Esherick's woodcut work, produced almost entirely between 1922 and 1933, occurred in a period of great artistic transition for him, when he sought a medium in which he could evolve his own characteristic style. Formally trained in oil and watercolor painting, Esherick soon abandoned painting as he developed an identifiable style in his woodcuts. His ability to carve very detailed two-dimensional images that were alive and expressed movement made him one of the great woodcut artists of the 20th century.