Archive for July, 2011

Print Class: Catching up

July 31st, 2011

My class instructor is Kay Healy and the workshop is run to allow each individual to work on their own project. It is a small (6 students) class and most of the others have more experience and came with a plan in mind. My plan is to experiment with as many different forms of printmaking as time, facilities, and my wits allow. Kay has arranged 4 outside lecturers to speak to us. Unfortunatly, I missed the first, Daniel Heyman, when I missed the second class, but have heard Sandra Davis, speak on “Cyanotypes”, and Katie Baldwin speak on “Relief and Letterpress”. Later Ben Woodward will speak on “Screenprinting, Wheatpasting and Public Art.

I was esp. interested in Katie Baldwin’s talk on Mokuhanga, a form of Japanese wood block printing.

In the mean time my first collagraph prints have dried and I’m showing the first one here. (The plate for this can be see in a previous post.) Here it is printed as an intaglio plate, with the ink in the recessions.

First collagraph print of this Fungus Series..

First collagraph print for the Fungus Series

Print Class: # 6

July 29th, 2011

Last night I ran some wood block tests on the press. I’d never done this on a press before and a few things are different. The pressure is different of course as the block is much thicker and you don’t need the blankets as the plan isn’t to press into the paper.

My block has a slight depression where I have to pay special attention to the inking.

Getting ready to ink Adjusting pressure

Getting the ink ready and Adjusting for pressure.

I also tried a few more tests on the collagraph print I worked on last class. Once again the results are drying at school and perhaps I can pick them up tomorrow.

Print Class: More stuff

July 26th, 2011

This is the monoprint I created last Thurs evening in class. Wasn’t expecting to work in this medium so it’s based on my mushroom studies which luckily I had with me. I left it in the print studio to dry and picked it up Fri before we went to VA.

First Monoprint

First Monoprint for class

I tried 3 different drawings on the plexi plate and my second printing of each one showed the best texture and of the 3 this is the first and the one I like best. The others had moments but they were more about experimenting as I tried to see what else I could do. (I was also working with torn cardboard as a mark-maker and an old brush found in the studio.)

In preparation for tonight’s class, I have carved a second test woodblock trying to get the organic lines I want. If I can print this tonight I can plan the next step.

Second woodblock test.

Second woodblock test.

The first test woodblock was printed by hand. I hope to print this on the press. We’ll see how it goes.

Print Class: #4

July 22nd, 2011

I’m still working on my wood block experiments. I used part of one of my photos for the current header of this blog and thought I’d work with that. The first image shows a study which I’m working into a design for a horizontal print.
I’m still working on my mark making and not ready to begin a full block so I’m testing this design on a smaller block. Beginning cutting is shown in the second shot.

Wood block plan. Test Cut

Design for Woodblock and Test block.

Collagraph plate.

Didn’t dry in time, will print Tues!

For class last night, we were to have printed work for class review by 8:00 which would have given me time to print something. But what? I had created this collagraph plate from gesso, twigs, and crumbled leaves which I sealed with acrylic matt medium. Unfortunately, due to the humidity, it didn’t fully dry so I had to come up with something else—fast. There were some plexi plates that I could use with oil based printers ink and I based my design on my original studies. They are a bit experimental and are at school drying—I will post something on them later.

Print Class: #2 Studies

July 20th, 2011

Think I might explore some imagery of wild mushrooms I saw in the Poconoes a week ago. Spent some time drawing them to understand them better. Not sure what print medium I’ll work in as time is short but I would like to use the presses available to the class and to work in something I haven’t before. Might explore wood block—see how it goes.

©Studies for my project. ©Home set up..

Subject studies and Home set up.

Spent class last evening exploring mark making in wood and getting the lay of the land in the print studio. Today I ran a quick and dirty proof at home to see how my marks look.

Print Class: #1

July 14th, 2011

I’m taking a 10 class print making workshop at UArts. The first class we were to show some past work and discuss a direction we might take for work in the class.
I posted some previous work to show here at: bethemmott.com/blog/work