Practice Rocks

I engraved a Chris Daunt made boxwood round , images of flint-knapped rocks that I had photographed in Patagonia, Arizona, at Jeanne’s sister’s ranch. I wanted to work out some ideas I had for techniques to use on my larger “Storied Stone” wood engraving.

The engraved boxwood round.

The engraved boxwood round.

The block surface seen with a raking light. When printed the engraved lines will appear white.

The block surface seen with a raking light. When printed the engraved lines will appear white.

The first proof. Here the rocks are seen against a black background. After printing a few more proofs, I decided I was going to remove all the black background away to see how the rocks looked different on a white background (the paper color).

The first proof. Here the rocks are seen against a black background. After printing a few more proofs, I decided I was going to remove all the black background away to see how the rocks looked different on a white background (the paper color).

It takes a bit of an effort to clear large areas of a block.

It takes a bit of an effort to clear large areas of a block.

When printed the rocks look different.

When printed the rocks look different.