Woodcut [Hardcover]

Here's the trick: Read the other reviews that point out how this book could have been better, and get the point that this is a small book of very large prints, and be disappointed that it is not an "art" book for the coffee table. Instead, it's a $20 introduction to a fabulous line of art work I would never have found, or been able to afford, elsewise. Then, it becomes fascinating and wonderful, and full of inspiration for finding more ideas in your own line of art than you could have imagined.

Orginals of the author's work are available for +- $4000.00. This is out of my range. Some of the art books I want on my coffee table, perhaps printed in America, are now OOP and available in the used book market for > $200. Your call on whether you would be able to buy Woodcut if it were printed in America at the ideal size for its content.

If you liked / already own One Tree, by Garry Olson & Peter Toaig, you'll love Woodcut. If you love Speck, by Peter Buchanan-Smith, you'll love Woodcut. If you own both of Bruce Hoadley's books about wood, Woodcut will add more to your understanding of this material.

The book is what it is, a collection, probably not complete, of one artist's fascination with the most basic form of woodcut. Who'da thought there was that much to see, to know? I don't care what grows in Connecticut, particularly. (Not all that different from central NC, except we use holly and juniper where they have yew.)

Usefully, to me, the interview / explanation at the end of the book provides a lot of detail about how the prints are made and how the artist works. Inventory management is, to me, the most interesting part of many (non-painting) artists' work; how do they keep and manage the material that becomes their artwork? Gill shares.

I've put Woodcut on the shelf above my desk I look at every day, next to Art and Fear (as a perfect example of "find a way of working and follow it"). I may not take it off the shelf every day but simply looking at the spine reminds me there's way more art within arm's reach than I have even scratched the surface of making. I'm pretty sure the author and publisher didn't not intend to create a book of creative inspiration, but it's way more useful, again to me, perhaps not to you, in this line than ANY of the "improve your creativity with these 20 exercises" genre.

I am VERY happy I was able to get a copy of this book.

The purchase of this book by me is really a testament to good writing, as I pre-ordered this book after reading a glowing review of it in the NYT.
I don't ordinarily buy an art book without having first seen it; however, the review coupled with the publisher (Princeton) made this a compelling choice.

I was so excited about its arrival that I even blurted out to a bookseller I know that I had just purchased a fantastic new book title 'Woodcut' etc.; a brag that I reserve for my best finds/sales.

Upon opening the packaging, I was immediately disappointed by the small size of the book (at the time of pre-ordering I didn't see any size stated).
Folks!!! This book is only approximately 10" x 10" in size (and maybe 3/4" thick in approx. 120 pps.): A laughably small size when you consider that some of the prints the author made were more than 4 FEET per side.
As such, you can imagine how small the actual reproductions are. In fact, only a single, solitary print even spills onto a second page and it doesn't fill it. The editors even went so far as to cram as many as four reproductions on to a single page: Not excusable.

The printing and binding of this book were done in China. Once again, nobody who cares about producing an art book is going to send the job to China for, her production skills are just not up to snuff at this time.

Here's why the points I have just made about this book are critical. One of the things I had wished for in this book was that the artist had taken on the task of reproducing a wide variety of tree species that occur around his studio. In other words, I had hoped a high art book with a scientific/naturalist angle enabling a reader to see, in cross-section, the species of the forest as found in his neck of the woods, Connecticut.

This the artist failed to do. He, instead, chose to reproduce pretty patterns. Again, this would have been great, but for the diminutive size of the book and prints and the less than stellar quality of the paper and reproductions. As such, these are mildly interesting but do not in any way do justice to the underlying death mask, I think.

For me, a lover and collector of art books, this book is a bit like that porridge served to David Copperfield, I, though, won't ask for more, sir!

I would encourage anyone interested in art and humane expression to read and view this book. Then live with it for an extended period of time. Any art book must give us small images of usually larger works of art. But if you want to see sixteen pages reproducing full sized excerpts from the originals that will show you clearly the difference between a careful and caring printing process and its transformative power compared to a simple photograph, Buy this book. These are printed in black and white on paper as are many of the originals. If you want to experience one exceptional source of the shear beauty of intricate designs and textures hidden in trees, Buy this book. If you want to grasp the special sense of time and change held in the hearts of trees, Buy this book. If you want to understand a different and difficult printing process, Buy this book. I suggest you run through the preview selections until you find one of the full sized excerpts. Five stars from this reader.