders
such aids necessary; and even then to commence with such as are of small
magnifying power. The habit of viewing minute objects alternately with a
magnifying glass and the naked eye--applying the glass every two or
three minutes--is, I am satisfied, injurious to the sight. The
magnifying glass used by wood engravers is similar to that used by
watch-makers, and consists of a single lens, fitted into a short tube,
which is rather wider at the end applied to the eye. As the glass seldom
can be fixed so firmly to the eye as to entirely dispense with holding
it, the engraver is thus frequently obliged to apply his left hand to
keep it in its place; as he cannot hold the block with the same hand at
the same time, or move it as may be required, so as to enable him to
execute his work with freedom, the consequence is, that the engraving of
a person who is in the habit of using a magnifying glass has frequently
a cramped appearance. There are also other disadvantages attendant on
the habitual use of a magnifying glass. A person using such a glass must
necessarily hold his head aside, so that the eye on which the glass is
fixed may be directly above the part on which he is at work. In order to
attain this position, the eye itself is not unfrequently distorted; and
when it is kept so for any length of time it becomes extremely painful.
I never find my eyes so free from pain or aching as when looking at the
work directly in front, without any twisting of the neck so as to bring
one eye only immediately above the part in course of execution.
I therefore conclude that the eyes are less likely to be injured when
thus employed than when one is frequently distorted and pained in
looking through a glass. I am here merely speaking from experience, and
not professedly from any theoretic knowledge of optics; but as I have
hitherto done without the aid of any magnifying power, I am not without
reason convinced that glasses of all kinds ought to be dispensed with
until impaired vision renders their use absolutely necessary. I am
decidedly of opinion that to use glasses _to preserve_ the sight, is to
meet half way the evil which is thus sought to be averted. A person who
has his sense of hearing perfect never thinks of using a trumpet or
acoustic instrument in order to preserve it. All wood engravers, whether
their eyes be naturally weak or not, ought to wear a shade, similar to
that represented in the following figure, No. 1, as it both protects the
eyes from too strong a light, and also serves to concentrate the view on
the work which the engraver is at the time engaged in executing.
[Illustration: No. 1.]
[Illustration: No. 2.]
When speaking on this subject, it may not be out of place to mention a
kind of shade or screen for the nose and mouth, similar to that in the
preceding figure, No. 2. Such a shade or screen is called by Papillon a
_mentonnière_,[IX-11] and its object is to prevent the drawing on the
block being injured by the breath in damp or frosty weather. Without
such a precaution, a drawing made on the block with black-lead pencil
would, in a great measure, be effaced by the breath of the engraver
passing freely over it in such weather. Such a shade or screen is most
conveniently made of a piece of thin pasteboard or stiff paper.
[Footnote IX-11: Papillon’s description of a _mentonnière_ is
previously noticed at page 465.]
There are various modes of protecting the eyes when working by
lamp-light, but I am aware of only one which both protects the eyes from
the light and the face from the heat of the lamp. This consists in
filling a large transparent glass-globe with clear water, and placing it
in such a manner between the lamp and the workman that the light, after
passing through the globe, may fall directly on the block, in the manner
represented in the following cut. The height of the lamp can be
regulated according to the engraver’s convenience, in consequence of its
being moveable on the upright piece of iron or other metal which forms
its support. The dotted line shows the direction of the light when the
lamp is elevated to the height here seen; by lowering the lamp a little
more, the dotted line would incline more to a horizontal direction, and
enable the engraver to sit at a greater distance. By the use of those
globes one lamp will suffice for three or four persons, and each person
have a much clearer and cooler light than if he had a lamp without a
globe solely to himself.[IX-12]
[Footnote IX-12: Papillon preferred a kind of bull’s-eye
lens--_loupe_--of about three and a half inches diameter, flat on
one side and convex on the other, to a globe filled with
water--_un bocal_--for the purpose of bringing the light of the
lamp to a focus. This bull’s-eye he had enclosed in a kind of
frame, which could be inclined to any angle, or turned in any
direction by means of a ball-and-socket joint. He gives a cut of
it at page 75, vol. ii. of his Traité de la Gravure en Bois.--I
have tried the bull’s-eye lens, but though the light was equally
good as that from the globe, I found that the heat affected the
head in a most unpleasant manner.]
[Illustration: SANDBAG AND BLOCK. GLOBE. LAMP.]
It has been said, and with some appearance of truth, that “the best
engravers use the fewest tools;” but this, like many other sayings of a
similar kind, does not generally hold good. He undoubtedly ought to be
considered the best engraver who executes his work in the _best manner_
with the fewest tools; while it is no less certain that he is a bad
engraver who executes his work badly, whether he use many or few. No
wood engraver who understands his art will incumber his desk or table
with a number of useless tools, though, from a regard to his own time,
he will take care that he has as many as are necessary. There are some
who pride themselves upon executing a great variety of work with one
tool, and hence, firmly believing in the truth of the saying above
quoted, fancy that they are first-rate engravers. Such would be better
entitled to the name if they executed their work well. A person who
makes his tools his _hobby-horse_, and who bestows upon their
ornaments--ebony or ivory handles, silver hoops, &c.--that attention
which ought rather to be devoted to his subject, rarely excels as an
engraver. He who is vain of the beautiful appearance of his tools has
not often just reason to be proud of his work.
[Illustration]
There are only four kinds of cutting tools[IX-13] necessary in wood
engraving, namely:--gravers; tint-tools; gouges or scoopers; and flat
tools or chisels. Of each of these four kinds there are various sizes.
The following cut shows the form of a graver that is principally used
for outlining or separating one figure from another. A, is the back of
the tool; B, the face; C, the point; and D, what is technically called
the belly. The horizontal dotted line, 1, 2, shows the surface of the
block, and the manner in which part of the handle is cut off after the
blade is inserted.[IX-14] This tool is very fine at the point, as the
line which it cuts ought to be so thin as not to be distinctly
perceptible when the cut is printed, as the intention is merely to form
a termination or boundary to a series of lines running in another
direction. Though it is necessary that the point should be very fine,
yet the blade ought not to be too thin, for then, instead of cutting out
a piece of the wood, the tool will merely make a delicate opening, which
would be likely to close as soon as the block should be exposed to the
action of the press. When the outline tool becomes too thin at the point
the lower part should be rubbed on a hone, in order to reduce the
extreme fineness.
