The art of Printmaking
Wednesday, 16. July 2008, 18:28:59

The artist will paint their image or design w/ printer's ink or paint onto a piece of plexi plate or aluminum plate. The plate is placed on the press table, then damp paper is placed on top of the inked or painted plate, a piece of newsprint placed on top of that to protect any ink from getting on the three different thicknesses of a of type padding that is the last layer. Then you turn the handle and the table runs underneath the press. Usually you will get one good print and a ghost....sometimes even a second ghost. The ghost prints can be drawn on with graphite, color pencils or painted on w/ watercolor to embellish them further.
Relief printmaking is also a fun process whereby you draw onto a piece of wood or lineoleum, then cut away with a special gouging tool the part to have no color. I love the results from this as well but the gouging and cutting eventually causes cramping in my hands and fingers. I must take many breaks when doing this.
One of my favorite artist printmakers is Kathe Kollwitz. Here is one of her self portraits.
I did two monoprints to pay homage to another artist, Edvard Munch, and his painting The Scream, which was stolen from a museum then later found.

Here is one of my Homage to the Scream monoprints:

By nopanic, # 17. July 2008, 10:16:45
Thanks for the push in the right direction.
Good work!
By ricewood, # 17. July 2008, 12:25:00
By Captivevet, # 17. July 2008, 12:44:42
Alan, if you get a chance, look up Kathe Kollwitz on Wikipedia. She was an amazing artist and her bio is very interesting. The article will have links with more information on printmaking, relief printmaking, etc. I know there are a few details I left out when talking of the process....I kept having to go back and edit as I remembered things. In 'My Art' album, you will see the actual piece of linoleum and wood I cut my design out on. The pieces of tape you see at the edges of the board these pieces are glued on, were for keeping the paper straight.
Tyler, I'm glad you feel I am educating you. Sometimes I amaze myself with what I remember. The furniture is not done yet. My son said to leave the smaller dressers for them to do when they get here. And, yes, I am now drinking coffee and you should have been a drill sargeant......but my ex WAS a drill sargeant....and I didn't listen to him either.
By PainterWoman, # 17. July 2008, 14:25:13
By nopanic, # 17. July 2008, 16:52:00
By ricewood, # 17. July 2008, 16:58:24
By edwardpiercy, # 17. July 2008, 21:55:38
By Captivevet, # 17. July 2008, 22:31:45
Allan, thanks.
Ed, I getcha. I just draw the image the way I want it, knowing it will be reversed. I would have a huge problem if I tried to think in reverse..... or draw it in reverse......now I don't know if I'M making sense.
Tyler, my ex wasn't a DI, he is old world Italian and seems mad all the time.
By PainterWoman, # 17. July 2008, 23:50:50
By 1bluebox, # 18. July 2008, 02:53:08
You might find some other stuff you need too
By nopanic, # 18. July 2008, 08:38:13
By Captivevet, # 18. July 2008, 13:25:23
Nic: "You might find some other stuff you need too"
That's what I'm afraid of.
Tyler: Nope, he was neither of those.....just a grumpy man,
By PainterWoman, # 18. July 2008, 14:04:06
By nopanic, # 18. July 2008, 19:53:31
By Captivevet, # 18. July 2008, 21:52:57
By edwardpiercy, # 19. July 2008, 18:21:34
By Captivevet, # 20. July 2008, 16:18:33
Tyler, I know....
you can write about an artist character in your next novel.
By PainterWoman, # 20. July 2008, 21:52:21
By Captivevet, # 21. July 2008, 02:38:18
By noah counte, # 21. July 2008, 18:37:57
By PainterWoman, # 21. July 2008, 18:52:38
By nopanic, # 21. July 2008, 19:36:22
Our biggest problem was that we made the platten out of wood. The metal in the press did pretty well, but the wood bowed under pressure.
By noah counte, # 21. July 2008, 20:09:41
By Captivevet, # 21. July 2008, 21:26:04
Using all these ideas, I think I'm going to use a cutting board on the floor as the table, put all the materials on that, then use a rolling pin (or pen?) as the press to roll over the paper. I'm thinking with both my hands and upper body leaning into it, it might work. I don't know. Time for some experimentation.
But it'll have to wait a few days. I'm still working on that damn dresser. It's wearing me out!
By PainterWoman, # 21. July 2008, 21:42:12
By Captivevet, # 21. July 2008, 21:46:11
By Captivevet, # 21. July 2008, 22:13:21
FINALLY, I found the name of it. It was bugging me. It's called a 'baren'. The one I have has a padded bottom with a handle.
I'm going to have to leave again. I'm finding that the more I do for other people (even tho some of it I get paid for) the less I get done at my own house. I'm getting wore out and everything here's a mess and maybe that's why I'm out of sorts today.
I'm rarely this way....and that bugs me too.
