Yakisugi woodcut printmaking part 2

 This follows on from my previous post which covered the process of yakisugi (scorching wood to raise the grain) which you can read here  Now, on to the results!

I took a print from the pine block before the process. The grain was visible but I wanted it to be bolder, hence the yakisugi: 

Before: 

 

The finished block and print after yakisugi: 

The cross section of wood I used at the same time was uneven to begin with. It had rough edges on its surface due to chainsaw marks. As I suspected, this meant that it refused to print evenly. However, the process did work and I was able to take some really nice impressions from areas across the block. Below is a comparison of the finished wood and one of the impressions I was able to take: 

So, on to some experiments with composition! 

I decided to add some other wood grain textures from prints I'd done previously and try some vertical compositions. Its amazing how flipping the format can make you think so differently!

Then I added some typography using some of the letters I'd carved earlier in summer (I posted about them here). The text is from a wonderful book called The Eyes of the Skin by Juhani Pallasmaa, a Finnish architect and philosopher. Pallasmaa's work has inspired a lot of my MA work (I'm going to post about this very soon)!

I'm really enjoying this technique. Its given me lots to think about going forward! What do you think?