Sue Scullard

Sue started wood engraving in 1980 whilst at the Royal College of Art. Most of the engravings are worked on small endgrain boxwood blocks, which have a dense and close-grained surface, so the medium encourages a cautious and detailed approach. Mistakes cannot be reversed – once a mark has been engraved it cannot be filled in again. An uncut block would print as a solid black area, and the fine tools incise white marks into the black surface, and as with other relief printing methods like lino and woodcut the raised areas are then inked and printed, which gives the engraving its characteristic appearance. She now prints engravings on a Victorian Albion press, inherited from her mentor Yvonne Skargon, but for many years she hand-burnished them with an old spoon.

Sue makes prints for illustration, commissions and for exhibition and inspirations include landscape and architecure. She is fascinated by subjects which give her the opportunity to explore the textures and patterns which can be made with the various engraving tools.