Wood Engraving: An Introduction with Anne Desmet

A user-friendly, fun introduction to the art of wood engraving from Anne Desmet RA - one of Britain’s foremost wood engravers.

This one-day class will look at various historic and contemporary artists' engravings studying the wealth of different tool marks in the prints and learning to recognize and use the tools that made them.

You will learn about the different types of wood suitable for engraving and how to use the full range of specialist engraving tools. During the day, you will cut and print at least two small engraving blocks exploring a wide range of mark-making possibilities; one of your engravings will be based on a detail of a historic or contemporary engraving of your choice (from a range of reproductions provided by the tutor) or you can bring your own source material: small drawings and/or photographs to work from. You will learn how to ink and print your blocks both with and without a printing press, and about suitable paper types for wood engraving. There will be opportunities to print on various papers for a wide range of different printed results. There will be advice about equipment and supplies for wood engraving and a demonstration of tool care/sharpening.

At the end of the session, you will go home with several prints of one or two of your very own engraved and hand-printed woodblocks and sufficient understanding and experience of the medium to be able to pursue it further independently, should you so wish.

This technique suits individuals who enjoy working on a miniature scale with a high level of detail.

Course Structure

Morning
Welcome and health and safety workshop briefing
Introduction to the history of and materials for wood engraving
Preparing small wood blocks for engraving
Demonstration of engraving tools, then participants will cut lines and other random marks on their own first engraving block
Brief introduction to the tool marks of historic and contemporary wood engravers.
Creating and using paper viewing windows to facilitate compositional planning
Lunch
Afternoon
Design and cutting of students’ second engraving block, with imagery based on a wide choice of historic and contemporary examples (which will be provided) – or using students’ own source material if preferred, with particular emphasis on learning how to control and gain expertise in using the diverse array of specialist engraving tools provided
Demonstration of tool sharpening
Introduction to inks and papers suitable for wood engraving
Demonstration of inking engraving blocks and hand-printing onto paper (using metal teaspoons), after which participants will print their own blocks in black ink on a variety of papers.
Introduction to press-printing
Cleaning up

About the Tutor

Anne Desmet RA was born in Liverpool, studying at Oxford University and London’s Central School of Art. Elected Hon. Fellow of Worcester College Oxford (2018) for ‘distinction in the world of art’, she has won over 40 awards (inc. Rome Scholarship in Printmaking), and has work in many public collections. The Ashmolean, Whitworth, Pallant House and V&A have substantial holdings of her engravings and collages. Over 50 solo exhibitions include museums in Moscow, Brazil, Italy, and at the UK’s Ashmolean, Whitworth; Holburne; Gainsborough’s House; Pallant House; Guildhall Art Gallery and, most recently, Escher in the Palace Museum, The Hague (2025-26). Commissions inc. engravings for the British Museum; National Gallery; British Library; V&A; Sotheby’s and Royal Mint. Editor of Printmaking Today (1998-2013), Desmet has authored eight books inc. Wood Engraving – A Personal Approach (Crowood Press, 2025). Only the third wood engraver ever elected to the Royal Academy of Arts, she lives in London and is represented by Eames Fine Art www.eamesfineart.com
www.annedesmet.com
Instagram: @anne_desmet