[Footnote IX-13: A sharp-edged scraper, in shape something like a
copper-plate engraver’s burnisher, is used in the process of
_lowering_.]
[Footnote IX-14: The handle, when received from the turner’s, is
perfectly circular at the rounded end; but after the blade is
inserted, a segment is cut off at the lower part, as seen in the
above cut.]
[Illustration]
About eight or nine gravers of different sizes, beginning from the
outline tool, are generally sufficient. The blades differ little in
shape, when first made, from those used by copper-plate engravers; but
in order to render them fit for the purpose of wood engraving, it is
necessary to give the points their peculiar form by rubbing them on a
Turkey stone. In this cut are shown the faces and part of the backs of
nine gravers of different sizes; the lower dotted line, A C, shows the
extent to which the points of such tools are sometimes ground down by
the engraver in order to render them broader. When thus ground down the
points are slightly rounded, and do not remain straight as if cut off by
the dotted line A C. These tools are used for nearly all kinds of work,
except for series of parallel lines, technically called “tints.” The
width of the line cut out, according to the thickness of the graver
towards the point, is regulated by the pressure of the engraver’s hand.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: TINT-TOOL. GRAVER.]
Tint-tools are chiefly used to cut parallel lines forming an even and
uniform _tint_, such as is usually seen in the representation of a clear
sky in wood-cuts. They are thinner at the back, but deeper in the side
than gravers, and the angle of the face, at the point, is much more
acute. About seven or eight, of different degrees of fineness, are
generally sufficient. The following cut will afford an idea of the shape
of the blades towards the point. The handle of the tint-tool is of the
same form as that of a graver. The figure marked A presents a side view
of the blade; the others marked B show the faces. Some engravers never
use a tint-tool, but cut all their lines with a graver. There is,
however, great uncertainty in cutting a series of parallel lines in this
manner, as the least inclination of the hand to one side will cause the
graver to increase the width of the white line _cut out_, and undercut
the raised one _left_, more than if in the same circumstances a
tint-tool were used. This will be rendered more evident by a comparison
of the points and faces of the two different tools: The tint-tool, being
very little thicker at B than at the point A, will cause a very trifling
difference in the width of a line in the event of a wrong inclination,
when compared with the inequality occasioned by the unsteady direction
of a graver, whose angle at the point is much greater than that of a
proper tint-tool. Tint-tools ought to be sufficiently strong at the back
to prevent their bending in the middle of the blade when used, for with
a weak tool of this kind the engraver cannot properly guide the point,
and hence freedom of execution is lost. Tint-tools that are rather thick
in the back are to be preferred to such as are thin, not only from their
allowing of great steadiness in cutting, but from their leaving the
raised lines thicker at the bottom, and consequently more capable of
sustaining the action of the press. A tint-tool that is of the same
thickness, both at the back and the lower part, cuts out the lines in
such manner that a section of them appears thus: the black or raised
lines from which the impression is obtained being no thicker at their
base than at the surface; while a section of the lines cut by a tool
that is thicker at the back than at the lower part appears thus. It is
evident that lines of this kind, having a better support at the base,
are much less liable than the former to be broken in printing. Gouges of
different sizes, from A the smallest to B the largest, as here
represented, are used for scooping out the wood towards the centre of
the block; while flat tools or chisels, of various sizes, are chiefly
employed in cutting away the wood towards the edges. Flat tools of the
shape seen in figure C are sometimes offered for sale by tool-makers,
but they ought never to be used; for the projecting corners are very apt
to cut _under_ a line, and thus remove it entirely, causing great
trouble to replace it by inserting new pieces of wood.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: GOUGES.]
[Illustration: CHISELS.]
[Illustration: C]
[Illustration]
The face of both gravers and tint-tools ought to be kept rather long
than short; though if the point be ground _too fine_, it will be very
liable to break. When the face is long--or, strictly speaking, when the
angle, formed by the plane of the face and the lower line of the blade,
is comparatively acute--thus, a line is cut with much greater clearness
than when the face is comparatively obtuse, and the small shaving cut
out turns gently over towards the hand. When, however, the face of the
tool approaches to the shape seen in the following cut, the reverse
happens; the small shaving is rather ploughed out than cleanly cut out;
and the force necessary to push the tool forward frequently causes small
pieces to fly out at each side of the hollowed line, more especially if
the wood be dry. The shaving also, instead of turning aside over the
face of the tool, turns over before the point, thus, and hinders the
engraver from seeing that part of the pencilled line which is directly
under it. A short-faced tool of itself prevents the engraver from
distinctly seeing the point. When the face of a tool has become obtuse,
it ought to be ground to a proper form, for instance, from the shape of
the figure A to that of B.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Gravers and tint-tools when first received from the maker are generally
too hard,--a defect which is soon discovered by the point breaking off
short as soon as it enters the wood. To remedy this, the blade of the
tool ought to be placed with its flat side above a piece of iron--a
poker will do very well--nearly red-hot. Directly it changes to a straw
colour it is to be taken off the iron, and either dipped in sweet oil or
allowed to cool gradually. If removed from the iron while it is still of
a straw colour, it will have been softened no more than sufficient; but
should it have acquired a purple tinge, it will have been softened too
much; and instead of breaking at the point, as before, it will bend.
A small grindstone is of great service in grinding down the faces of
tools that have become obtuse. A Turkey stone, though the operation
requires more time, is however a very good substitute, as, besides
reducing the face, the tool receives a point at the same time. Though
some engravers use only a Turkey stone for sharpening their tools, yet a
hone in addition is of great advantage. A graver that has received a
final polish on a hone cuts a clearer line than one which has only been
sharpened on a Turkey stone; it also cuts more pleasantly, gliding
smoothly through the wood, if it be of good quality, without stirring a
particle on each side of the line.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The gravers and tint-tools used for engraving on a plane surface are
straight at the point, as is here represented; but for engraving on a
block rendered concave in certain parts by lowering, it is necessary
that the point should have a slight inclination upwards, thus. The
dotted lines show the direction of the point used for plane surface
engraving. There is no difficulty in getting a tool to _descend_ on one
side of a part hollowed out or lowered; but unless the point be slightly
inclined upwards, as is here shown, it is extremely difficult to make it
_ascend_ on the side opposite, without getting _too much hold_, and thus
producing a wider white line than was intended.
