Woodcuts
A relief printmaking technique similar to the linocut, where the non-printing areas are carved or chiseled away with a u or v-shaped gouge. Hnizdovsky favors the hardness of pear wood for his extremely intricate and detailed prints. For prints with larger areas of black and white, he chooses the soft pliable quality of linoleum. After the woodblock is carved, raised areas are inked and printed either by the "hand and spoon" method or with a hand printing press. The intricate details that are possible with wood are also very delicate and easily chip. A woodblock can become well worn after an edition is printed, sometimes before an edition is even completed. For this reason, many editions of larger sized prints may be smaller than originally planned.
