The Inverted Line

by George A. Walker

`George A Walker did not make it into An Engraver's Globe , and looking through this collection of his wood engravings I see again exactly why. An editor should not present as a fool one who has persisted in his folly to become wise if the wisdom cannot really be shown in the space better to omit than risk making him look silly. On the evidence of just a couple of works George Walker does look clumsy in a field where finesse is prized, perhaps to excess. But give him his head, as here, and you see an artist of sustained and wacky integrity half way between Posada and Krazy Kat. ... `Is the work any good? Yes, of course it is. Of course, too, if you go for rough trade in wood engraving, you end where you some of this does look like beginner's work. But Walker does things with engraving I've not seen anyone else look at Raguwl, Angel of Vengeance . His images of people in cars are startlingly he can draw -- look at The Printer 's hand and the break of light around him; has Walker bodged the ear here to prove he can't draw (so there !)? But he can and does. His small images have power and sometimes even humour and tenderness, even though he presents himself as an obsessive, the Mad Hatter of wood engraving.' -- Simon Brett ― Newsletter of the Society of Wood Engravers

Genres: Design

Paperback

First published April 15, 2000

Reviews

[Steven Buechler · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all have been subject to the same types of influences in our lives, be it Shakespeare in high school or the images beamed to us electronically by the news media. But it is interesting sometimes to look at how other people interpret those influences, especially if they have skills and tools to show how they see things differently than we do.
George A. Walker is wonderful printmaker. And his book The Inverted Line, is a great showcase of not only his illustrations but his thought process.

Page 7 Introduction
As a printmaker I've cut, scraped, carved, inscribed and pierced my way into literally dozens of materials to make images at one time or another, though I've always found myself coming back again and again to make marks in wood. There is something about the polished surface of a block of end-grain maple that simply begs to be scratched, and in so doing provides for the artist an experience utterly distinct from making woodcuts or lino cutting in which parting tools used in engraving with names like spitsticker, tint toll, lining tool and lozenge-shaped graver.

Walker is well versed in not only the techniques of his craft but the history of printmaking as well.

my complete review

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every artist will enjoy the information and visuals.