Woodcuts
According to Wikipedia, a woodcut is a wooden printing surface used in woodblock printing, a method in which an image is carved into the surface of a piece of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges. The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas. Paper is then placed face-down on the woodblock and pressure is applied to the back, either by a printing press or with hand-held tools such as a spoon or a baren (though any hard, slightly curved surface will do). The ink is transferred to the paper by the pressure, and the mirror image of the surface of the woodblock is printed. The finished product is called a woodcut. Many colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks (where one woodcut is used for each color). Escher preferred using end-grained wood for details in black, and side-grained wood for the colors. Leonardo da Vinci is another famous artist that made woodcuts. The Metamorphosis I, II, and III woodcuts that are featured on this page are examples of tessellations. Escher's artwork is very talented and complex. However, I remember learning how to construct simple but fun tessellations as a young student in 7th grade Math at Conestoga Middle School from Mr. Jim Purdue.
 Tower of Babel, 1928 |
 Metamorphosis I, 1937 |
 Still Life and Street, 1937 |
 Metamorphosis II, 1939-40 |
 Another World (Other World), 1947 |
 Metamorphosis III, 1967-8 |