Cosmic and abstract, repetitive dots are the foundation of US-based Korean artist Eunice Kim‘s visual universe. Coupled with her determination to take the collagraph into new realms through an innovative and safety conscious approach to printmaking, Eunice’s innovative work opens up the possibilities for working with non-toxic and sustainable methods. For the first instalment of this special interview series celebrating the rise of environmentally sound printmaking, we decided to speak with Eunice and find out more about her artistic practice and her unique printmaking technique.

Artist Eunice Kim in studio with Tessellation series, at her studio in Greater Seattle Area, Washington, USA.

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin?

Eunice: I began exploring alternative processes in early 2004. Having developed allergies and sensitivities to chemicals and solvents commonly used in traditional printmaking media, I needed a technique that would allow me to continue working.

Five Elements (Water) by Eunice Kim, Collagraph with chine collé, 5″x5″ (image), 9″x9″ (paper), 2008, edition variable of 20

Sophie: As an artist, I’m interested to hear your view on how the green printmaking movement has changed since you began working? Would you still consider it to be niche?

Eunice: It has certainly come a long way as far as awareness, but we still have much work to do in putting that knowledge into action. I think that printmakers, due to the communal nature of shared work spaces, are a bit more informed about the usage of hazardous materials and processes, which are not exclusive to printmaking genre but widespread throughout most visual arts disciplines. More and more printmaking workshops and colleges here in the US and abroad are committing themselves to safer printmaking practices, which is extremely heartening and encouraging.

‘Tessellation (144-3) #3’ by Eunice Kim. Collagraph monoprint, 36″x36″, 2011, edition: unique

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?

Eunice: There are quite a few technique-wise, including photopolymer plates and waterless lithography. Nontoxicprint.com, a nonprofit online resource, is a wealth of information on everything safe printmaking and probably offers best one-stop overview of some of the key innovations in this field.

Five Elements (Fire) by Eunice Kim, Collagraph with chine collé, 5″x5″ (image), 9″x9″ (paper), 2008, edition variable of 20

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) processes & materials to work with?

Eunice: My favourite process, naturally, is my own. But really, jokes aside, I’m a big fan of the collagraph. I feel it is a medium whose potential is yet to be fully realized. Its strength lies in its physicality and experimental nature, and that can open up to a whole lot of things.

As far as inks go, I had continued to utilise oil-based inks, using vegetable oil, soap, and water for cleanup. This year, however, I made the full transition to water-based inks, which I have been experimenting with for the last few years. I must admit, there was bit of a learning curve, which is to be expected when introducing a new material to the mix, but the ease of use and safer nature of the inks all but made up for any time commitment associated with the switch.

‘Tessellation (48-3) #6’ by Eunice Kim. Collagraph monoprint, 12″x36″, 2013, edition: unique

Sophie: As an artist, what are some of the challenges you have personally faced in order to transition to environmentally sound practices?

Eunice: First and foremost, it was challenging to identify a process that was in line with my intentions, as well one that is as safer and sustainable. When I began my investigation, there were several commercially available alternative intaglio methods to choose from, but none felt quite “personal” enough to me; I wanted something more intimate and direct.

Left: Collagraph plate inked, wiped, and ready to print. Right: Pulling an impression of the plate.  All printing takes place in a solvent-free environment.

This led me to develop an entirely manual approach to plate making, wherein hand formed, shaped, and polished modeling paste dot marks (what I call “miniature sculptures”) are the building blocks of my imagery. It took me a solid year of trial and error to begin to see something I was happy with and arrive at a unique process that is specific to my visual language.

Five Elements (Fire) by Eunice Kim, Collagraph with chine collé, 5″x5″ (image), 9″x9″ (paper), 2008, edition variable of 20

Left: Completed plates, wherein each dot mark has been manually shaped to height and contour optimal for the printing process, without the use of caustic mordants typically employed in traditional intaglio techniques. Right: Dot marks created out of modeling paste–each a miniature sculpture formed, shaped, and polished entirely by hand, are the building blocks of Kim’s imagery.

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?

Eunice: When exploring new approaches, try to go in open-minded and without preconceived expectations. You may not necessarily be able to replicate the exact same results you are accustomed to with your old materials. Remember, you are creating a new paradigm. Be patient and give it time. Anything worth exploring will demand certain degree of time commitment.

