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Message 1
From: Lana Lambert
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 07:25:27 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34946] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4214 (Feb 1, 2008)
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Archivist's Note: The first 12 messages here are repeats of posts from Digest #4215. See Message #13 for beginning of new posts.

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Message 2
From: Lana Lambert
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 07:25:26 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34947] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4214 (Feb 1, 2008)
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Repeat of post from Digest #4215

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Message 3
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 08:04:25 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34948] why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 4
From: rsimola # netzero.net
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:32:56 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34949] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 5
From: "steffan ziegler"
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:37:12 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34950] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 6
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:49 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34951] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4213 (Jan 31, 2008)
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 7
From: "Marilynn Smith"
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:48:40 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34952] Re: Baren Digest (old) V42 #4214
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 8
From: Shawn + Elizabeth Newton
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:48:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34953] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 9
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 12:13:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34954] why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 10
From: rsimola # netzero.net
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:16:30 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34955] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 11
From: Reneeaugrin # aol.com
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 15:42:57 EST
Subject: [Baren 34956] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 12
From: "Barbara Carr"
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 12:57:12 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34957] Re: why printmaking?
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Repeat from Digest #4215

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Message 13
From: Shireen Holman
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 16:42:05 -0500
Subject: [Baren 34958] Re: why printmaking?
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Bob,

I like the way you put this. It's sort of like saying it isn't
necessary to be human or a decent sort of person.

Shireen

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Message 1
From: Andy English
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:05:47 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [Baren 34959] Re: Why Printmaking
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For me, the making of multiples is a political activity in the sense that the image is spread further among the people and this was behind my decision to produce larger, less expensive editions than smaller, more expensive ones. I regard the whole edition as the work of art, albeit one that is dispersed. It was particularly important to me at the beginning of my printmaking career to make work that my friends and neighbours could afford.

Printmaking - especially wood engraving - in its history, is so closely related to text and I am conscious of my forebears as they made block to illustrate magazines and textbooks. I keep some of this work in the studio as an anchor for when I feel myself drifting too far into the deep water of making art.

An additional pleasure is the ability that we printmakers have to share our original art. It is still such a pleasure to receive a print from a peer, whether as part of an official exchange, an informal arrangement or even an unsolicited kind gift. We are truly blessed in the respect.

These are random thoughts, quickly and untidily set down but if I do not get them out now, they will be lost in another busy day of printmaking.

Peace,

Andy



Wood Engraver / Printmaker / Illustrator


I will design engrave and print your bookplate, illustration, pet portrait, image for wedding stationary, change of address card or a whole edition of prints to your specifications!


Lots of new prints added to www.andyenglish.com

Read my blog here.

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Message 2
From: Darrell Madis
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 14:19:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34960] Re: why printmaking?
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One of the main reasons I like printmaking, especially woodcuts, is that I get a different type of work with it than I get with other methods of creating artwork. Sort of takes you out of yourself and leads you in a new direction that you might not have thought of with painting, etc.

Darrell

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Message 3
From: Wanda Robertson
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 15:02:08 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34961] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4213 (Jan 31, 2008)
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Hi Lynn,
Just remember 'we learn by doing'. Already you
are learning many valuable lessons.

So, to your trouble with printing larger black areas.....what
are you using for the black pigment? Usually,adding more
paste with any color will make that color even more
translucent. Many times black or any dark or bright color
will need to be printed two (or even more) times to get
the desired depth of color. It helps a lot to brush the
first layer in one direction & the 2nd layer in the opposite.
Horizontal and vertical, that is. Sometimes a diagonal brushing
works even better - many times wood does not absorb
and print evenly.

And all wood is different, not just
from other species, but from different trees and even
from different parts of the same tree. Do lots of
proofing on cheap/scrap paper. I sometimes use
printing paper from the computer printer. It's white
enough to see what's going on & you don't need to
dampen for these proof prints. They won't be perfect,
but you will be able to see what's going on.

One more little thing - most people, when first starting
hanga, use way too much of everything: paste, water,
pigment. Then you wind up filling in the cut marks
and getting what I call "hangover printing" as that
buildup sucks up into the printing paper. I am still
guilty of printing too wet, but I've learned to check
myself by looking closely at the block and the print.

Sorry this is so long - I hope it helps!

Wanda

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Message 4
From: Charlie overshoe
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 15:57:09 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34962] RE: why printmaking?
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Barbara,

Printmaking is such a basic form of art/communication....... maybe the most basic and universal. Just think of those hand prints on cave walls,the clay seals of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the ancient fragments of fabric with stenciled designs.

