Tintin's Woodcut

To make a woodcut, you need:

-plank of wood (you choose your size...)

-wood chisels

-walnet stain

-saw (hand saw, circular saw...)

-a model

and a lot of patience...

The first thing you have to do is to find the model.

I chose the cover of "Tintin au Congo", wich is one of the most beautiful cover of Hergé, with a lot of details, colors...

In this step, you have to measure a comic (length and width)

You measure the width of your plank of wood, and you do a cross product:

In my case:

comic: length: 30,5 cm width: 23 cm

plank: width: 35 cm

Length: 30,5*35/23= 46,4 cm

In this step, I will use a circular saw, but it's possible to use a manual saw.

To be sure to have a perfect plank, I sand it.

With a brush and a cloth, you apply a coat a walnut stain on your plank. You let it dry and tou aplly a second coat of walnut stain. You let it dry.

This step is the draw. I decise to draw with a pencil, and I iron some of the most important line with a chalk.

I decide to draw it, but if you want, it's possible to trace it, but pay attention to the scale.

This is the last , but the longest step. Be patient.

I use differents sizes of wood chisels, to be very precise, and to adapt the chisel to the line.

Always control the chisel, and beware of skidding.

On the pictures, differants steps of the work...

It's finished, enjoy it!!