Printmaking is the artistic process of making multiple prints from a master plate onto a surface. Traditional forms of printmaking include woodcut, etching, and engraving in many different cultures with the earliest known examples of woodblock prints on silk in China's Han Dynasty. Printmaking changed history with the invention of Gutenberg's printing press in 1439 by making books widely accessible in an "information revolution." The art of printmaking has evolved to achieve prints not only on paper but on other surfaces such as wood, metal, and glass.
My high school students learned more about the history of Japanese woodblock printing and how contemporary printmakers are carving new paths in the art form today. The Drawing and Painting class designed diptychs as a set of two images that were graphite transferred to linoleum blocks.
The "Pair of Prints" unit gave students the opportunity to develop prints in the subject matter of their choice for carving and printing with the linocut technique. Similar to woodcut printmaking, linocut uses carving tools with a smooth linoleum material to more easily cut away the negative space of a relief block.
Below: Linocut block on the Safety Stop wood block
Below: Carving away the background negative space
The students learned proper carving techniques to safely handle the tools in class by scraping away from their body while keeping their hands out of the direct path of the carving tool on a wooden block stop.
When designing a "Pair of Prints," they had to think about the overall composition of two images as a single artwork. Students drafted thumbnail sketches to narrow down their concepts.
As soon as they had carved away the negative space on their blocks, they were ready to begin test printing to determine if there were any areas that needed to be further refined with the carving tools.
The printing process included creating a final diptych in black ink on white paper as the master copy. After submitting their best print in black ink, they experimented by layering colors, ghosting faded prints, and arranging multiples on different types of paper. This is where the magic happens!
Below: Printing "The Gardener in Me"
Final Prints:
Title: A Tale of Two Trees
My artwork is a print of two very different trees. The tree on the left is without leaves because it represents trees in late fall and winter. The tree on the right represents the trees in the spring and summer. My goal was to create these trees as similar, yet different. I learned that printmaking is an amazing way of making art.
Title: The Gardener in Me
My artwork is based around plants. One is a hanging plant with the leaves emerging from the pot and the other print is a woman drawn by simple lines with plants coming out of her head. What inspired me to do these images for my prints is definitely my love for plants. I have also really been into simple line drawings that make out the figure of a person without going too far in detail. My goal is to be more creative and bring out things that I love through my drawing. This art project definitely did that! It helped me express my love for plants in a different way. I'm sure that in the future I will definitely look back on this piece of art and be proud but also hopefully noticed that I have grown in my art.
Title: C$
My print is taken from inspiration from John Langford who did art for my dad on his album cover. I've always been really inspired by his work and I wanted to create something that recreated it to its fullest potential. For one of my prints, I have a skull design with various other doodles surrounding it and for the other a horse with two large $ signs and some more doodles... I really loved carving, it's so satisfying, and I like the idea of how universal they are since they last forever. Since you can print them on almost anything, I'll probably make t-shirts or whatever else I can think of. Overall, I really loved this project and the experience and I'm definitely planning on doing printmaking again!
Title: Jumping Fin
My artwork focuses on a shark leaping out of the water just as a volcano erupts. I was inspired to create this artwork because I think sharks are fascinating creatures. I tried to show that sharks and volcanoes are both things that many people fear of but also that volcanoes are very beautiful even as they erupt. There is also no way of stopping the lava as it destroys everything.
Title: Foapy and Goaphy
My print is based on two characters from a video game that I like to play. My goal as an artist is to continue to improve on my drawing skills to further improve representing something as close as I can as to how I see it. I learned how to carve linoleum blocks using carving tools and how to transfer my inked prints to paper.
Title: Demoralization
For this printmaking project, I created two separate designs. For my first design, I carved out a clown. Wanting to keep this theme, I made another eerie design, inspired from Donnie Darko. The design of Frank from Donnie Darko really suited the feeling I wanted to create for this project. I really love how they turned out.
We were given linoleum blocks to carve into, but first, we had to practice drawing our designs on paper. When I was finished with mine, I placed it onto the block and scribbled all over the back of the paper so the design would transfer. Once it was transferred, I began cutting into the linoleum. This process was by far the best part of the project. It was just really satisfying carving out all of the negative space. My final pieces turned out to be so much better than I had envisioned them to be. I am very proud of my designs, and I see myself trying to make more pieces by printmaking in the future.
Title: Symbolic Self Portrait and Pokémon
Title: Two Sides of the Same Stone
Title: A Creature's Deck of Cards
It is exciting for me to see my students' eyes light up with a technique that they have never tried before. As the one and only art teacher of New Buffalo Middle/High School, I strive to offer a wide range of art styles and media so that they are exposed to as much as they can in this tiny town. Printmaking was one of my favorite courses that I took as an Art major because of its unique carving and printing process that all comes from an original idea drawn on paper.
Below: Myself demonstrating the printing press in the Printmaking studio at Hope College in Holland, MI.
It is validating to see the impact of this unit on my students when reading their self-reflections. Printmaking has such a rich history and yet can open up so many possibilities for creative expression. It's amazing to think of how technology has changed over time from the innovation of creating a printed copy on paper to the future online. By learning the history and experiencing the process of printmaking, my students were given a unique opportunity to take part in this printing tradition.
Comments