"The Darkling Thrush"- an original handprinted wood engraving. Inspired by (and named after) Thomas Hardy's beautiful and powerful poem.
 
Wood engraving is a form of relief printmaking. The image is engraved with very sharp finely-pointed tools into a mirror- smooth surface of an endgrain block (in this case - lemonwood). The surface is then inked up and the image is printed onto paper. I hand-burnish each of the prints with a teaspoon (see a little video of proofing this block) - please allow a week for order processing.
Handprinted in highly-pigmented oil-based ink in Carbon Black on a premium printmaking paper.
Comes with an acid-free backboard and double mount ready to fit either a standard 8x10" or 10x12" frame (you can also choose an unmounted print).
Image size 14x7cm. Titled, numbered and signed in pencil.
A small limited edition of 50.
Because the image is inked and printed by hand, there may be slight variations in tone. Will be shipped flat, carefully wrapped in acid-free tissue, sandwitched between 2 sturdy boards and packaged in a protective envelop to ensure safe delivery. Comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Sold unframed.
The 2 blocks from this engraving are also available as separate editions here and here.