You may also wish to check and see if your local arts organization or governmental agency offers assistance in this regard. King County here in Washington, for instance, has a fantastic Art Hazards program which offers free workshops on safe studio practices, conducts no-charge studio visits to evaluate hazards in working environment and makes recommendations for improvement, and even defrays the cost of safety improvements.

Finally, I always stress that there is no such thing as a completely nontoxic process. Most products we use in our daily lives, in fact, all have some downsides. Our goal is to raise awareness to minimise hazard and impact. If the idea of going green is daunting, begin with small steps!

Five Elements (Wood) by Eunice Kim, Collagraph with chine collé, 5″x5″ (image), 9″x9″ (paper), 2008, edition variable of 20

Sophie: Where do you source your inspiration?

Eunice: My immediate surroundings and environment. Living and working in the woods of Cascade foothills, I am now more than anything else informed by nature itself, which is both beautifully simple and complex. It is this duality I try to bring to my work.

Five Elements (Metal) by Eunice Kim, Collagraph with chine collé, 5″x5″ (image), 9″x9″ (paper), 2008, edition variable of 20

Sophie: Any upcoming projects or news?

Eunice: This June, I will be producing a public outreach program titled Nontoxic Printmaking at Cedar River Watershed, celebrating the incredible natural resource that is primary source of clean, safe drinking water for our Greater Seattle area. For this, I am creating a special series of collagraphs that speaks to stewardship, biodiversity, and sustainability of the Cedar River Watershed.

I’m also working on a new body of work to be shown at Davidson Galleries in Seattle, in what will be my fifth solo exhibition at the venue.

Check out more of Eunice Kim’s work: www.eunicekim.net
Read our feature on Environmental Ethics In The Printmaking Studio.

Image at the top: 
Porous #41 by Eunice Kim
Collagraph with chine collé
11.5″x28″ (image), 20″x36″ (paper)
2007, edition variable of 20

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When it comes to environmentally-sound printmaking, France-based experimental artist Cedric Green knows what it’s all about. Green’s research into alternative printmaking techniques began in the late Eighties at the birth of the non-toxic printmaking movement. Since then, Cedric has pioneered the rediscovered technique of electro-etching, first developed in the 19th century by Thomas Spencer. Vibrant, colourful and energetic, Green’s artworks fuse environmentally sound printmaking with themes of space, nature and the mythical lost city of Atlantis. We couldn’t wait to hear more about Green’s work and advice for the next generation of artists working with alternative, sustainable and safer methods.

‘Gaia Fertilised’ by Cedric Green for the book ‘A Modern Atlantis’. 1 galv-etched plate, proofed in in 3 colours, once intaglio, and then overprinted in 3 colours in relief from the same plate by selective roller application and wiping of each colour, Saunders Waterford 180 gsm paper, 25 x 16 cm

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin?
Cedric: When I was studying etching in Sheffield in 1986-7. I was then a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Sheffield University, and had spent 15 years doing research into solar and sustainable architecture. I had a practice designing ecological housing called Ecotech Design. 

Cedric Green at his studio in France.

Sophie: Can you talk about how the green printmaking movement has changed over time? Would you still consider it to be niche?
Cedric: In 1990, there was a little interest in finding less toxic methods of photogravure, promoted by Keith Howard, and in waterless lithography by Nik Semenoff. Sheffield was a centre for the cutlery industry, and my printmaking research led me towards widely used industrial methods for marking steel and plating copper using electrolytic methods. I researched the history of electrolytic methods, and unearthed patents going back to 1840, and evidence of artists using many methods which we now call non-toxic!

‘Nude / Landscape’ by Cedric Green, 3 etched and aquatinted zinc plates, proofed in 3 colours in relief on Saunders Waterford 180 gsm paper, 33 x 56 cm

When I moved to France in 1990, I began to use electrolytic and electro-chemical methods for my own printmaking. I created a website called Green Prints, based on my book which is available free as a PDF download.  I am aware that many printmakers have abandoned traditional methods in favour of digital methods for reproduction or creation of images. That trend may leave traditional printmaking as a niche activity for a very few practitioners, but hopefully they will all eventually use greener methods !