[Illustration]
As the proper manner of holding the graver is one of the first things
that a young wood engraver is taught, it is necessary to say a few words
on this subject. Engravers on copper and steel, who have much harder
substances than wood to cut, hold the graver with the fore-finger
extending on the blade beyond the thumb, thus, so that by its pressure
the point may be pressed into the plate. As box-wood, however, is much
softer than copper or steel, and as it is seldom of perfectly equal
hardness throughout, it is necessary to hold the graver in a different
manner, and employ the thumb at once as a stay or rest for the blade,
and as a check upon the force exerted by the palm of the hand, the
motion being chiefly directed by the fore-finger, as is shown in the
following cut.
[Illustration]
The thumb, with the end resting against the side of the block, in the
manner above represented, allows the blade to move back and forward with
a slight degree of pressure against it, and in case of a slip it is ever
ready to check the graver’s progress. This mode of resting the thumb
against the edge of the block is, however, only applicable when the cuts
are so small as to allow of the graver, when thus guided and controlled,
to reach every part of the subject. When the cut is too large to admit
of this, the thumb then rests upon the surface of the block, thus:
[Illustration]
still forming a stay to the blade of the graver, and a check to its
slips, as before.
[Illustration: No. 1.]
[Illustration: No. 2.]
In order to acquire steadiness of hand, the best thing for a pupil to
begin with is the cutting of tints,--that is, parallel lines; and the
first attempts ought to be made on a small block such as is represented
in No. 1, which will allow each entire line to be cut with the thumb
resting against the edge. When lines of this length can be cut with
tolerable precision, the pupil should proceed to blocks of the size of
No. 2. He ought also to cut waved tints, which are not so difficult;
beginning, as in straight ones, with a small block, and gradually
proceeding to blocks of greater size. Should the wood not cut smoothly
in the direction in which he has begun, he should reverse the block, and
cut his lines in the opposite direction; for it not unfrequently happens
that wood which cuts short and crumbles in one direction will cut clean
and smooth the opposite way. It is here necessary to observe, that if a
certain number of lines be cut in one direction, and another portion, by
reversing the block, be cut the contrary way, the tint, although the
same tool may have been used for all, will be of two different shades,
notwithstanding the pains that may have been taken to keep the lines of
an even thickness throughout. This difference in the appearance of the
two portions of lines cut from opposite sides is entirely owing to the
wood cutting more smoothly in one direction than another, although the
difference in the resistance which it makes to the tool may not be
perceptible by the hand of the engraver. It is of great importance that
a pupil should be able to cut tints well before he proceeds to any other
kind of work. The practice will give him steadiness of hand, and he will
thus acquire a habit of carefully executing such lines, which
subsequently will be of the greatest service. Wood engravers who have
not been well schooled in this elementary part of their profession often
cut their tints carelessly in the first instance, and, when they
perceive the defect in a proof, return to their work; and, with great
loss of time, keep thinning and dressing the lines, till they frequently
make the tint appear worse than at first.
When uniform tints, both of straight and waved lines, can be cut with
facility, the learner should proceed to cut tints in which the lines are
of unequal distance apart. To effect this, tools of different sizes are
necessary; for in tints of this kind the different distances between the
black lines, are according to the width of the different tools used to
cut them; though in tints of a graduated tone of colour, the difference
is sometimes entirely produced by increasing the pressure of the graver.
In the annexed cut, No. 3, the black lines are of equal thickness, but
the width of the white lines between them becomes gradually less from
the top to the bottom. By comparing it with No. 4, the difference
between a uniform tint, where the lines are of the same thickness and
equally distant, and one where the distance between the lines is
unequal, will be more readily understood.
[Illustration: No. 3.]
[Illustration: No. 4.]
[Illustration: No. 5.]
A straight-line tint, either uniform, or with the lines becoming
gradually closer without appearing darker, is generally adopted to
represent a clear blue sky. In No. 3 the tint has been commenced with a
comparatively broad-pointed tool; and after cutting a few lines, less
pressure, thus allowing the black lines to come a little closer
together, has been used, till it became necessary to change the tool for
one less broad in the face. In this manner a succession of tools, each
finer than the preceding, has been employed till the tint was
completed.--To be able to produce a tint of delicately graduated _tone_,
it is necessary that the engraver should be well acquainted with the use
of his tools, and also have a correct eye. The following is a specimen
of a tint cut entirely with the same _graver_, the difference in the
colour being produced by increasing the pressure in the lighter parts.
Tints of this kind are obtained with greater facility and certainty by
using a graver, and increasing the pressure, than by using several
tint-tools. On comparing No. 3 with No. 5, it will be perceived that the
black lines in the latter decrease in thickness as they approach the
bottom of the cut, while in the former they are of a uniform thickness
throughout. If a clear sky is to be represented, there is no other mode
of making that part near the horizon appear to recede except by means of
fine black lines becoming gradually closer as they descend, as seen in
the tint No. 3. As the black lines in this tint are closer at the bottom
than at the top, it might naturally be supposed that the colour would be
proportionably stronger in that part. It is, however, known by
experience that the unequal distance of the lines in such a tint does
not cause any perceptible difference in the colour; as the upper lines,
in consequence of their being more apart, print thicker, and thus
counterbalance the effect of the greater closeness of the others.
The two following cuts are specimens of tints represented by means of
waved lines: in No. 6 the lines are slightly undulated; in No. 7 they
have more of the appearance of zig-zag.
[Illustration: No. 6.]
[Illustration: No. 7.]
