Woodcut

Tropes and genres
Related tropes/genres	engraving
See also	fanart, List of Fanart Genres
Related articles on Fanlore.

Woodcut is a fanart technique. It is most often black and white, and very bold.

Woodcut is a relief printmaking technique where an image is carved into a wooden block, leaving the raised areas to be inked and printed while recessed areas remain blank.

While most fanart is likely not technically woodcut, it resembles the style. Fans often make that distinction as well, referring to fanart as "in the style of woodcut" or "wood cut style."

It can be similar to Chiaroscuro with its emphasis on starkness and lighting.

Fan Comments

1991

I would like to see more variety in zine art. Although there is nothing wrong with pencil or pen and ink illustrations, I'd love to see some scratchboards, monoprints, woodcuts, serigraphs, lithographs, etchings, collages, or other graphic techniques.

1993

Chris Myers’ woodcut style of art is distinctive, and the centerfold holds the viewer for a moment or two

while they study the faces, look the heroes in the eye, wonder what might have been on their minds when the portraits were done. There is a feeling of some link between the two men, symbolized by the globe design behind them.

Sample Art

• 
  from Contact #2 -- "Some of the other illustrations, by Leslie Fish, have a really weird, distinctive woodcut-ish style that's pretty cool."
• 
  from The Weight in Warped Space #39 (1976)
• 
  Cheree Cargill from from Sol Plus #2 -- "There's a very nice frontispiece by C.T. Cargill in the style of an old woodcut showing what appears to be a medieval monk with Vulcan ears hard at work over his manuscripts." (Star Trek: TOS) (1976)
• 
  Leslie Fish, from Sehlat's Roar #2, Summary of the Physiological Roots of Andorian Culture (1976)
• 
  Gayle F, from The Holmesian Federation #1, McCoy as John Watson (1978)
• 
  Dianne Wickes for Facets #6 -- "I am bothered, as an author and zine fen, by some of the artwork chosen for this issue. I don't draw so I'm reluctant to critique those who do; however, if "Changes" were my story, I'd be quite disappointed with the illos for it ...The actors represented in each case are not recognizable to me and I'm sorry if that hurts the artist involved, but they need work, in my former-editor perspective. ((EDITOR: Editorial comment here — in the case of the story, Sherry chose Dianne as artist, and we liked what she came up with. It has a rough woodcut style with a great deal of finesse and detail worked into it. Our perspective — 'nuff said?))" (Heroes) (1981)
• 
  from Felgercarb #8/9, Deb Walsh is the artist, portrays Jenna Stannis and Kerr Avon from Blake's 7 (1981)
• 
  Kiel Stuart from Antithesis (Science Fiction) (1982)
• 
  Sherry Veltkamp from Masiform D #15 (Star Trek: TOS (1986)
• 
  Suzi Molnar portrays Jenna Stannis from Southern Seven #2 (Blake's 7) (1987)
• 
  Karen Rasco from Moonphases #10 -- "The bold, woodcut style has a very Darkovan feel to it." (Darkover) (1988)
• 
  Gamin Davis from Tales from the Litterbox #2 (Beauty and the Beast (TV)) (1988)
• 
  Randym, from Zen and the Art of Rebellion #1 (Blake's 7) (1991)
• 
  JJ for Flesh and Steel (The Professionals) (1994)
• 
  Gamin Davis from No Beach to Walk On (Star Trek: TOS) (2000)