On David Hockney's iphone & ipad drawings

There was a nice piece on National Public Radio's 'Morning Edition' today about painter David Hockney's latest pictures (note to non-Americans: NPR is a bit like BBC Radio 4, and definitely the best news organization in the insane US media landscape). He's been using an iphone and ipad application to make bright, colourful sketches - really small paintings - which are being shown at the Yves St. Laurent Foundation in Paris. As I said in my web-talk about Hockers a few weeks ago, the style, the use of the latest gimmicky technology, and the choice of exhibition venue all add to his reputation as the Noel Coward of contemporary art. But the pictures themselves are good enough, they contain enough good draughtsmanship to be considered for what they modestly claim to be: the exploration of traditional skills in a a novel medium. Here is one of the pictures (this may disappear depending on copyright interpretations):

David Hockney: untitled, 10 July 2010, ipad painting

And here's one that looks more like a drawing:

David Hockney: untitled 16 April, 2010, ipad drawing

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Restoring my Printing Press

I've just finished restoring and assembling my large etching press -- a six week process involving lots of rust removal, scrubbing with steel wool, and repainting. Here is a photo of the same kind of press from the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative: And here is a short YouTube video of me testing the press, making sure the motor still works after nearly seven years of lying in storage:

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Brancusi in Plastic

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau is showing these columns made from recycled plastic cartons and lids in the window of the Columbia College bookstore on Michigan Avenue. They are a playful homage to Brancusi's "Endless Columns", with a serious environmental message for our times: Image copyright Inhabitat.com and Mary Ellen Croteau Mary Ellen also runs a wonderful experimental art gallery in a window space in west Chicago, called Art on Armitage . I will be exhibiting a mixed media piece there during August 2012.

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How to etch a linoleum block

Linoleum as a material for printmaking has been used for nearly a hundred years now. Normally, you cut an image out using special gouges similar to woodcut tools, cutting away the lino around the image you want to print. This is called relief printmaking, because if you look at the block from the side, the material that remains stands up in relief from the backing material. You then roll ink with a brayer over the surface of the block, place paper over it, and either print by hand or run it through a press. You can do complex things this way (for example, reduction linocuts), but the beauty of the process is that it is quick, simple, and direct. Incised lino block, from me.redith.com Etched lino block, from Steve Edwards A few years ago, I saw some prints that were classified as coming from etched linoleum blocks, and I loved the textures I saw in them. In the last few months, I've been trying to use this technique in my own studio, learning about it as one does these d

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