Wood engraving

The source

My wood engravings start from a regular image. The source can be anything: a photo I took, an image from an AI model, or a scene I built in a game engine.

Conversion to a line drawing

The code translates the image into a dense network of lines. The density of the lines follows the brightness of the image, and their direction loosely follows the brightness and color gradients. I tune the parameters by hand until the drawing works. Every run gives a different drawing, even from the same source.

Engraving

The line drawing is engraved into black wood with a custom-built laser cutter, a modern precision technique that translates the digital code directly into the material. Black on black is subtle, almost invisible.

Bringing it to life

To bring the image to life, I revisit the methods of the old masters: I hand-mix oil paint from linseed oil and pure pigment powders and apply it to the engraved lines, rinse and repeat.

The result

The result is a richly textured relief that looks a bit like a stone engraving. An object that combines five centuries of techniques.

Up close and from a distance

Up close you see a collection of chaotic lines. From a distance a photorealistic image appears. That dissonance is what makes the work interesting to keep looking at.