‘Soleil Noir’ by Cedric Green. Series of prints from 7 zinc plates produced by the passive electrolytic Galv-on process, and by combining different sets of plates and printing them in 6 colours, 3 intaglio and then overprinting 3 more colours in relief onto the redamped proof. This method can produce a very large number of unique variations. 24 x 40 cm.

Sophie: What are some of the main challenges in order for environmentally minded practices to become the norm in printmaking?
Cedric: I think that many schools of printmaking are still staffed by teachers who are too old to change.

‘Reflections on a theme by Debussy’ (1991) by Cedric Green. Screenprint using water based non-toxic inks, 25 x 45 cm

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?
Cedric: Naturally I would say electrolytic and electrochemical methods of etching or plating metal matrices, as that is my main field. But also the use of non-toxic solvents, water-based inks, new resists and masking materials, waterless lithography, and photopolymer films for photogravure. The latter, which was very popular 10 years ago, has recently been overtaken by digital methods.

‘Atlantis 3’ by Cedric Green for the book ‘A Modern Atlantis’. 3 plates printed in relief with embossing in 4 colours on Fabriano or Saunders 180 gsm paper, 25 x40 cm

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) processes & materials to work with or that you have developed?
Cedric: Electrolytic etching and plating (Galv-etch), the galv-on semi-dry etching method, the use of oil-based non-skinning lithographic ink as an etching ground, and sugar lift based aquatint used with oil-based etching resist.

Left: Cedric Green at work on his prints in his studio. Right: Cedric Green with a galv-etch zinc plate. The Galv-etch is a printing process that involves using an etched or engraved plate.

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?
Cedric: Look at my website, and follow links in my Greenart Guide. (www.greenart.info/guide)

Sophie: Who are some of your favourite eco-minded printmaker artists?
Cedric: Nik Semenoff, Francesca Genna, Eva Figueras, Fabiola Mercandetti, Caroline Bouguereau, Don Braisby, Andrew Baldwin, Alfonso Crujero, Mark Graver.

Sophie: Any upcoming projects or news?
Cedric: I am perfecting sugar and salt-based aquatint methods used with oil-based inks, documenting them on my website and making instructional videos.

Check out Cedric Green’s website: www.greenart.info
Download a free copy of Cedric Green’s book

Read Environmental Ethics in the Printmaking Studio – introductory article to this interview series.

To learn more about how to create a non-toxic and environmentally friendly printmaking studio you might wish to read these books:
Screenprinting – The Complete Water-based System by Robert Adam and Carol Robertson
Intaglio: the complete safety-first system for creative printmaking by Robert Adam and Carol Robertson

‘Athena’ by Cedric Green from the book ‘A Modern Atlantis’. 1 galv-etched plate, hand proofed in 3 colours, 1 intaglio and then 2 relief from the same plate by selective application and wiping of each colour. Saunders Waterford 180 gsm paper. 25 x 16 cm

Image at the top:
‘Zeus’ by Cedric Green for the book ‘A Modern Atlantis. 1 galv-etched plate, proofed in in 3 colours, 1 intaglio and then 2 colours in relief from the same plate by selective roller application and wiping of each colour, Saunders Waterford 180 gsm paper, 25 x 16 cm

The post Environmental Ethics of Printmaking: Cedric Green’s Galv-etch appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

As the founder of Green Door Printmaking Studio, one of the few UK open access artist studios dedicated entirely to environmentally-sound printmaking, British artist Anna Johnson has played a key role in establishing and promoting safer and sustainable practices in the country. The Derbyshire-based studio offers tailored courses and consulting, alongside a programme of workshops covering processes such as acrylic resist etching, monotypes, waterless lithography, electro etching and photographic etching. We caught up with Anna to get her insight on how the green printmaking movement has evolved since its underground beginnings, to her advice for studios and artists eager to transition to safer ways of creating in print-based media.

British artist and founder of Green Door Printmaking Studio Anna Johnson working on a plate for her ‘Anima’

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin
Anna Johnson: I studied traditional printmaking at Edinburgh College of Art during the Sixties, using traditional materials such as nitric acid to etch with. The emphasis in those days was always more on creativity, exploration and experimentation, not health and safety. A great number of artists, particularly printmakers, have become ill as a result of the materials they used. I became aware of the changing ethics surrounding these processes, in particular for etching.

