T.B.P.S. | Making Woodcuts

The woodcuts produced at T.B.P.S. are traditionally hand-crafted, quality artworks on paper. Prints are published directly from hand-drawn & hand-carved 3/4” birch plywood woodblock(s) to archival papers using top-shelf, oil-based inks.

(To view the making of any recent print in depth, click on the photo of that print in the T.B.P.S. shop!)

Prints begin as pencil sketches on plywood blocks, refined in pen.

The wooden blocks are hand-carved in low relief using gouging tools & knives.

A unique handling of woodcut process has evolved in Tugboat’s artistic practice.

Age-old academic printmaking techniques pair with whimsical, folky inventiveness.

Multiple blocks are drawn & carved to make Tugboat’s full color artworks.

Blocks impressions overlay to build the image on the paper’s surface, ink layer by ink layer.

The “BLUE BRIDGE” river scene woodcut is a 4-block print on Ivory Somerset Paper.

“THE SUN” woodcut from 2 woodblocks, approx. 47” x 37” on Japanese paper.

A layer of oil-based ink is applied by roller or brayer.

Paper is placed on the inked block, which is then hand-cranked through a printing press.

The roller’s pressure evenly stamps ink from the block to the paper, creating the printed impression.

Doing this multiple times creates the edition!

Woodcut makes a very distinct printed image, quite different than a screenprint or digital (giclee) print.

Because they are printed directly from the block, the woodgrain of the block’s surface is a visible element in the finished printed image. Ink lays in physical layers, thin but evident in the completed artworks.

Crispness & clarity of line is sharp, without pixelation or distortion.

All of Tugboat’s woodcuts are handmade without the aid of modern technologies.

Each print pulled from a woodblock by hand is, in some nuanced way, original :)