The way to get the woodcut look is a pain and is created by etching into a wooden block with special metal tools, to make a picture that you wanted to display. Once this woodcut is finished, you can paint the piece of wood and press it against a surface to display a piece of work where the carved-out sections show light while the non-carved parts press the paint. This is the idea behind the woodcut print and some people that value the old ways will look into getting a woodcut tattoo.

The woodcut tattoo is really unique. Not in the sense that it is a new revelation but in that most people don’t even know it existed outside of their wood shop class in high school. However, this style of tattoo has gained a great deal of popularity over the years with some tattoo artists specializing in this style of work. Some people will go so far as to only have this style of tattooing on their body. Their skin is an ode to the olden days and we think that is great.

In this post we will talk about the history of woodcut printing and how it impacted the tattoo scene. We will also go over many variations of this tattoo in case someone isn’t sure what kind of images can be tattooed in the woodcut fashion. By the end of this post we hope you feel more informed about the woodcut tattoo and all the different ways it might be inked on a tattoo enthusiast’s body.

History of Woodcut Printing

The woodcut technique is considered relief printing. As previously stated, an artist will carve an image into a block of wood. Usually they will gouge the wood and leave the printing parts of the of the wood level with the surface. The parts that artists carve out of the wood will carry no ink and therefore, it creates a piece of art relying on negative space. The block of wood is cut with the grain of the wood as opposed to wood engraving where the wood is cut in the end grain.