However, today when most people think of prints they think of the ubiquitous commercial uses.... news papers, books, fabrics, etc. and not the individual artist making a statement thru the print medium. This being the case it can be difficult to find a venue for hand pulled prints and my two cents worth is that we need more exposure/education on the subject.

Hand pulled prints are after all an invaluable medium for putting people in touch with the aspects of humanity that are all too often forgotten. And the most important aspect to my way of thinking is that we are still the same physiologically beings that we were thousands of years ago. We need to create ....we need beauty ....we need to communicate our ideas ... but we also need to feel that we are separate, an individual, and what better way to do this than with a hand pulled print. It's an art form that is still affordable to do (no real special equipment necessary) and to buy. Isn't it great .... while we may not be able to afford a painting we can express ourselves by making or purchasing a print ...a 1/20 or 50 or 100 ... and that is such an incredibly satisfying feeling that it should be shared.

Barbara P.

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Message 5
From: "Maria Arango"
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 16:23:39 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34963] RE: why printmaking?
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What a great question!

In fact, the same question was posed to me in 2004 by the IRS agent who was
auditing my tax return where I claim a loss in my second year in business
(2001).
It made me think, why woodcuts? Why printmaking? Why not sell shoes for a
living? Certainly a LOT more people "need" to buy shoes than woodcuts. Well,
the answer to the IRS agent was, because that's what I do; if I wanted to
make money for a living, I would have stayed in the Health industry. I want
to make art for a living, and if I can make a living making art, all the
better. But then since then I have been thinking why I do what I do. Why
printmaking? Why woodcuts in particular?

Printmaking fits me, I tell people who walk into my booth at a festival.
Artists at large have a huge ego, so I've observed. Everyone thinks they are
doing something unique, something nobody else can make, something that
requires a huge amount of natural talent, that can't be learned by mere
mortals and that, therefore, ought to be extravagantly rewarded by the
public (ignorant public) and by the kingdom's kings and queens.

Ahhh, meet the lowly printmaker, scratching at a block of wood with a
hand-chisel, getting ink well into the recesses of the fingernail, producing
a multiple of images that resemble old illustrations or prayer cards that
were once distributed freely. Many woodcuts look like clip art, freely
distributed to the masses. Printmaking has always been the art for the
people. The production of multiples was designed to reach the masses with
reproductions (whether etchings in the past or "chiclets" today, my own
version of the word giclee, sorry) because the high and mighty artist
couldn't or wouldn't bear to lower themselves to mingle with the art
ignorant masses. Printmaking is the humble art, the art for the people.
Printmakers are workers because without work there are no prints. Shortcuts,
digitalizations and mechanizations are for other artists, not for me. Found
art and esoteric explanations are for "real artists," in the "real art
world". In the other world, the one with earth and sky and blood and sweat,
printmakers can thrive as the finest mongrel of art and craft. Printmakers
are masters of many tasks and, generally, very busy people.

So I tell people, printmaking is fun and at the reach of anyone who cares to
follow a few simple rules of process. There are no mysteries, I post my
process for everyone to see. Children like it most because it's more like a
game and less like a mystery. Printmaking is the honest art, put the time
and the effort into making something and the art of printmaking will reward
you by transforming your efforts into a delightful artwork. Printmaking
transforms an enigmatic work of art into something people can understand,
and much more importantly, afford. Printmaking makes it into the homes of
Joe Nobody and Jane Who and hangs as proudly as a Picasso hangs in the
Prado.
Printmaking allows the artist to play and the people who love art to have a
part in that game.

As for making a living as a printmaker, that game is also there for anyone
who wants to put in the effort. Neither printmaking nor making a living as a
printmaker are "easy" exactly, but certainly we printmakers have a huge
advantage over other artists. Our materials are cheap and interminably
flexible, our process allows us to make as many of something as we wish, our
humble nature (heh) allows us, or should allow us, to price our art so that
people can afford our blots of ink on paper. We can make woodcuts in a
campground or in an elaborate studio, either way works, and we can sell them
in a gallery, taking advantage of the "hand-made" moniker and the value
attached to it, or we can sell them directly to the public, who more and
more is growing an appreciation for everything hand-made.

