Graver to graver, magnifiers poised; the game is on. During this lively demonstration we had an unprecedented face off between metal and wood engraving with James Ehlers (metal), the only tenured professor in the U.S. to hold the title of “Firearms Engraving Guild of American Master Engraver,” and Joanne Price (wood), President of the Wood Engravers’ Network, an elected member of the Society of Wood Engravers, and owner of Starpointe Studio. John Hancock, visual and performance artist, and professor at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor of Texas, moderated the face off. As we discussed the pros and cons of each technique, the moderator engaged the audience with props and performance to demonstrate close-up views of each process in action. Which technique came out on the top?

We talked about each process’ historic roots, tools, materials, and more – you can see the digital slide show on my tablet, an original print by Thomas Bewick from the late 1800s, information about the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN) along with some of WEN’s exhibition catalogs (Right), helpful handouts, some tools and different material examples. Contact me if you would like to have pdf versions of the handouts. I even did some hand-printed take-aways as shown in the video below, although, not nearly enough! Special thanks to Becky Blosser for the great photo of me during the sharpening portion of the demo. Thanks also to GRS, McClain’s Printmaking Supplies, Conrad Machine Co., Takach Press, Savoir-Faire, and Renaissance Graphics – vendor donations and support were greatly appreciated!

Photo by Becky Blosser

A ridiculously sized cardboard prop of a burin – did I fool you into thinking it was half real?

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