By PainterWoman, # 21. July 2008, 22:13:48
Now I have never been known to make this suggestion, but looking at your pic I would think it would not be a problem! If your present force is not enough to make a dent on the subject. You could enjoy yourself for once away from the salad bar! I am not sure how to concentrate the weight gain to the upper body, but certainly using heavy weights like the guys at the gym do, could do more harm than good to your upper torso! So, unless you want to sit on it (haha) I am thinking my suggestion is a little ridiculous! If you were in India you could employ the services of an elephant, yet that could be a hazard to your studio! As a last resort however, you could fly me out for a heavy downward thrust on the contraption!
I must not leave without commenting on Scream gone artistic! You know, don't you that you have shown the original artist how it should have been done! I got over being afraid to the look after 2 hours at the movie! But as an in frame still life, it would look nice in my den! hint hint haha
By uttopia, # 21. July 2008, 22:16:32
By Captivevet, # 21. July 2008, 22:23:29
i was thinking of template, but i knew that was inaccurate. what if you figured out how to stand on the device? that wouldn't work, becuase the baren has to roll . . . . let me put my thinking cap on. i'll be back!
By 1bluebox, # 21. July 2008, 22:42:12
It's the Brayer that has to roll the ink on, and the Baren is used to rub the back of the paper. Now if I can just remember those words! My print teacher would always get annoyed with me because I would say 'that rolling thing' or 'that rubbing thingy'. He threatened to give us a vocabulary test at one point because we were all saying the same thing!
p.s. I feel better now. I showered, dressed up, and now I'm REALLY leaving for the pet food store and back to my son's to feed his cats.
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 00:00:26
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 00:01:34
By uttopia, # 22. July 2008, 02:32:33
Well, I would but he died four years before I was born.....but then you knew that didn't you.
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 04:01:42
This: Yes, I was just testing you, PW! I was in fact at his funeral and wake! My flowers were receiving all the comments. His gnost came to me and said " You know that you are soon to meet an excellent painter, I can't say her name. But, she has doene a peace that puts my art to shame. But it is really that while she was doing it, I had entered her body and was exending my work THROUGH her!" Will that work, Better Half Face?
By uttopia, # 22. July 2008, 04:30:05
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 04:44:46
all i need to know is that i am compelled to say something... preferably something new.
kollwitz was a 'driven' artist and i always admired her skill. but it's 'lopsided'. the content appeals to an imaginary compassion... a sentimental substitute for conscience.
we use whatever we can get. we adapt to every medium. we are here to propose the principle that life is a good thing. but there is a lot of confusion about 'expression'. and there is even more confusion about when it is right to cause pain.
you have to go way back and understand the nature of art is to raise the 'food' of impressions to the level of 'beauty' or 'knowledge'.
the 'emperor's clothes' of modern aesthetics is the acceptance of any old thing. right now we are in a wasteland. because no one knows.
By I_ArtMan, # 22. July 2008, 05:17:31
This said it all: "the 'emperor's clothes' of modern aesthetics is the acceptance of any old thing. right now we are in a wasteland. because no one knows."
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 05:59:43
By I_ArtMan, # 22. July 2008, 06:02:48
By Captivevet, # 22. July 2008, 13:22:35
p.s. and no free art:D
By PainterWoman, # 22. July 2008, 14:18:13
By Captivevet, # 22. July 2008, 21:13:43
By noah counte, # 23. July 2008, 13:09:41
By Captivevet, # 23. July 2008, 13:47:31
I think you're about right - '57 was the tipping point - though there were some shows that ran into the 60's. "Have Gun, Will Travel" (remember Paladin?) springs to mind: the TV show actually spawned the radio show. The TV show ran from '57-'63, and the radio show ran for 225 episodes starting in 1958 and ending in 1960.
By noah counte, # 23. July 2008, 13:58:07
By Captivevet, # 23. July 2008, 14:01:07
Yes, it certainly can. There are only a few things I watch on a semi-regular basis. The remodeling shows on HGTV have taught me many things and the true cold case and the supposedly fictional crime investigation shows. The one with William Peterson being my favorite. If I were 20 yrs old again, I'd be an artist for the FBI.
By PainterWoman, # 23. July 2008, 14:02:18
By Captivevet, # 23. July 2008, 14:05:11
By noah counte, # 23. July 2008, 14:07:33