The importance of printmaking, now and in the past and hopefully in the
future, is the bridge that printmaking builds between ART and the rest of
the world. As modern artists engage in temporary installations and
incomprehensible explanations of their works, the printmakers continue to
create art for the people, not just once, but in multiples, as if saying to
the world, see our art! See it again! Take it close to you and take it home
if you wish. It's just ink on paper, everyone can understand that.

Anyhow, those are just my insignificant dos chavos, for all they're worth.

Maria


Maria Arango
http://1000woodcuts.com
http://artfestivalguide.info

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Message 6
From: Lynn Starun
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 17:05:37 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34964] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4215 (Feb 1, 2008)
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Thanks to everybody who responded to my question about
getting solid blacks. I can see it's a zen thing!

I've been thinking about the purpose of printmaking
and the value of it a lot since I started on this
path. I sort of backed into it--I was painting local
scenes and when someone asked me to paint a local
diner again exactly like I had done twice before I did
it but realized this couldn't go on. A friend said
why not make reproductions and sell them. So I
ordered a hundred reproductions from a professional
printer of my painting and they sold like hotcakes. I
didn't know any better so I called them prints.

Soon from reading online I realized that real
printmakers would hate me. So I decided to reform
myself and become a real printmaker. Believe it or
not I had a discarded etching press which I didn't
know how to use so I've worked my way through many of
the methods of printmaking.

I agree that printmaking is a less expensive way for
people to collect art. Not so elitest. It's also a
way to share art with a wider group of patrons. Let's
face it--it's more efficient than painting. I wanted
to find the northwest passage that would take me from
a painting I had done to a printed version of that
painting. But it turns out that for painting I don't
want to limit colors and complexity but printmaking
requires that simplification at least to some extent.
Probably the exercize of making those choices teaches
me things that will feed my painting so there's a
value for my development as an artist. Look at how
many great artists turned to printmaking at some point
in their career. I guess it's a way to play and make
art.
Lynn

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Message 7
From: guadalupe victorica reyes
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 01:15:45 +0000
Subject: [Baren 34965] RE: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4215 (Feb 1, 2008)
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Barbara your question has helped me also, thank you.

I agree with Steffan and Renee. I am planning to write a workbook about the use of printmaking and art in general for Human Development purposes directed to Teachers. There are very few artists working with printmaking in México today so I would like to see more young people doing printmaking. Monterrey is a city of 5 million people, around 300 artists and only 5 or 6 printers. I also love Posadas and the Mexican printmakers of the “Grafica Popular”.

I love the democratic aspect and the fact that the design in printmaking is so strong and powerful.
If someone has information or opinions about the use of Art or printmaking as a tool for Human Development topics please let me know.

Best Regards and Saludos from Monterrey, México

Guadalupe Victorica, Ph. D.
Social Science Research
Visual Artist, Art for Social Change
Monterrey, NL, México

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Message 8
From: Ruth Leaf
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:14:40 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34966] Re: why printmaking?
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Barbara. The original Idea among many artists (especially in Mexico)
was that original prints would be available to the people who
couldn't afford the more expensive paintings,sculpture etc. They
could have good art in their homes. Ruth

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Message 9
From: "Grassell, Mary"
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:38:13 -0500
Subject: [Baren 34967] RE: why printmaking?
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Barbara,

I would like to offer an opinion as to "What is Printmaking?" At least, as to why I am a printmaker.

Originally Printmaking came about because of the need to print multiple images for distribution to a wider public. Consider medieval literature and early printing. Durer was an illustrator for a printer!

As a graphic designer and relief printmaker, I am committed to making multiple images as well. Maybe it is the influence of the early book print makers. That is the first fascinating thing about printmaking for me-the ability to create more than one. This concept has interested me since I was a child, and used carbon paper for the first time.

Secondly, and also maybe like the early illustrators, the print is a perfect medium for telling a story. I feel that all printmakers are storytellers in one way or another.

Third, it is an affordable medium for the average collector. Just like the early book illustrators contributed to making books more affordable, and the engravers of the 19th century were able to make illustrations for print in order to show their artwork to more people, or reproduce great works of art for all to see, I think that printmakers today have the same idea.

These reasons all have to do with history and printing and dissemination of knowledge. I am a student of print, and that's why I am so interested in printmaking. Of course, there are the personal satisfaction reasons that have been already mentioned by others, and they are there because we are all artists and create prints for the same reasons that painters and sculptors create art. It is our artform and form of expression.

Mary Grassell
grassell@marshall.edu

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