Making the First Cut

I inherited two sets of woodcutting tools from my father and used them in college. I remember as a kid using these very same tools on small linoleum-block print projects: Christmas and birthday cards, wrapping paper, kite decorations. I also remember the curved blade scoop tool and the nasty hole it put at the base of my right palm because I had yet to learn to "keep your other hand out of the way of the blade". For this cut, I will be using primarily two tools: the angled knife and the very small "v" gouge on the left.



I took me a little while to get back into the swing of things and get into a regular rhythm with the tools. They feel cumbersome at times, but I keep them sharp with an Arkansas stone, honing every morning before cutting, which helps minimize slips and miscuts. On the photo below you can see where I have begun cutting in the lower left corner. What you cannot see is the thin rubber no-slip kitchen matting that I have under the block. It provides just enough resistance to keep it from slipping under the pressure of the knife, yet allows for the block to be swiveled so that I can attack the cuts at the best angle.

Because some of the areas I will be cutting are very tight, I also employ an X-acto knife, but I find that blade is too flexible to withstand the pressure of cutting larger areas of the block and I am mortified that I will snap the blade and have a piece go flying. Here is an actual size photo of the woodcut, showing the level of detail. I cut away the white portions of the paper, leaving the black lines. As you can imagine, working in such tight places is quite time-consuming.




One other thing: what's up with those funky horizontal white lines? Well, the day that I was printing my enlarged drawing on the office laser printer, the fuser unit reached the end of its life. It's fairly easy to negotiate around them, and I simply re-ink the lines where needed.