Wood Relief Prints

Inspired by Bryan Nash Gill’s work I decided to do some relief prints of my own, so I used a spare flat piece of wood which I had laying around. I then took a hammer and chisel to the wood board and removed sections out of it, splintering and splitting the wood to give it texture so that a print could be taken from it. I applied the relief ink by rubbing it into the wood using cloth, I used a slightly thicker grade of paper which I had placed in a water bath and dried it enough so that the paper was damp so that it would absorb the ink easier.

In the first picture, I hand burnished the paper by using wooden spoons, a similar method that Gill would use to do his prints. My print turned out well for a first attempt and I managed to pick up some of the details, but sections were missing as I couldn’t get the spoon into those deeper sections of the wooden board. I spoke to Virginia about how I could improve on getting a much clearer and more detailed print, she said to use the lithography press, which are picture 2 and 3. I set the machine press up and I turned the wood through the roller and I got more of the splintered effect by doing this method.

I was pretty happy with the outcome of these relief prints and enjoyed the unpredictability of how the wood splintered and broke when using the hammer and chisel, so I decided to continue on with damaging wood to make it look worn and used.

I have also researched a group / collective called Alcarol, who are designers that create spectacular furniture out of wood and resin, the quality of there product is incredible, they capture and preserve natural materials exactly as they were in there original habitat. This definitely inspired me to use more natural wood, with a waney/live edge.

Link to there website: https://www.alcarol.com/collections/undergrowth/