Or maybe even engravingery.

It all starts with scribbling and ideas (as you’d expect). And then gorgeous blocks of slow-grown, dense-grained box wood. Its wood engraving so you cut into the end grain (wood cutting is when you use the side grain) and box is dense enough to resist crumbling – it carves out like super dense butter (on a cold day). Or maybe non-crumbly cheese. Or perhaps soft metal. Or there again …

 

 

 

 

 

 

The block is blackened with ink (so you can see the light marks as you engrave them through the ink) and the design transferred using good old-fashioned tracing paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then you start engraving. With engraving tools (pretty much like metal engraving tools). After I was thrown out of Old Mr Lawrence’s shop (and was too scared to go back) I used to get these from a shop near Clapham Common. The strange brown ‘cushion’ is a sand-filled leather, well … cushion really. But hard, so you can angle the block and move your hands all around it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished engraving locked into the chase ready to be inked up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

First proof with correction marks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finished print:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And framed: