Praeterita

Above is the final stage of the reduction linocut I created in collaboration with Ava Everett. Image size: 9.5" x 9.5". Title: Green bench. Medium: 8 colour reduction linocut on Hosho paper. Ava's image is entitled Stone Studio, same size, 4 colour reduction linocut: As the table laden with the ten prints suggests, it took a lot of patient work to get this diptych together in just two and a half days: But everyone who was in that room for the five days had a fantastic time, and they're already talking about coming back next year. Next week, Patty and I teach the Journal and Sketchbook class at the Writer's Retreat (hey there, Viki and Lynn!). Meanwhile, as a final sign-off from a great week of printmaking, here is a short slideshow of me pulling the final print off my much reduced lino block:   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

Why is that shark attacking the duck? All is explained at the foot of this post. On day 4 of the printmaking class, we began working on a collaborative print. Two prints from the edition will be presented to benefactors of the ICCA building, at a ceremony in July. After consultation with Matthew, the Director of the ICCA, we agreed on some images that symbolise the Interlochen campus, this beautiful place situated between two lakes in the woods of northern Michigan. As I wandered around the grounds looking for inspiration, two things struck me: the big stones that were used in the construction of the smallest rehearsal studios and the largest, newest buildings; and the green benches that are scattered around the hundreds of acres of the campus. These benches used to be the seating in the giant open-air auditorium, I believe. I found one sitting on the shore of the bigger of the two lakes, which made a great picture with a lot of contrast in it. After all agreeing on the subject matt...

Here is a slideshow from day 3 of the reduction linocut class that I'm teaching this week, showing a four-colour print in an edition of 3 in production from beginning to end.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

A photographic still life from my week of teaching printmaking at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts:   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

It takes a whole day to prepare for, cut, and print a reduction linocut 9" x 12" in size, even in a small edition of 3 prints. But the result of taking so much care in getting the paper and block to align exactly with each colour is worth it: Colour number 1 of Ava's print is on the left, and a print with colour number 2 is on the right. And in fact, when you start off with a few initial cuts before applying the first colour, you end up with three colours on the print after two passes. On Wednesday, we start working on a collaborative print.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

This is the cabin near the lake where Patty and I are staying: This is the view in front of the cabin: And this is the building where the class is being held: Jealous yet? You should be.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

The first day's class just ended at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts summer printmaking class for adults. The class setup before the first students arrived We spent nearly 7 hours, with a break for lunch, going through the basic concepts of reduction linocut, from making a precise jig to register the block and the paper, cutting a frame inside the block, transferring the image using tracing paper and a wax pencil, cutting the block, inking it, and taking an edition of prints with each color: As always, it's great to introduce people to a great printmaking technique, and to something that they haven't tried before. At the end of the day, we had a small edition of three prints, each one a four-colour reduction linocut. Tomorrow, we'll move on to a slightly bigger block than the 6" x 6" we used today, and maybe introduce some rainbow roll and chine colle into the process.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

On visit number 43 to my studio for this year, I did another reduction linocut. It's five colours, again cut from one block of linoleum. For the last couple of colours, I cut away whole sections of the block with scissors, as shown in the following photo. The print is on the left, the remains of the block on the right: So maybe you can picture how that would work: the triangles of lino on the right are inked in black; when the paper is pressed against the block, those areas get overprinted with the black ink; but the top and bottom triangles are untouched, because those lino triangles have been cut away. You can learn how to do this and spend a week playing around with the possibilities of this technique at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts workshop , which I will be teaching from June 13-17, 2011.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

I’m teaching a five day class in reduction linocut this summer, and I want to tell you what a wonderful technique it is. Here are some prints made with the ‘reduction linocut’ method that I’ve found from a quick internet search: Ellen Starr, 'Birds of a Feather' Sherrie York, 'Ptarmigan' Traditionally, coloured block prints were created from separate blocks. So in a landscape, for example, the background would be cut out of one block, the birds and clouds from another, the trees from another, and so on. Each would be inked separately, and then printed one after the other on the same sheet of paper. I believe it was Picasso, some time in the late 1940s, who started making multi-coloured block prints from just one block of linoleum (left). The process was as follows: Cut a few shapes from the block, ink it in a light colour (yellow, say), then print it. Now you have a yellow rectangle with some white shapes on it. Clean the block, cut away some more shape...

It may only be early March, but it’s time to start talking about the summer classes that I will be teaching in June and July 2011. I am offering two classes at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts in northern Michigan. The ICCA offers classes and workshops to adults in a purpose-built building situated on the beautiful campus of the famous Interlochen Arts Academy. To whet your appetite, here is a brief slideshow of the printmaking class that I taught there in June 2010: Reduction Linocut , from June 13—June 17. Participants will create a handmade print in up to five colors, all from the same block of linoleum. This technique, first developed by Picasso, involves successively cutting away portions of the linoleum block after you have done printing from the block in each color (reducing the block after each stage). The five day course covers: selecting suitable imagery, transferring the image to the linoleum block, managing the cutting and proofing stages and correct registra...

American readers may not be familiar with artist Paula Rego, born in Portugal but residing in England for many decades. In addition to paintings and large pastels, she is also a master printmaker, as this interview from the Tate Channel indicates. And if you want to do two weeks of printmaking with me at the Interlochen College of the Creative Arts in 2011, registration is now open for the two classes that I will teach: Reduction Linocut , and The Artist's Book .   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader