Hedcut is a style of drawing, primarily of people, pioneered and used by the Wall Street Journal. The drawings are traditionally 18 by 31 Picas (roughly 3" by 5"), and use the stipple method of many small dots to create an image. They are designed to emulate the look of woodcuts from old-style newspapers, and engravings on certificates and currency. One can sometimes see faint pencil lines laid down to guide the artist.

Women are often more difficult to depict than men, due to their more complicated haircuts, which get cropped for simplicity. The phonetic spelling of "hed" may be based on newspapers use of the term "hed" for "headline."

In 2002 the Wall Street Journal auctioned off many of its hedcut portraits.

External links

• Hedcuts - The Wall Street Journal’s distinctive portrait heads, known as “hedcuts”
• Stipple drawings - Detailed stipple art by artist Noli Novak