In regard to the style of the school of Bewick, most of the engravers were draughtsmen too. Clennell abandoned wood engraving for painting. The next stage of facsimile wood engraving reversed all Bewick's theories and cut everything away not drawn on the block by the designer. The tint style of Bewick made the wood engraver something more than a mere craftsman, he had to invent a set of lines of varying depth and strength to convey his subject in his own manner. Bewick worked from dark to light. The more lines there were the lighter the tone; in facsimile work the greater the number of lines the darker the tone.
In modern days the use of the white line has been practised in every conceivable fashion. The background has been stippled and rouletted with a fine gradation of tone, translations of the canvases of old masters have been produced in which the result has been obtained by engraving the wood-block with a network of white lines. The latest school again work from dark to light, and by the wonderful results obtained and the range and variety of treatment, Bewick is more than justified.