The Lesson by Anna Johnson, 2008. Acrylic Resist Etching w/ Wet Ground on Hahnemühle Etching White 300gsm,
13cm x 18cm

When I opened Green Door Printmaking Studio in Derby, I decided that it would be environmentally conscious studio from the start, eliminating the use of hazardous materials, instead converting all of the traditional techniques to using safer and more environmentally sound materials. It was thanks to the influence of Alfons Bytautas (then a master printmaker working at Edinburgh Printmakers), and another great friend Professor Nik Semenoff, that I was able to establish the studio under the guidance of our combined research.

Animus II (Mandala) by Anna Johnson, 2012. Acrylic Resist Wet Ground Etching, Aquatint and Photopolymer on Hahnemühle Etching White 300gsm, 42cm x 67cm

Sophie: Can you explain why you use the term ‘environmentally sound’ and not ‘non-toxic’?
Anna: When printmakers began to become more aware of the ethics of health and safety surrounding printmaking around 20 years ago, a lot of different phrases started to surface to best describe the ‘newer’ (as opposed to the traditional) processes. I believe the phrase ‘Non-Toxic’ gives the impression that all printmaking under this umbrella is not toxic and therefore harmless – encouraging the printmaker to use them in his or her home studio without worry. For me, the term is too simplistic and potentially dangerous.

Anima (Etched Copper Plate) by Anna Johnson, 2012. Acrylic Resist Wet Ground Etching w/ Open Bite & Aquatint, 49cm x 67cm

When considering a process such as etching, even when using materials less harmful to the printmaker and the environment, the term ‘Non-Toxic’ is simply incorrect. We are still using materials that should be used in a controlled and health conscious way. These materials and processes still require training and careful consideration when using them. However, when compared to their more caustic and detrimental traditional counterparts, they are more environmentally sound.

Anna Johnson’s etched prints in the studio.

Sophie: Can you talk about how the green printmaking movement has changed over time? Is it becoming more mainstream or would you still consider it to be very niche?

Anna: Coming from a traditional background and being part of the older generation myself, I noticed that many traditional etchers were ensconced in their ways and unwilling to try something new. I have received many comments over the years from printmakers who don’t believe they should change, and many consider the newer techniques to be pale imitations of the traditional ones.

Artist Emma Trainor’s etching plate being inked up at Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

Many printmaking workshops over the years have adopted the newer, safer, techniques. Some still choose to practice both the traditional and environmentally safer techniques in tandem. In the studio, I have met many printmakers who want to work in a safer way but I see little evidence that this is the norm in larger educational faculties such as colleges or universities. Many have instead chosen to downsize or even remove their printmaking departments altogether rather than spend the time, energy or resources to convert. Instead, these spaces are being used in favour of digital suites and IT studios, which I feel is so short sighted. Often, printmakers and institutions feel that to convert to these safer processes would be more expensive than the traditional counterparts. In fact, it has been proven to be less expensive in the long run to do so.

A view on Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

When I first set up Green Door, 10 years ago, I felt many of those resistant to change looked down on me. I was called a ‘greenie’ – a hippy – but, I knew that this movement was the first important step to ensure that printmaking wouldn’t become a dying art form. Change in favour of environmentally sound ethics is quite simply the future. Far from being niche, artists will always want to create hand pulled prints – even utilising computers in the process – and making these safer processes more mainstream will only enable this.

Artist Michael Cowell’s inked up etching at Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

Sophie: What are some of the main challenges in order for environmentally minded practices to become the norm in printmaking?
Anna: Knowledge and education. We have to teach artists and printmakers how to use the safer materials available to us in order to get the same – or sometimes even better – results. Printmaking studios have always been a valuable resource for disseminating knowledge.

Founder of Green Door Printmaking Studio, Anna Johnson discussing plate tone foul biting with Lisa Wilkens (of the Curwen Print Study Centre) during a beginner’s etching course at Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

When these spaces and resources were readily available, students would absorb this knowledge at the beginning, throughout their art education, in schools and colleges. They would then join printmaking studios to acquire further knowledge. This in essence is still the same, although I would argue there is less teaching or facilities available in Universities now. We now have an even greater responsibility to teach and spread the word.

The soap ground etchings biting in the mordant during an etching course at Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?
Anna: Speaking primarily as an etcher, the key innovations have been the mordants and grounds that we now use. Solvents (eg. Turpentine or White Spirit) are the most important item in any printmaking studio to cease and desist from using. In traditional etching, once you remove solvents, you are back to square one – you can no longer remove the grounds or resists that you use to coat the plate. This then gives you the option of using acrylics as resists (in many forms), but the process has to work as an organic whole – much like baking bread.

Washing off the soap ground during at etching course at Green Door Printmaking Studio, Derby.

You have to consider the whole process: from degreasing your metal, to grounding your plate, to etching and then removing the ground with a stripper. All of these elements must work together cohesively, and be considered. I have seen many printmakers who think nothing of pouring solvents and acids down the sink with no regard for the journey those materials are going to take through our water system, nor the harm this is going to cause. I have also seen misguided etchers put their hands in nitric acid to test the bite.

At Green Door Printmaking Studio, I am known as a bit of an alchemist. I mix all of my own materials, from the resists to the mordant. No mordant is ever going to be 100% ‘safe’, they are used to corrode metals. However, depending on the choice made, you may be required by law to safely dispose of the chemical waste the mordant creates when etching (this is the case when using Ferric Chloride). At Green Door, I use a self-replenishing mordant known as Cupric Chloride, which does not require any waste disposal. It was pioneered by Professor Nik Semenoff and Alfons Bytautas.

Liquid Photographic Gravure; a photographic etching process that combines purely photographic artwork, hand drawn or a combination of both to produce a printable etched plate. Prints by Green Door tutor Kevin A. Pickering

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) techniques and materials you like to work with?
Anna: My favourite techniques are Acrylic Resist Etching (this can be utilised with copper, zinc and aluminium) and Photographic Etching (using photopolymer or gravure techniques). I have a number of favourite inks, including Caligo Safe Wash and Hawthorn Stay Open. My favourite paper is Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm (although I am partial to handmade Japanese paper, such as Kitakata or Gampi).

‘Wee Sweetie’ by Anna Johnson. Photopolymer gravure etching

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?
Anna: To any artist who is looking to explore safer printmaking techniques I would say; do your homework. Read and research the techniques you would like to explore. Go and find a good reliable teacher. Research environmentally sound studios online. Most importantly; find a Guru you can trust; who will guide you and let you explore the processes you wish to learn. To studios who need advice or guidance, I am available as a consultant. If you would like to learn how to set up your studio or convert, please get in touch.

‘Arcimboldo’ by Anna Johnson. Waterless lithograph

Sophie: Who are some of your favourite eco-minded printmaker artists?
Anna: My two gurus are Alfons Bytautas and Professor Nik Semenoff. Also my good friend and patron of Green Door Printmaking Studio, Brent Millar. An honourable mention also goes to my daughter and business partner, Pandora Johnson, who I admire greatly as an artist.

‘Animus 1 Plate’ by Anna Johnson. Acrylic Resist Wet Ground Etching, Aquatint and Photopolymer on Hahnemühle Etching White 300gsm, 42cm x 67cm

Sophie: Any upcoming projects or news?
Anna: I currently have a series of etchings on display in the Royal Derby Hospital as part of the Air Arts project. I was invited as a master printmaker to exhibit at the Academy of Fine Arts, Sicily and at the Biennial in Duro, Portugal later in the year.

Green Door Printmaking Studio has two major upcoming exhibitions: one at Déda, Derby; an exhibition in collaboration with our colleagues The Small Print Company and Derby’s 2nd Book Festival (5th May – 30th July). The second, ‘Worn’ at The Old Station Gallery in Rowsley (13th August – 8th September). This is also our 8th year of organising the International Print Exchange – a printmaking exchange that is open to all, celebrating international printmakers and bringing our ever growing community together. For more information, please visit our website. 

