weblog > classes, notes, and recent
experiences
August 2004
Notes:
Note to self: find someone who understands
letterpress, Vandercooks, and all of the idiosyncrasies of this
process. I banked on 3 days of printing, I think it’s
going to take 6 days, if not more. I have never printed with
photopolymer plates before, everyone assures me that its very
straightforward, but there are still problems. And its hard to
tell where the problems are coming from -- the plates? The ink?
Is the paper too soft? Yes, the paper is definitely soft, it is
not making much ‘impression’, but that’s ok,
its not technically correct to have a deep deboss in your
paper, despite how pretty it may look. Are my pages creeping?
Are the rollers even? There are so many variables, I’m
not an expert on the Vandy, and I only have so much time. ...As
a tour group walks through my working zone, one young man leans
his elbow on a pile of just-printed sheets, ruining all of
them, and the tour guide says, “here is an industrious
grantee hard at work, her face is red -- she must be
embarrassed by all the attention.”
July 2004
Printing Etchings
Notes:
Note to self: find someone who understands
letterpress, Vandercooks, and all of the idiosyncrasies of this
process. I banked on 3 days of printing, I think it’s
going to take 6 days, if not more. I have never printed with
photopolymer plates before, everyone assures me that its very
straightforward, but there are still problems. And its hard to
tell where the problems are coming from -- the plates? The ink?
Is the paper too soft? Yes, the paper is definitely soft, it is
not making much ‘impression’, but that’s ok,
its not technically correct to have a deep deboss in your
paper, despite how pretty it may look. Are my pages creeping?
Are the rollers even? There are so many variables, I’m
not an expert on the Vandy, and I only have so much time. ...As
a tour group walks through my working zone, one young man leans
his elbow on a pile of just-printed sheets, ruining all of
them, and the tour guide says, “here is an industrious
grantee hard at work, her face is red -- she must be
embarrassed by all the attention.”
September 2003
Light Sensitive Polymer Plates
Brief:
Light Sensitive Photopolymer plates,
otherwise known as Solarplates, are used in the intaglio process as a
substitute for traditional zinc or copper plates. The process
requires no unusual solvents, and eliminates the asphaltum,
ground, and acids that are required to etch metal. In this
class, Anna Marie demonstrated how to create original artwork
(using drawings, photographs, xeroxes) expose plates, and print
in both intaglio and relief methods. Her work is multilayered,
and incorporates hand-drawn images, watercolor, photography,
computer-generated texts, and found imagery in multiple-color
prints, monoprints, and chine collé.
The process is a little tricky, especially
where there are large open areas on the plate, the process of
washing the plate with water and drying can create some
blotches (see the samples below) and if you’re not
careful you can overexpose the plate in sunlight or a bright
room. However, the immediacy of image to print is terrific, and
it provides all of the tactile appeal and texture of a copper
etching/intaglio print.
August 2003
Tricks for Developing Content
Brief:
Ed Hutchins’ work takes the form of
playful miniature book structures. Some of his works are
toy-like, though their content may be very serious. In this
class, Ed shared some of the processes he uses for developing
the content for books -- because while folding and binding and
making blank books is fun, they are meant to convey ideas. His
processes for generating new work are highly intuitive -- and
he is unabashed about employing randomness and word- or
mind-games into developing new ideas. The exercises we explored
all began with a blank book form -- and then we filled the
books, with spontaneous texts, narratives around pictures or
objects provided at random, and through a collaborative book,
like an exquisite corpse project, where we handed a book to our
neighbor to add narrative. The class was lively, exhausting,
and reaffirmed the notion that creating work can be
spontaneous, exciting, fun, and can take any form -- that you
don’t have to be highly formal or serious to create
amazing things.
2003
The Versatile Linoleum Cut
Brief:
In this class we were introduced to the
linoleum cut method of relief printmaking, from transferring
imagery to plate, to cutting, to printing and editioning. Lino
is popular among some printers for being more forgiving than
woodcut, but it is still limiting where highly refined detail
is desired. It is an enjoyable technique, and great for
contrasty images, and is especially reminiscent of the
Expressionist Printmakers and Russian Futurists. My personal
experience (as seen in the examples below) is that the material
requires both practice and diligence to manipulate, and there
will always be an angular cut quality to the image. My biggest
problem was that although lino is softer than wood, it still
takes some work to cut, and the tendonitis in my right arm
makes the process both painful and difficult.
2002
Introduction to Letterpress –
Weekend Intensive
Brief:
This was an intense weekend alright. Paul
and Mary Jo stepped us through the process of printing using
the Vandercook 14 at MCBA. This included prep, inking, setting
type, compositing, some page design, registration and printing
using multiple plates, both type and illustration. We also
created some simple illustrations using lino and easy-cut
printmaking material, and the two-day workshop resulted in an
editioned print. See below for my broadside and others from the
class. Although I had taken an intro to letterpress before (5+
years ago) this was an invaluable reintroduction to the
process.