James Britton began experimenting with woodcuts around 1900, when he was asked to draw the design for a poster for the Connecticut League of Art Students,  shown below.  The engraver who was to cut the block thought Britton's drawing too complicated for his skills, so he handed his tools to Britton and suggested he cut it himself, which he did.  The early woodcuts came to the attention of noted print authority Frank Weitenkampf, who acclaimed them in The Art Interchange and American Graphic Art.