Archive for category Medium: Wood
Wood Engraving – how to do it || Simon Brett
Posted by henry in Author: Simon Brett, Medium: Wood, Publisher: A&C Black, Subject: Engraving on March 22, 2011
I can’t find anywhere that “how to do it” is a promising new series, but the subtitle is prominent on the cover and it’s rather to be hoped, on the evidence of this volume, that it is.
Most instruction manuals these days adopt an illustration-led approach, with the amount of detail included and the length of explanatory text being determined by how elementary or advanced the book is intended to be. Here, however, the meat of the beast is in the writing. That’s not to say that there are no illustrations, or that they’re merely appendages to the text. Far from it, and there are several sequences that show the same scene treated in a variety of different ways, both technically and from a design and aesthetic point of view.
Wood engraving is as old as printing (if not older) and so it’s no surprise that the illustrations are almost all prints, there being hardly any photographs of actual blocks. The few there are show that these don’t in fact photograph easily, although I can’t help feeling that some careful cross-lighting might have helped and that maybe a few more indications of the starting rather than the finishing point might have been helpful. There is, however, a remarkable spread showing how different engravers hold their tools, which is a handy reminder that there’s no right and wrong here.
This is a very thorough guide intended for the serious practitioner rather than the dilettante and, as I said, the approach would develop well into a series.
Sculpting In Wood || Peter Clothier
Posted by henry in Author: Peter Clothier, Medium: Wood, Publisher: A&C Black, Subject: Sculpture on August 28, 2007
Wood sculptures are always attractive and we all get those, “I wish I could do that” moments. The big advantage of wood as a medium is that you’ll probably have a lot of the tools already and most of the others can be obtained readily at a DIY shop.
Peter Clothier begins with the basics, explaining how to make maquettes, where to find suitable wood (bought or found) and how to handle and maintain tools. This is sufficiently thorough that the book is half way through before you get to the projects. Normally, this would be a worry, but the in-depth approach of the early sections will prove invaluable later on and isn’t, like some other arts and crafts, widely covered elsewhere. There are four of these projects (a dancer, a rabbit, a shark and a tiger) which show different tools, techniques and materials in practice and which together make up an excellent primer.
Assuming that you are new to wood sculpting, this is a book which should enable you to get started and make worthwhile progress without being so complex as to put you off. Yes, a large degree of work and application will be required, but Black’s don’t do books for the dilettante, so stick with it and be rewarded.
A&C Black 2007
£19.99