Waved lines are generally introduced to represent clouds, as they not
only form a contrast with the straight lines of the sky, but from their
form suggest the idea of motion. It is necessary to observe, that if the
alternate undulations in such lines be too much curved, the tint, when
printed, will appear as if intersected from top to bottom, like
wicker-work with perpendicular stakes, in the manner shown in the
following specimen, No. 8. This appearance is caused by the unequal
pressure of the tool in forming the small curves of which each line is
composed, thus making the black or raised line rather thicker in some
parts than in others, and the white interstices wide or narrow in the
same proportion. The appearance of such a tint is precisely the same
whether cut by hand or by a machine.[IX-15] In executing waved tints it
is therefore necessary to be particularly careful not to get the
undulations too much curved.
[Footnote IX-15: The sky in many of the large wood engravings
executed in London is now cut by means of a machine invented by
Mr. John Parkhouse. In many steel engravings the sky is ruled in
by means of a machine by persons who do little else.]
[Illustration: No. 8.]
As the choice of proper tints depends on taste, no specific rules can be
laid down to guide a person in their selection. The proper use of lines
of various kinds as applied to the execution of wood-cuts, is a most
important consideration to the engraver, as upon their proper
application all indications of form, texture, and conventional colour
entirely depend. Lines are not to be introduced merely as such,--to
display the mechanical skill of the engraver; they ought to be the signs
of an artistic meaning, and be judged of accordingly as they serve to
express it with feeling and correctness. Some wood engravers are but too
apt to pride themselves on the delicacy of their _lining_, without
considering whether it be well adapted to express their subject; and to
fancy that excellence in the art consists chiefly in cutting with great
labour a number of delicate unmeaning lines. To such an extent is this
carried by some of this class that they spend more time in expressing
the mere scratches of the designer’s pencil in a shade than a Bewick or
a Clennell would require to engrave a cut full of meaning and interest.
Mere delicacy of lines will not, however, compensate for want of natural
expression, nor laborious trifling for that vigorous execution which is
the result of feeling. “Expression,” says Flaxman, “engages the
attention, and excites an interest which compensates for a multitude of
defects--whilst the most admirable execution, without a just and lively
expression, will be disregarded as laborious inanity, or contemned as an
illusory endeavour to impose on the feelings and the understanding.--
Sentiment gives a sterling value, an irresistible charm, to the rudest
imagery or the most unpractised scrawl. By this quality a firm alliance
is formed with the affections in all works of art.”[IX-16] Perpetrators
of laborious inanities find, however, their admirers; and an amateur of
such delicacies is in raptures with a specimen of “exquisitely fine
lining,” and when told that such wood-_peckings_ are, as works of art,
much inferior to the productions of Bewick, he asks where his works are
to be found; and after he has examined them he pronounces them “coarse
and tasteless,--the rude efforts of a _country_ engraver,” and not to be
compared with certain delicate, but spiritless, wood engravings of the
present day.
[Footnote IX-16: Lectures on Sculpture, pp. 172-193.]
With respect to the direction of lines, it ought at all times to be
borne in mind by the wood engraver,--and more especially when the lines
are not _laid in_ by the designer,--that they should be disposed so as
to denote the peculiar form of the object they are intended to
represent. For instance, in the limb of a figure they ought not to run
horizontally or vertically,--conveying the idea of either a flat surface
or of a hard cylindrical form,--but with a gentle curvature suitable to
the shape and the degree of rotundity required. A well chosen line makes
a great difference in properly representing an object, when compared
with one less appropriate, though more delicate. The proper disposition
of lines will not only express the form required, but also produce more
_colour_ as they approach each other in approximating curves, as in the
following example, and thus represent a variety of light and shade,
without the necessity of introducing other lines crossing them, which
ought always to be avoided in small subjects: if, however, the figures
be large, it is necessary to break the hard appearance of a series of
such single lines by crossing them with others more delicate.
[Illustration]
In cutting curved lines, considerable difficulty is experienced by not
commencing properly. For instance, if in executing a series of such
lines as are shown in the preceding cut, the engraver commences at A,
and works towards B, the tool will always be apt to cut through the
black line already formed; whereas by commencing at B, and working
towards A, the graver is always outside of the curve, and consequently
never touches the lines previously cut.[IX-17] This difference ought
always to be borne in mind when engraving a series of curved lines, as,
by commencing properly, the work is executed with greater freedom and
ease, while the inconvenience arising from slips is avoided. When such
lines are introduced to represent the rotundity of a limb, with a break
of white in the middle expressive of its greatest prominence, as is
shown in the following figure A, it is advisable that they should be
first _laid in_ as if intended to be continuous, as is seen in figure B,
and the part which appears white in A _lowered_ out before beginning to
cut them, as by this means all risk of their disagreeing, as in C, will
be avoided.
[Illustrations:
A B C]
[Footnote IX-17: As the drawing is the reverse of the impression,
it is necessary to observe that the motion of the graver in this
case is from right to left on the block,--that is, the point B
forms the beginning, and not the termination, of the first line
when the work is properly commenced. The lines are represented in
the cut as they would appear when drawn on a block to be engraved
in the manner recommended.]
The rotundity of a column or similar object is represented by means of
parallel lines, which are comparatively open in the middle where light
is required, but which are engraved closer and thicker towards the sides
to express shade. The effect of such lines will be rendered more evident
by comparing the column in the annexed cut with the square base, which
is represented by a series of equidistant lines, each of the same
thickness as those in the middle of the column.
[Illustration]
Many more examples of tints and simple lines might be given; but, as no
real benefit would be derived from them, it is needless to increase the
number, and make “much ado about nothing.” Every new subject that the
engraver commences presents something new for him to effect, and
requires the exercise of his taste and judgment as to the best mode of
executing it, so that the whole may have some claim to the character of
a work of art. If a thousand examples were given, they would not enable
an engraver to execute a subject properly, unless he were endowed with
that indefinable _feeling_ which at once suggests the best means of
attaining his end. Such feeling may indeed be excited, but can never be
perfectly communicated by rules and examples. In this respect every
artist, whether a humble wood engraver, or a sculptor or a painter of
the highest class, must be self-instructed; the feeling displayed in his
works must be the result of his own perceptions and ideas of beauty and
propriety. It is the difference in feeling, rather than any greater or
less degree of excellence in the mechanical execution, that
distinguishes the paintings of Raffaele from those of Le Brun, Flaxman’s
statues from those of Roubilliac, and the cuts in the Lyons Dance of
Death from many of the laborious inanities of the present day.
