Wood And The Graver

A carefully squared block of highly polished endgrain boxwood or maple and a few sharpened gravers are insignificant in themselves. But in the hands of Hamilton artist Wesley Bates these seemingly inflexible demanding materials can create form, fluidity, mood, depth: an infinite world of light and shadow, monochrome and colour. The English wood engraver Clare Leighton once wrote, `Of all media, wood-engraving is the one in which there is the least to be taught and the most to be learnt.' The engraver's challenge to engrave light onto the block and to respect the mystery of solid blacks and whites is not easily met; but Wesley learned his craft carefully and methodically. He shows his admiration for English wood engraving in his skilful use of these simple gravers and his ability to suggest character and expression in his subjects. Wesley's engravings maintain their moods and tell their tales with style, sensitivity, humour and skill. The subject matter in The Point of the Graver ranges from traditional folk ballads (The Brisk Young Butcher) to modern allegories (A Contemporary Fable), from simple commissions (Ex Libris) to elaborate three-panel illustrations (To the Avon River above Stratford, Canada). In all of these Bates display a technical virtuosity that allows him to `live on the point of the graver' where there is the constant danger of passing the point of no return.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Excerpt from J. J. Lankes: Painter-Graver on Wood I first came upon these engravings quite by accident, and was immediately enamoured of them. Perhaps it were more accurate to say, enamoured of the view of wood-engraving their maker holds, though I doubt whether he has ever troubled himself to formulate a conscious point of view. Yet the point of view is there: if it were not, the engravings would not be there. A refreshing thing about these prints is their freedom from the atmosphere of the studios, with its endless suggestions of other men's art. He seems to see without the familiar results of steepage in art atmospheres, and his message is, therefore, not an echo but an original thing born of the contact between the external world and his own fresh mind. A wood-engraving of a linear drawing is done in one of two ways: the block, which before it is engraved at all prints black, may be so cut that the resulting design is a pattern of dark on a ground of light. This is negative engraving, because the incision of the tool simply removes parts of the dark pattern, thus adding the area removed to the negative ground against which the pattern is seen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The exacting art of wood engraving is defined by presence and absence, shadow and light, black and white. An arduous yet rewarding art form, it requires an artistic eye and a dedication to technique in order to imbue each image with its own visual narrative. Wood engraver Wesley W. Bates, the artist behind the acclaimed book The Point of the Graver, demonstrates the power and precision of the form in his new collection Out of the Dark. Bates brings to bear decades of experience, deftly wielding his graver to coax vibrant and lifelike images from solid blocks of endgrain wood. In so doing, he frees each likeness not only from the blocks that hold them captive but also from the reaches of his prodigious imagination. With a wide variety of engravings in Bates’s unmistakable style, and accompanying texts to bring the reader into the artist’s studio, Out of the Dark is a treat for all who appreciate the traditional form.