To this point in his life, there was little to indicate the revolution in illustration he would instigate. During the 18th century, the art of wood cut illustration had fallen into virtual disuse, surviving only as a means of printing simple and relatively crude ornaments - coats of arms, heads of bills, stamps and seals. The copperplate, due to its superior line, had become the chief medium for the printing of fine illustrations. There were, however, serious drawbacks to printing from copper. Because copperplate printing is not a relief process, the plates cannot be printed with the text, and thus require a separate printing.
Copperplates also begin to wear and the lines smudge after relatively few impressions.
But the detail that could be achieved from copper was enough to compensate for these drawbacks until a better way was shown. Bewick would show that way. Bewick's innovations were brilliant for their simplicity. Bewick was among the first, if not the first, to cut on the end of the wood instead of on the plank. He also was the first to use a graver instead of a knife.