Clear, unruffled water, and all bright and smooth metallic substances,
are best represented by single lines; for if cross-lines be introduced,
except to indicate a strong shadow, it gives to them the appearance of
roughness, which is not at all in accordance with the ideas which such
substances naturally excite. Objects which appear to reflect brilliant
flashes of light ought to be carefully dealt with, leaving _plenty of
black_ as a ground-work, for in wood engravings such lights can only be
effectively represented by contrast with deep _colour_. Reflected lights
are in general best represented by means of single lines running in the
direction of the object, with a few touches of white judiciously taken
out. In this respect Clennell particularly excelled as a wood engraver.
Painting itself can scarcely represent reflected lights with greater
effect than he has expressed them in several of his cuts. In Harvey’s
large cut of the Death of Dentatus, after Haydon’s noble picture, the
shield of Dentatus affords an instance of reflected light most admirably
represented.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
As my object is to point out to the uninitiated the method of cutting
certain lines, rather than to engage in the fruitless task of showing
how such lines are to be generally applied, I shall now proceed to offer
a few observations on engraving in outline, a process with which the
learner ought to be well acquainted before he attempts subjects
consisting of complicated lines. The word _outline_ in wood engraving
has two meanings: it is used, first, to denote the distinct boundaries
of all kinds of objects; and secondly, to denote the delicate white line
that is cut round any figure or object in order to form a boundary to
the lines by which such figure or object is surrounded, and to thus
allow of their easier liberation: it forms as it were a terminal furrow
into which the lines surrounding the figure run. In speaking of this
second outline in future, it will be distinguished as the _white
outline_; while the other, which properly defines the different figures
and forms, will be called the true or proper outline, or simply the
outline, without any distinctive additional term. As the white outline
ought never to be distinctly visible in an impression, care ought to be
taken, more especially where the adjacent tint is dark, not to cut it
too deep or too wide. In the first of the two following cuts, the white
outline, intentionally cut rather wider than is necessary, is distinctly
seen from its contrast with the dark parts immediately in contact with
it. In the second cut of the same subject, with a different back-ground,
it is less visible in consequence of the parts adjacent being light. It
is, however, still distinctly seen in the shadow of the feet; but it is
shown here purposely to point out an error which is sometimes committed
by cutting a white outline where, as in these parts, it is not required.
The white outline is here quite unnecessary, as the two blacks ought not
to be separated in such a manner; the proper intention of the white
outline is not so much to define the form of the figure or object, but,
as has been already explained, to make an incision in the wood as a
boundary to _other lines_ coming against it, and to allow of their being
clearly liberated without injury to the proper outline of the object:
when a line is cut to such a boundary, the small shaving forced out by
the graver becomes immediately released, without the point of the tool
coming in contact with the true outline. The old German wood engravers,
who chiefly engraved large subjects on apple or pear tree, and on the
_side_ of the wood, were not in the habit of cutting a white outline
round their figures before they began to engrave them, and hence in
their cuts objects frequently appear _to stick_ to each other. The
practice is now, however, so general, that in many modern wood-cuts a
white line is improperly seen surrounding every figure.
[Illustration]
In proceeding to engrave figures, it is advisable to commence with such
as consist of little more than outline, and have no shades expressed by
cross-lines. The first step in executing such a subject is to cut a
white line on each side of the pencilled lines which are to remain in
relief of the height of the plane surface of the block, and to form the
impression when it is printed. A cut when thus engraved, and previous
to the parts which are white, when printed, being cut away, or, in
technical language, _blocked out_, would present the following
appearance.[IX-18] It is, however, necessary to observe that all the
parts which require to be blocked away have been purposely retained
in this cut in order to show more clearly the manner in which it is
executed; for the engraver usually cuts away as he proceeds all the
black masses seen within the subject. A wide margin of solid wood round
the edges of the cut is, however, generally allowed to remain until a
proof be taken when the engraving is finished, as it affords a support
to the paper, and prevents the exterior lines of the subject from
appearing too hard. This margin, where room is allowed, is separated
from the engraved parts by a moderately deep and wide furrow, and is
covered with a piece of paper serving as a _frisket_ in taking a proof
impression by means of friction. In clearing away such of the black
parts in the preceding cut as require to be removed, it is necessary
to proceed with great care in order to avoid breaking down or cutting
through the lines which are to be left in relief. When the cut is
properly cleared out and blocked away, it is then finished, and when
printed will appear thus:
[Footnote IX-18: The subject of this cut is the beautiful monument
to the memory of two children executed by Sir F. Chantrey, in
Lichfield Cathedral.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Sculptures and bas-reliefs of any kind are generally best represented by
simple outlines, with delicate parallel lines, running horizontally, to
represent the ground. The following cut is from a design by Flaxman for
the front of a gold snuff-box made by Rundell and Bridge for George IV.
about 1827. The subject of this design was intended to commemorate the
General Peace concluded in 1814: to the left Agriculture is seen
flourishing under the auspices of Peace; while to the right a youthful
figure is seen placing a wreath above the helmet of a warrior; the
trophy indicates his services, and opposite to him is seated a figure of
Victory. The three other sides, and the top and bottom, were also
embellished with figures and ornaments in relief designed by Flaxman.
The whole of the dies were cut in steel by Henning and Son--so well
known to admirers of art from their beautiful reduced copies and
restorations of the sculptures of the Parthenon preserved in the British
Museum--and from these dies the plates of gold composing the box were
struck, so that the figures appear in slight relief. A blank space was
left in the top of the box for an enamel portrait of the King, which was
afterwards inserted, surrounded with diamonds, and the margin of the lid
was also ornamented in the same manner. This box is perhaps the most
beautiful of the kind ever executed in any country: it may justly
challenge a comparison with the drinking cups by Benvenuto Cellini, the
dagger hafts designed by Durer, or the salts by Hans Holbein. The
process of engraving in this style is extremely simple, as it is only
necessary to leave the lines drawn in pencil untouched, and to cut away
the wood on each side of them. An amateur may without much trouble teach
himself to execute cuts in this manner, or to engrave fac-similes of
small pen-and-ink sketches such as the annexed.[IX-19]
[Illustration]
[Footnote IX-19: This small cut is a fac-simile, the size of the
original, of Sir David Wilkie’s first sketch for his picture of
the Rabbit on the Wall.]
Having now explained the mode of procedure in outline engraving, it
seems necessary, before proceeding to speak of more complicated
subjects, to say a few words respecting drawings made on the block; for,
however well the engraving may be executed, the cut which is a
fac-simile of a bad drawing can never be a good one. An artist’s
knowledge of drawing is put to the test when he begins to make designs
on wood; he cannot resort, as in painting, to the trick of colour to
conceal the defects of his outlines. To be efficient in the engraving,
his principal figures must be distinctly made out; a drawing on the wood
admits of no _scumbling_; black and white are the only means by which
the subject can be represented; and if he be ignorant of the proper
management of chiaro-scuro, and incorrect and feeble in his drawing, he
will not be able to produce a really good design for the wood engraver.
Many persons can paint a tolerably good picture who are utterly
incapable of making a passable drawing on wood. Their drawing will not
stand the test of simple black and white; they can indicate generalities
“indifferently well” by means of positive colours, but they cannot
delineate individual forms correctly with the black-lead pencil. It is
from this cause that we have so very few persons who professedly make
designs for wood engravers; and hence the sameness of character that is
to be found in so many modern wood-cuts. It is not unusual for many
second and third rate painters, when applied to for a drawing for a
wood-cut, to speak slightingly of the art, and to decline to furnish the
design required. This generally results rather from a consciousness of
their own incapacity than from any real contempt for the art. As greater
painters than any now living have made designs for wood engravers in
former times, a second or third rate painter of the present day surely
could not be much degraded by doing the same. The true reason for the
refusal, however, is generally to be found in such painter’s incapacity.
The two next cuts, both drawn from the same sketch,[IX-20] but by
different persons, will show how much depends upon having a good,
artist-like drawing. The first is meagre; the second, on the contrary,
is remarkably spirited, and the additional lines which are introduced
not only give effect to the figure, but also in printing form a support
to the more delicate parts of the outline.
[Illustration: No 1.]
[Illustration: No. 2.]
[Footnote IX-20: The original sketch, from which the figure was
copied, is by Morland.]
Though a learner in proceeding from one subject to another more
complicated will doubtless meet with difficulties which may occasionally
damp his ardour, yet he will encounter none which will not yield to
earnest perseverance. As it is not likely that any amateur practising
the art merely for amusement would be inclined to test his patience by
proceeding beyond outline engraving, the succeeding remarks are more
especially addressed to those who may wish to apply themselves to wood
engraving as a profession.
When beginning to engrave in outline, it is advisable that the subjects
first attempted should be of the most simple kind,--similar, for
instance, to the preceding figure marked No. 1. When facility in
executing cuts in this style is obtained, the learner may proceed to
engrave such as are slightly shaded, and have a back-ground indicated as
in No. 2. He may next proceed to subjects containing a greater variety
of lines, and requiring greater neatness of execution, but should by no
means endeavour to get on too fast by attempting to do _much_ before he
can do a little _well_. Whatever kind of subject be chosen, particular
attention ought to be paid to the causes of failure and success in the
execution. By diligently noting what produces a good effect in certain
subjects, he will, under similar circumstances, be prepared to apply the
same means; and by attending to the faults in his work he will be the
more careful to avoid them in future. The group of figures here,
selected from Sir David Wilkie’s picture of the Rent Day, will serve as
an example of a cut executed by comparatively simple means; the subject
is also such a one as a pupil may attempt after he has made some
progress in engraving slightly shaded figures. There are no complicated
lines which are difficult to execute; the hatchings are few, and of
simple character; and for the execution of the whole, as here
represented, nothing is required but a _feeling_ for the subject; and a
moderate degree of skill in the use of the graver, combined with patient
application.
[Illustration]
When the pupil is thus far advanced, he ought, in subjects of this kind,
to avoid introducing more work, more especially in the features, than he
can execute with comparative facility and precision; for, by attempting
to attain excellence before he has arrived at mediocrity, he will be
very likely to fail, and instead of having reason to congratulate
himself on his success, experience nothing but disappointment. To make
wood engraving an interesting, instead of an irksome study to young
persons, I would recommend for their practice not only such subjects as
are likely to engage their attention, but also such as they may be able
to finish before they become weary of their task. At this period every
endeavour ought to be made to smooth the pupil’s way by giving him such
subjects to execute as will rather serve to stimulate his exertions than
exhaust his patience. Little characteristic figures, like the one here
copied, from one of Hogarth’s plates of the Four Parts of the Day, seem
most suitable for this purpose. A subject of this kind does not contain
so much work as to render a young person tired of it before it be
finished; while at the same time it serves to exercise him in the
practice of the art and to engage his attention.
[Illustration]
When a pupil feels no interest in what he is employed on, he will seldom
execute his work well; and when he is kept too long in engraving
subjects that merely try his patience, he is apt to lose all taste for
the art, and become a mere mechanical cutter of lines, without caring
for what they express.
Such a cut as the following--copied from an etching by Rembrandt--will
form a useful exercise to the pupil, after he has attained facility in
the execution of outline subjects, while at the same time it will serve
to display the excellent effect in wood engravings of well contrasted
light and shade. The hog--which is here the principal object--
immediately arrests the eye, while the figures in the back-ground,
being introduced merely to aid the composition and form a medium
between the dark colour of the animal and the white paper, consist
of little more than outline, and are comparatively light. In engraving
the hog, it is necessary to exercise a little judgment in representing
the bristly hair, and in _touching_ the details effectively.
