any artist printmakers out there? help....

Ive done a bunch of printing, mostly aquatint, litho, and, for fun, multi register linoprint. I found work by an old US artist named LUIGI RIST. He was well known in the 4os through the 60s , when, for lack of anything better to do, he died.

He did veggies and foodstuffs . It was amazing getting the registry overlays that develop the colors of veggies like eggplant and tomatoes and greens together. A long term project using multiple registries and having your students understand the impostance of even registry is something that multi block linoprints can do. Ive never had an interest in monoprints although I had done a bunch of CLAY monoprints. Wed do prints using gumby-like humans onto pre-watercolored paper so that the prints came out looking like cave paintings, pretty cool for beginners.

Are the students art majors or other? you might want to blend in the majors work to have them think ahead to a portfolio of work so they begin to learn how to cull and save.

thanks farmer - the students are hobby painters of varying standards, who will want to learn printmaking. It has to be fun as though they are coming to learn, they also need to enjoy themselves.

Sorry, I should have made it clear what type of students i was talking about.


The clay thing sounds fun - can you give me clearer info?

I like monoprinting, though it isn't really any faster than painting, i just like the different effects that are possible - the different kinds of marks you can make.

i love aquatint but we won't have facilities for etching or aquatinting. We have 2 small presses but no acid or air extraction.

For cleaning up i use environmentally friendly cheap cooking oil

for clay monoprints we would either draw on a slab of clay with printing inks or paint. OR we would actually cut the slabs of clay into the shapes and then press the paper onto the inked shapes (its sort of like rubber stamping . Each new gumby person would be a new registry . so I made some "cave paintings" out of reddish ochre colors and a number of primitive people. I was able to get 3 registies , so it wasnt a real mono print.

You can etch with iron chloride on copper plates (Im not sure whether the Ferris chloride works with zinc) The acid can be easily handled by getting some soldering acid at a hardware store. I guess the hardest thing to teach is handling the asphaltum. Its messy and you must keep it hot while slapping it on the plates.

thanks for that info farmerman.

no- health and safety and all that - I can't have acid/etching etc at all.

I'm ok for my own work because i belong to an artists co-operative print workshop and we have all the proper facilities and a safe environment. It really is a brilliant facility. This isn't where i will be teaching though.

another friend does etched lino with caustic soda. She works at home though and i have never actually seen the process.

If you ever get some more information about the lino etching, please share , Im fascinated by new techniques. I would be more concerned with caustic than with ferric chloride , BUT , I see thye directive clearly.

Lino cutting (howbout woodcuts, UK is crawling with limewood (basswood over here in the colonies, also its a tulip poplar)
How bout photo registry with ulano film on a screen background. Ive used the very flimsy window screens for a silk screen substitute, You have to use a much thicker ink but the effects produced using a photosensitized matrix and window screens look like pixellations on a very coarse frames setup as a website begins to open

Monoprints with found objects. I used to place some inked grass and leaves on a monoprint base. Kinda organic if you dont overdo it. Otherwise the whole thing looks like a greeting card.

FISH PRINTS_fun but very messy and depending on how old the fish are, rather unmellow.

thanks for those ideas.

I'll ask Judith for directions on caustic etched lino - i think she boils up the caustic soda into a very very thick paste and then paints it on and leaves to eat the lino to the required depth.

does she use a mask like asphaltum in etching?

no i don't think so farmer - her work is too loose for that.

we call the coating in etching soft wax and hard wax - probably same thing?

soft wax gives softer more charcoal/pencil like lines and hard wax gives sharp clear lines.

Vivien - I will think on your question through my past experiences teaching art with a wide variety of folks. I was an etcher/engraver as a young printmaker in college. Oh I still miss this to this very day!

I did alot with collograph prints, using "plates" I made from mat board scraps and covered with glued-on materials for texture and lines. Use enough acrylic medium or white glue and you can even inscribe lines into the plate. I did a series years ago based on quilt blocks, with rice glued for the "quilting stitches".

I was fortunate to have an antique bookbinder press with a steering wheel type device to cinch the heavy top plate down into the damp paper. I see no reason that a series cannot be done with a method similar, even without a press. Be creative with blocks of wood and heavy weights laid on top. I remember that I also added stenciling and some detailing at times to the dry prints. A friend did his delightful collographes using a final covering of his plate with thin nylon cloth that was finished off with a final layer of medium. He used regular etching inks and got a most rich image with texture. He also glued leaves in place for good effect.

cobalt thanks for your input - yes we will have 2 presses for the class - one how you describe and the other an etching press. So no problem there.

I generally don't stick much on when doing collagraphs but just cut and peel the board but obviously I'll teach the class all the options available.

I like the quilt idea.

Another point about teaching the beginners. somebody has to watch the etching press if its motorized. I saw a girl once get a smock(do they even wear smocks anymore), that she had tied around her waist get caught in thje press as she leaned over to adjust the blankets. Someone was nearby and got to the switch before she got rolled under the wheel. the old fashion star presses with the hand wheel are actually waay more safer than motorized ones.
Im just full of good housekjeeping horror tales from the print studio. I loved printing , it married the art with the craft of printing m,echanics.
The discipline of getting a perfect run of about 50 prints from 2 or more registry plates just fascinated me. The time just flew.
I did my BFA show in printing. I did a b unch of tryptichs of prehistoric beasts in whimsical surroundings like driving autos and having coffee. The show was a success and a sellout for me cause I figured the visitors wanted to be there, so why not print up a bunch of editions.

no problem with the press - we don't run to motorised! it's a case of turning the wheel on the side!

the prehistorics sound fun!