As a painter, trying my hand at printmaking was a little frustrating. Ink on paper is gorgeous even when I make mistakes, but there was something about every print that drove me nuts. So what is it that’s so frustrating about printmaking? I was talking to Nikki about this. She had a good idea: traditional printing has a finite process. You go through the steps in the proper order, then once it goes through the press, you’re done. It’s complete. Painting isn’t like that. With paint just because you go through steps 1-5 doesn’t mean you’re done. If something’s not working you go back to step 2. With paint you can fix and change and fix and change and fix some more. Nikki says she doesn’t like painting because you do all the steps but then you still have to go back to step 2 if something isn’t working. She likes knowing that or better or worse, she follows the steps and she’s done.
Richard Diebenkorn, Irregular Grid, Drypoint and hard-ground etching
Then I realized I could paint on my prints. I know, I know, no one in the history of art has ever thought of this before (that’s sarcasm) but I really did forget that this was a respectable possibility. Once I pulled out the gouache, things got better.
Nope.
Yes! I like this. The line work, the open space, and the dark leaf is counter balanced by the thickly textured yellow acryla gouache flower.
So I get to have my ink and eat it too. I mean, I can print and paint, and print again. I can do whatever I please dammit, because I’m an artist. I forget that sometimes.
Ever think about printmaking? You could give it a try next week. I highly recommend it. …And if there’s something that isn’t working quite right, there’s probably a way you can change it to suit you better, because you’re an artist, and that’s what you do, dammit.
Today is Design Friday, so your challenge is something the graphic designers will likely be familiar with: figure/ground reversal. “Figure/ground” is a phrase that came from modern German Gestalt psychology. It refers to how our mind organizes forms, distinguishing an object (figure) from its background (ground). In the early 1900s Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin famously experimented …
I usually get one or two very nice responses from V. Notes readers, but after the last couple of posts I’ve been receiving quite a few letters. (Thank you!) This one from Margaret, “a devoted reader” was my favorite. Other than the generous cultural love fest between us, it’s great to know we have devoted …
Sometimes I wonder what happens to artworks after a class ends. Kate Fluckinger sent out an invitation including some paintings I recognized from Padlet. She’s having a show, and some of the paintings were made in League classes. I asked Kate if pieces of the show were influenced by her recent classes at the League: …
What I hate about printmaking
As a painter, trying my hand at printmaking was a little frustrating. Ink on paper is gorgeous even when I make mistakes, but there was something about every print that drove me nuts. So what is it that’s so frustrating about printmaking? I was talking to Nikki about this. She had a good idea: traditional printing has a finite process. You go through the steps in the proper order, then once it goes through the press, you’re done. It’s complete. Painting isn’t like that. With paint just because you go through steps 1-5 doesn’t mean you’re done. If something’s not working you go back to step 2. With paint you can fix and change and fix and change and fix some more. Nikki says she doesn’t like painting because you do all the steps but then you still have to go back to step 2 if something isn’t working. She likes knowing that or better or worse, she follows the steps and she’s done.
Richard Diebenkorn, Irregular Grid, Drypoint and hard-ground etching
Then I realized I could paint on my prints. I know, I know, no one in the history of art has ever thought of this before (that’s sarcasm) but I really did forget that this was a respectable possibility. Once I pulled out the gouache, things got better.
Nope.
Yes! I like this. The line work, the open space, and the dark leaf is counter balanced by the thickly textured yellow acryla gouache flower.
So I get to have my ink and eat it too. I mean, I can print and paint, and print again. I can do whatever I please dammit, because I’m an artist. I forget that sometimes.
Ever think about printmaking? You could give it a try next week. I highly recommend it. …And if there’s something that isn’t working quite right, there’s probably a way you can change it to suit you better, because you’re an artist, and that’s what you do, dammit.
Printmaking classes start next week!
DRYPOINT WITH MONOTYPE / Nikki Barber
$ 395. 8 Weeks. 10:00am – 2:00pm
$ 215. 4 Weeks. 6:00 – 10:00pm
$ 215. 4 Weeks. 6:00 – 10:00pm
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Sometimes I wonder what happens to artworks after a class ends. Kate Fluckinger sent out an invitation including some paintings I recognized from Padlet. She’s having a show, and some of the paintings were made in League classes. I asked Kate if pieces of the show were influenced by her recent classes at the League: …