[Illustration]
When a learner has made some progress, he may attempt such a cut as that
on the next page in order to exercise himself in the appropriate
representation of animal texture. The subject is a dray-horse, formerly
belonging to Messrs. Meux and Co., and the drawing was made on the block
by James Ward, R.A., one of the most distinguished animal painters of
the present time. Such a cut, though executed by simple means, affords
an excellent test of a learner’s skill and discrimination: the hide is
smooth and glossy; the mane is thick and tangled; the long flowing hair
of the tail has to be represented in a proper manner; and the markings
of the joints require the exercise of both judgment and skill. By
attending to such distinctions at the commencement of his career, he
will find less difficulty in representing objects by appropriate texture
when he shall have made greater progress, and will not be entirely
dependent on a designer to _lay in_ for him every line. An engraver who
requires every line to be drawn, and who is only capable of executing a
fac-simile of a design made for him on the block, can never excel.
[Illustration]
As enough perhaps has been said in explanation of the manner of cutting
tints, and of figures chiefly represented by single lines, I shall now
give a cut--Jacob blessing the children of Joseph--in which single-lined
figures and tint are combined. It is necessary to observe that this cut
is not introduced as a good specimen of engraving, but as being well
adapted, from the simplicity of its execution, to illustrate what I have
to say. The figures are represented by single lines, which require the
exercise of no great degree of skill; and by the introduction of a
varied tint as a back-ground the cut appears like a complete subject,
and not like a sketch, or a detached group.
It is necessary to remark here, that when comparatively light objects,
such as the figures here seen, are to be relieved by a tint of any kind,
whether darker or lighter, such objects are now generally separated from
it by a black outline. The reason for leaving such an outline in parts
where the conjunction of the tint and the figures does not render it
absolutely _necessary_ is this: as those parts in a cut which appear
white in the impression are to be cut away--as has already been
explained,--it frequently happens that when they are cut away _first_,
and the tint cut afterwards, the wood breaks away near the termination
of the line before the tool arrives at the blank or white. It is,
therefore, extremely difficult to preserve a distinct outline in this
manner, and hence a black _conventional_ outline is introduced in those
parts where properly there ought to be none, except such as is formed by
the tint _relieving_ against the white parts, as is seen in the back
part of the head of Jacob in the present cut, where there is no other
outline than that which is formed by the tint relieving against his
white cap. Bewick used to execute all his subjects in this manner; but
he not unfrequently carried this principle too far, not only running the
lines of his tints into the white on the _light_ side of his
figures,--that is, on the side on which the light falls,--but also on
both sides of a light object.
[Illustration]
Before dismissing this part of the subject, it is necessary to observe
further, that when the white parts are cut away before the tint is
introduced, the conventional black outline is very liable to be cut
through by the tool slipping. This will be rendered more intelligible by
an inspection of the following cut,[IX-21] where the house is seen
finished, and the part where a tint is intended to be subsequently
engraved appears black. Any person in the least acquainted with the
practice of wood engraving, will perceive, that should the tool happen
to slip when near the finished parts, in coming directly towards them,
it will be very likely to cut the outline through, and to make a breach
in proportion as such outline may be thin, and thus yield more readily
to the force of the tool.
[Footnote IX-21: In this cut the _white_ outline, mentioned at
page 587, is distinctly seen at the top of the buildings and above
the trees.]
[Illustration]
When the tint is cut _first_, instead of being left to be executed last,
as it would be in the preceding cut, the mass of wood out of which the
house is subsequently engraved serves as a kind of barrier to the tool
in the event of its slipping, and allows of the tint being cut with less
risk quite up to the white outline. By attending to such matters, and
considering what part of a subject can be most safely executed first,
a learner will both avoid the risk of cutting through his outline, and
be enabled to execute his work with comparative facility. The following
cut is an example of the tint being cut first. For the information of
those who are unacquainted with the process of wood engraving, it is
necessary to remark that the parts which appear positively black are
those which remain untouched by the graver.
[Illustration]
The following subject, copied from one of Rembrandt’s etchings, is
chiefly represented by black lines crossing each other. Such lines,
usually termed _cross-hatchings_, are executed with great facility in
copper and steel, where they are cut _into_ the metal; but in wood
engraving, where they are left in _relief_, it requires considerable
time and attention to execute them with delicacy and precision. In order
to explain more clearly the difficulty of executing cross-hatchings, let
it be conceived that this cut is a drawing made on a block, and that the
engraver’s object is to produce a fac-simile of it: now, as each black
line is to be left in relief, it is evident that he cannot imitate the
cross-hatchings seen in the arms, the neck, and other parts, by cutting
the lines continuously as in engraving on copper, which puts black _in_
by means of an incision, while in wood engraving a similar line takes it
_out_. As the wood engraver, then, can only obtain white by cutting out
the parts that are to appear so in the impression, while the black is to
be left in relief, the only manner in which he is enabled to represent
_cross-hatchings_, or _black lines crossing each other_, is to cut out
singly with his graver every one of the white interstices. Such an
operation, as will be evident from an inspection of this cut,
necessarily requires not only patience, but also considerable skill to
perform it in a proper manner,--that is, to cut each white space cleanly
out, and to preserve the lines of a regular thickness. From the supposed
impossibility of executing such cross lines, it has been conjectured
that many of the old wood-cuts containing such work were engraved in
metallic relief: this opinion, however, is sufficiently refuted, by the
fact of hundreds of blocks containing cross-hatchings being still in
existence, and by the much more delicate and difficult work of the same
kind displayed in modern wood engravings. Not only are cross-hatchings
of the greatest delicacy now executed in England, but to such a degree
of refinement is the process occasionally carried, that small black
_touches_--such as may be perceived in the preceding cut in the folds of
the sleeve above the elbow of the right arm--are left in the white
interstices between the lines. Cross-hatchings, where the interstices
are entirely white, are executed by means of a lozenge-pointed tool, and
the piece of wood is removed at two _cuts_, each beginning at the
opposite angles. Where a small black touch is left within the
interstices, the operation becomes more difficult, and is performed by
cutting round such minute touch of black with a finely pointed graver.
