Creating a Wood-Grain Block

I wanted to use a wood-grain effect on an upcoming woodblock and so needed to bring out the wood grain in a wood panel. I found some old planks of pine at an old saw mill that are already pretty weathered.

I first planed the board so it was flat as there was a cup to the surface, and then sanded it out with an 80 grit sand paper.

I them used a blow torch to burn the wood to bring out the grain. The fire burns the soft part of the grain, leaving the the hard part of the grain as raised. I used a stiff wire brush to remove the burned wood, leaving the raised grain. The detail shot shows how the soft areas of the wood burned and brushed away leaving a wonderful pronounced grain to print.  Now it is ready to print.