Just as I suspected, printmaking is SO MUCH FUN!!!
Professor John Stewart, the same talented guy who taught Advanced Figure Drawing last quarter, is teaching Intro to Relief Printmaking this quarter. I am officially a big fan of J-Stew. It's mutual- the other day he confided that he liked me because I'm "a grown-up." Ha- that's what he thinks!
Project 1a: Pink Kiss, 5" x 8" |
Project 1b: Ugly Me, 8" x 5" |
PROJECT ONE: Self-portrait (again???)
Having more than enough self-portraits, I decided to do a kiss-portrait instead. I donned lipstick, kissed paper, scanned it and enlarged it, and traced it onto a linoleum block.
I was totally happy with the results, but I finished early (what a STRANGE feeling!) so I decided to be an over-achiever and do another one. For Ugly Me, I was inspired by a conversation I had with John. We talked about how because we are used to seeing mirror images of ourselves, our own faces can look really strange in photos. I decided to do a self-portrait in which I exaggerated all of my asymmetry. The result was a pretty accurate depiction of me before my morning coffee.
PROJECT TWO: Shape and Shadow
The challenge here was to show volume and form with black and white only. This can be tricky, as I learned last quarter in Comics class. But with printmaking, it's more difficult because positive and negative space are reversed- you don't draw in the black, you carve out the white! I drew a larger-than-life ice cream cone, and threw in a dark shadow for some drama. We also had to complete an edition of three identical prints.
Project 2: Big Scoop, 14" x 10" |
This image shows the inked block next to some prints. |
The one on the upper left is known as the "Artist's Proof." It is not included in the edition because the registration is slightly off and I carved a few minor adjustments before the next print. |
John expects the very best prints on perfectly clean, handmade Japanese paper. The registration should be perfectly straight, with symmetrical borders (a little extra on the bottom margin for a signature). The ink should be applied just right- just enough for solid coverage, but not too much! It takes forever for the oil ink to dry on the cotton paper.
PROJECT THREE: Stay Tuned!
For our next assignment, we will be doing double color prints, using the press, and pulling a larger edition. Fun!
If anyone has any ideas for subject matter, let me know!
COOL!! I want you to teach me.
ReplyDeletedarn it.... gimme one anyways!!!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that we used micro-fine MDF for the last project. It was great! Strong, easy to carve, cheap... I recommend it to all my artist friends!
ReplyDeleteLove those lips. Clever way to get people to your blog, too. ;)
ReplyDeleteI wonder what you could do with the side of an RV??? Maybe a little something from each of the states that Steve and Carol have visited in the last what....seven years????
ReplyDeleteGood idea William! And yes, Cathy, I've resorted to bribery!
ReplyDeleteJackie, I am in awe of all of your work. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete