WoodCutEmporium makes some really cool woodcut prints, but I wanted the negatives to hang over my fireplace. I converted the images to black and white SVGs and then cut them out of red oak. I hit the high parts with a torch to get the black and then stained the rest. I went in afterwards and did some light highlights and then sealed everything up.
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The blowtorch is one of my favorite finishing techniques. Yours look great! I think I made a rubber stamp in linoleum with that very same Yoda head. Awesome!
Dan
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Catbus!!!
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How did the prints turn out?
I didn’t actually print with them, the black is from a torch.
Did you carve then torch? How did you only torch the raised parts?
Probably my lack of experience, but when I try this (and I want to because those look sweet!) I anticipate my burning the whole thing.
the carvings are only 2 heights, either the base of the wood or raised (just like a stamp pad) so it’s actually not too hard. you put your torch at 90 degrees to the finished work and just carefully work it over the raised parts. As long as you don’t go ham and get the torch too close, it’s not too hard. just go slow.
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You could always torch first and then carve second if you wanted really clean lines. I’ve created a similar effect by painting the entire board black and then carving the design. It worked just ok with poplar.
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I’ve done a fair bit of the blowtorch method, but I’m no pro. For me the trick was keeping the torch moving, if you linger you’ll make a spot that you’ll then have to match on the whole project (or start over). I grabbed some pine wall studs and practiced for a bit before going after a real project, took a few minutes to get a feel for it, but then I was off to the races!
Dan
SUGGESTION FOR TRYING OUT BLOCK PRINT NEGATIVES
Our local newspaper offers “newspaper end rolls” for sale, usually with many feet of paper left on the roll, maybe 200 to 400 ft. at some very reasonable pricing. I got 4 rolls and each was under $5.00. You have plenty of paper to play around with, so, if you don’t want to get the blocks wet with ink then lay the newspaper over the block and roll ink on top of that. You should be able to see any errors even if it is a reverse image.
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@scratch Thanks for the idea. My students will all want to be woodworkers soon!
Just scrap pine leftover from another project. Still need to finish it.
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oooohhoho very nice! I think we found the same artist 
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