Check out the Green Door Printmaking Studio website:
www.greendoor-printmaking.co.uk

To learn more about how to create a non-toxic and environmentally friendly printmaking studio you might wish to read these books:
Screenprinting – The Complete Water-based System by Robert Adam and Carol Robertson

Intaglio: the complete safety-first system for creative printmaking by Robert Adam and Carol Robertson

The post Environmental Ethics of Printmaking: Anna Johnson’s Green Door Printmaking Studio appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

American artist, art professor and researcher Susan Groce is one of the pioneers of environmentally safer printmaking in the United States. After spending time at Edinburgh Printmakers at the birth of the non-toxic printmaking movement, Susan returned to the United States over a decade ago to lead the University of Maine’s Department of Art’s transition into safer printmaking processes. Internationally known for her large-scale drawings and prints of labyrinthian spaces and organic forms, Susan’s work reflects her deep involvement with themes of sustainability and the impacts of human activity on the environment. Here Susan shares with us her invaluable insight into safer printmaking processes and materials, and her thoughts on the growth of the movement and education.

A work from Passages over Vinalhaven (triptych) by Susan Groce. Multiplate Color Intaglio, 30 x 40 inches

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin?
Susan: In the late Seventies, after graduating from the University of Michigan, I worked under Frank Cassara (White Ground inventor) to mix traditional etching grounds. The thinking was that by knowing what toxic materials these grounds contained, we could handle them appropriately with the right safety equipment. By the late Eighties, I felt increasingly in conflict between the hazardous (health and environment) materials I was using and the environmental themes of my work. In the early Nineties, I became aware of photopolymer film possibilities as a safer alternative, and by the mid-Nineties, after a year long stint working at the studio of Edinburgh Printmakers, I returned to the University of Maine and completely converted the studio over to environmentally safer materials and processes.

Susan Groce’s studio, Martinsville, Maine, USA

Sophie: Do you use the term ‘environmentally sound’, ‘safer’ or ‘non-toxic’?
Susan: I actually use the term ‘safer’ in hopes that we will continue to substitute environmentally safer and safer products as they become available with new technical discoveries, materials and processes.

Portrait of Susan Groce. Courtesy University of Maine

Sophie: Can you talk about how the green printmaking movement has changed over time? Is it becoming more mainstream or would you still consider it to be niche?
Susan: From my perspective, I see more and more programs and individual artists becoming knowledgeable and well versed in incorporating greener materials. I do believe it is becoming more mainstream – as with anything – if greener product results are equal to or better than the more hazardous materials and the costs are either comparative or cheaper – why choose otherwise?

Invasive Species (16 segment detail of 216 segment installation), Installation approx. 12′ x 10′ , Photopolymer (Intaglio-type), 2008

Sophie: What are some of the main challenges in order for environmentally minded practices to become the norm in printmaking?
Susan: First, for those who have spent significant time honing skills with traditional materials, the biggest shift is to become more open to embracing new materials and processes. Fortunately, from my own experience, the switchover is a fairly straightforward material substitution – all my years with traditional materials provided a solid foundation and support for my work with greener materials.

A work from the Landformations series (ongoing, 1991-present) by Susan Groce. Mixed Media on paper, 4.5′ x 7.5′

In running an active safer print studio (in all print media), my greatest challenge has been relying on constantly changing commercial or off-the-shelf products not made specifically for print processes to use or mix reliably for our specific purposes. I’m delighted to see dedicated green print products now entering the market (various acrylic-based etching grounds and aquatint, non-toxic inks, etc.)

A work from the Landformations series (ongoing, 1991-present) by Susan Groce. Mixed Media on paper. Dimensions in series varies from 4.5′ x 5′ to 4.5′ x 11′

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?
Susan: Since the early Nineties, there have been many important innovations that make for a wonderfully integrated system of possibilities. Key processes include the adaptation of Photopolymer films from the electronics industry; Acrylic Resist Etching; new etches such as the Edinburgh Etch, Saline Sulfate etch, Copper Sulfate mordant and Electro-etching; Water and Soy based Inks, Polyester litho plates… right up to easy incorporation of digital processes, laser cutting, CNC, and so on. I find that because of constant innovation and incorporation of more environmentally sound materials and practices, the print field continues to be not only a thriving medium but one that has capacity to demonstrate that an environmentally sound practice is compatible with quality results.

Work in progress from 2 different photopolymer series by Susan Groce. First working proofs of Compromised Lands (60 Intaglio-type plates (each 10 x 10 inches) that will be tiled together in various formats; First proofs of a black and white set of maze images made from graphite drawings, each 10 x 10 inches, 2014

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) processes & materials to work with?
Susan: My work tends to center around photopolymer films and acrylic resist etching (with the full complement of grounds). I’ve also had great fun this past year experimenting with laser cut wood blocks.