[Illustration]
The various conjectures that have been propounded respecting the mode in
which cross-hatchings have been effected in old wood-cuts require no
argument to refute them, as they are directly contradicted both by
undoubted historical facts, and by every day’s experience. Vegetable
putties, punches, and metallic relief are nothing but the trifling
speculations of persons who are fonder of propounding theories to
display their own ingenuity than willing to investigate facts in order
to arrive at the truth. It has happened rather unfortunately, that most
persons who have hitherto written upon the subject have known very
little about the practice of wood engraving, and have not thought it
worth their while to consult those who were able to give them
information. There is, however, no fear now of a young wood engraver
being deterred from attempting cross-hatchings on learning from certain
heretofore authorities on the subject that such work could not be
executed on wood. He now laughs at _vegetable putties_, _square-pointed
punches_ for indenting the block to produce cross-hatchings, and
_metallic relief_: by means of his graver alone he produces a practical
refutation of every baseless theory that has been propounded on the
subject.
The right leg of Dentatus in Mr. Harvey’s large wood engraving after Mr.
Haydon’s picture is perhaps the most beautiful specimen of
cross-hatching that ever was executed on wood; and, in my opinion, it is
the best engraved part of the whole subject. Through the kindness of Mr.
Harvey, I have obtained a cast of this portion of the block, from which
the present impression is printed. The lines showing the muscular
rotundity and action of the limb are as admirably _laid in_ as they are
beautifully engraved. In the wider and stronger cross-hatchings of the
drapery above, the small black touches previously mentioned are
perceived in the lozenge-shaped interstices.
[Illustration]
From an opinion that the excellence of an engraving consists chiefly in
the difficulty of its execution, we now frequently find cross-hatchings
in several modern wood-cuts, more especially in such as are manufactured
for the French market, where a better effect would have been produced by
simpler means. Cross-hatchings, _properly introduced_, undoubtedly
improve a subject; and some parts of large figures, such as the leg of
Dentatus, cannot be well expressed without their aid, as a series of
curved lines on a limb, when not crossed, generally cause it to appear
stiff and rigid. By crossing them, however, by other lines properly
_laid in_, the part assumes a most soft and natural appearance.
As the greatest advantage which wood engraving possesses over copper is
the effective manner in which strongly contrasted light and shade can be
represented, Rembrandt’s etchings,--which, like his paintings, are
distinguished by the skilful management of the chiaro-scuro--form
excellent studies for the engraver or designer on wood who should wish
to become well acquainted with the capabilities of the art. A delicate
wood-cut, executed in imitation of a smooth steel-engraving of “sober
grey” tone, is sure to be tame and insipid; and whenever wood engravers
attempt to give to their cuts the appearance of copper or steel-plates,
and neglect the peculiar advantages of their own art, they are sure to
fail, notwithstanding the pains they may bestow. Their work, instead of
being commended as a successful application of the peculiar means of the
art, is in effect condemned by being regarded as “a clever _imitation_
of a copper-plate.”
[Illustration]
The above cut of Christ and the Woman of Samaria, copied from an etching
by Rembrandt, will perhaps more forcibly illustrate what has been said
with respect to wood engraving being excellently adapted to effectively
express strong contrasts of light and shade. The original etching--which
has been faithfully copied--is a good example of Rembrandt’s consummate
skill in the management of chiaro-scuro; everything that he has wished
to forcibly express immediately arrests the eye, while in the whole
design nothing appears abrupt. The extremes of light and shade concentre
in the principal figure, that of Christ, and to this everything else in
the composition is either subordinate or accessory. The middle tint
under the arched passage forms a medium between the darkness of Christ’s
robe and the shade under the curve of the nearest arch, and the light in
the front of his figure is gradually carried off to the left through the
medium of the woman and the distant buildings, which gradually approach
to the colour of the paper. Were a tint, however delicate, introduced in
this subject to represent the sky, the effect would be destroyed; the
parts which are now so effective would appear spotted and confused, and
have a crude, unfinished appearance. By the injudicious introduction of
a tinted sky many wood-cuts, which would otherwise be striking and
effective, are quite spoiled.
It but too frequently happens when works are illustrated with wood-cuts,
that subjects are chosen which the art cannot successfully represent.
Whether the work to be illustrated be matter of fact or fiction, the
designer, unless he be acquainted both with the capabilities and defects
of the art, seldom thinks of more than making a drawing according to his
own fancy, and never takes into consideration the means by which it has
to be executed. To this inattention may be traced many failures in works
illustrated with wood-cuts, and for which the engraver is censured,
although he may have, with great care and skill, accomplished all that
the art could effect. An artist who is desirous that his designs, when
engraved on wood, should appear like impressions from _over-done_
steel-plates, ought never to be employed to make drawings for wood
engravers: he does not understand the peculiar advantages of the art,
and his designs will only have a tendency to bring it into contempt,
while those who execute them will be blamed for the defects which are
the result of his want of knowledge.
Delicate wood engravings which are made to look well in a proof on India
paper by rubbing the ink partially off the block in the lighter
parts--in the manner described by Papillon at page 466--generally
present a very different appearance when printed, either with or without
types in the same page. Lines which are cut too thin are very liable to
turn down in printing from their want of support; and hence cuts
consisting chiefly of such lines are seldom so durable as those which
display more black, and are executed in a more bold and effective style.
A designer who understands the peculiarities of wood engraving will
avoid introducing delicate lines in parts where they receive no support
from others of greater strength or closeness near to them, but are
exposed to the unmitigated force of the press. Cuts in proportion to the
quantity of _colour_ which they display are so much the better enabled
to bear the action of the press; the delicate lines which they contain,
from their receiving support from the others, are not only less liable
to break down, but, from their contrast with the darker parts of the
subject, appear to greater advantage than in a cut which is of a
uniformly grey tone. I am not, however, the advocate of _black_, and
little else, in a wood-cut; on the contrary, I am perfectly aware of the
absurdity of introducing patches of black without either meaning or
effect. What I wish to inculcate is, that a wood-cut to have a good
effect must contain more of properly contrasted black and white than
those who wish their cuts to appear like imitations of steel or
copper-plate engravings are willing to allow. As wood engraving is not
well adapted to represent subjects requiring great delicacy of lines and
variety of tints, such will be generally avoided by a designer who
understands the art; while, on the contrary, he will avail himself of
its advantages in representing well contrasted light and shade in a
manner superior to either copper-plate or steel engraving. Of all modern
engravers on wood, none understood the advantages of their art in this
respect better than Bewick and Clennell: the cuts of their engraving are
generally the most effective that have ever been executed.