Thomas Bewick (1753-1828)

Found a good book called 'Illustrators at work' by Robin Jacques. It supports my idea of focusing on Bewick to start with and mentions how he was one of the most respected illustrators in early English illustration and how this technique of wood-engraving has not changed its style since Bewick's work:

'Thomas Bewick, whose wood-engravings are little miracles of ordered observation, encapsulating a hungry intellectual search for the unsentimental truth about country life.'

Bewick connects man and nature together through his intricate wood-engravings and this developed from an early age when he showed his eager interest in nature. Even though, he became widely popular in London, he did not stay there very long as he preferred the rustic way of living in Tyneside in Newcastle.

Found a good article about Thomas Bewick on Newcastle University Website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/services/exhibitions/life/