Wood Engraved Holiday Cards with Samuel Swap

Join printmaker, illustrator and educator Samuel Swap to learn the basics of wood engraving, and turn it into a set of holiday cards! A niche form of relief printing popularized in the late 17th to early 18th century, wood engraving is the art of carving into end grain blocks of hardwood with tiny copper engraving tools to create beautiful prints filled with impressive amounts of depth. Similar to other relief forms of printmaking like linoleum and wood carving, but wood engraving has the unique ability to hold the same amount of detail and line weight as a copper etching.

During this class, Sam will show off some historic wood engravings from his collection, as well as some personal creations to help inspire you and show what is possible, before giving an in depth demo on how to carve and print your own prints using a baren (no need for large presses!) before turning you loose to create and carve your own!

Each participant will get a 3×3 inch handmade block of american hard maple, made by wood block maker Jim Reynolds of Michigan, as well as their own Spitsticker, also called an elliptical tint tool, to take with them and continue engraving far into the future! All prints will be made on fine Japanese Kozo paper, with each participant being able to print an edition of 5 prints. These prints will be able to be printed as holiday cards for the season, and put inside of card holder, where the print can be slid out for use outside of the card!