Pixel to Print: Screen Printing with Photographic Imagery

This versatile and dynamic monoprint workshop utilizes both water-based and oil-based media, printing from collagraph plates and stencils. Participants create textured plates by building up varied surfaces with acrylic mediums, along with using more traditional drypoint Plexiglass plates combined with collage materials and Duralar stencil shapes. These inspiring techniques work well with both abstract and representational imagery, adding new methods and visual effects to the printmaking practice. Each student is guided individually by the instructor, as well as offered group demos daily.

Investigate fundamental visual elements in this printmaking course, which include drypoint, engraving, and etching on copper. Understanding the various qualities of lines possible in intaglio is an essential part of building dynamic drawings and compositions. Students experiment with the fast, dynamic, and expressive gestural marks used in drypoint and the slow, precise lines required for engravings and dots. The workshop begins by covering drypoint techniques that are later translated to copper engraving using a burin and etchings. Additionally, the history of etching is introduced, as well as technical demos including chine-collé and à la poupée.

Japanese woodblock prints (mokuhanga) are characterized by the luminous brilliance of watercolors hand-printed from multiple blocks in tight registration using a traditional baren. No press is required, water is the only solvent, pigments sink deeply into the paper, and minimal workspace is needed. In this class, students design block sets to be machine-carved using a laser engraver, then ink and print the blocks using traditional mokuhanga techniques. This workshop takes place in both the Patton Print Shop and the Digital Fabrication Studio.