A work from the Landformations series (ongoing, 1991-present) by Susan Groce. Mixed Media on paper. Dimensions in series varies from 4.5′ x 5′ to 4.5′ x 11′

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?
Susan: There are many programs, short courses, workshops and/or studios to visit, to learn about safer materials, processes, and set ups. Take at look at www.nontoxicprint.com – Friedhard Kiekeben has done a wonderful job organising this very comprehensive open source site, where safer materials, processes, schools, workshops, publications and artists are detailed. If you are considering converting a large multi- print media studio over to safer processes, consider hiring a consultant (an experienced safer print artist, or safer studio technician/manager) to help in the planning process. If hesitant, just try substituting one material at a time!

A work from the Landformations series (ongoing, 1991-present) by Susan Groce. Mixed Media on paper. Dimensions in series varies from 4.5′ x 5′ to 4.5′ x 11′

Sophie: Any upcoming projects or news (relating to your own art and/or the studio)?
Susan: The big news on this end is that the new University of Maine Print Studio dedicated to safer printmaking is up and running beautifully – we’re thrilled! We’re set up for Acrylic Resist Etching, Photopolymer Films, Water Based Screen (photo and hand work), Polyester Plate Litho, Relief, Letter Press, Monoprinting, Collagraph, Digital applications, etc. and we’re also making use of the IMRC labs next door – laser cutters and CNC (wood and metal).

Conversations with Vredeman De Vries Vortex 4 (ongoing series) by Susan Groce. Graphite on paper, 18 x 24 inches

In addition our regular academic program, we’ve started Open Access and an Artist Residency program (offering 2-3, 1-week residencies during our academic term – if interested, see our website for more information). Consequently we have a steady stream of printmakers coming to work alongside our students and faculty.

Personally, in addition to running the UMaine print studio and print programs, I’ve got lots going on in my studio – a set of sixty tiled Intaglio-Type etchings entitled Compromised Lands to configure, some laser cut wood blocks in the proofing stage, and series of both large scale and small scale mixed media drawings in process.

Check out the University of Maine Printmaking Department:
Website: www.umaine.edu/art/printmaking
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UmainePrintShop

A work from Passages over Vinalhaven (triptych) by Susan Groce. Multiplate Color Intaglio, 30 x 40 inches

Image at the top:
Invasive Species (16 segment detail of 216 segment installation) by Susan Groce
Installation approx. 12′ x 10′
Photopolymer (Intaglio-type), 2008

The post Environmental Printmaking: Professor Susan Groce, Pioneer of Safer Printmaking in the USA appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

As one of the key influencers of the non-toxic printmaking movement in Europe, Danish artist and author Henrik Bøegh has dedicated his life to spreading non-toxic intaglio processes and materials. After discovering the work of pioneers of the non-toxic printmaking movement such as Keith Howard and Friedhard Kiekeben in the early nineties in the US and UK, Henrik Bøegh returned to Scandinavia, determined to grow the movement throughout Europe. Bøegh continues to lead a global workshop, education and conference programme dedicated to environmentally safer print processes and materials through Grafisk Eksperimentarium, which he established in Copenhagen in 1997. We decided to speak with Bøegh about the growth of this movement in Europe and the challenges artists face in transitioning to safer practices.

Intaglio Print by Henrik Bøegh from the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’. 20 x 20 cm

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin?
Henrik: I have devoted a bigger part of my life to non-toxic intaglio printmaking since the 1990s. I have been working as a professional artist since 1977 especially with black and white photography, but also with traditional printmaking. However, I stopped intaglio printmaking because of the very toxic environment of printmaking studios. Eli Poinsaing, Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts introduced me to his new and completely non-toxic discoveries using photopolymer plates (solarplates) for photogravures as well as vegetable oil for cleaning the plates.

Photogravure by Henrik Boegh, 25 x 40 cm

During the mid 90s, I also heard about the experiments Keith Howard had begun with photopolymer film and acrylic etching grounds at the Canadian School of Non-Toxic Printmaking in Alberta; and also about a large printmaking studio in Edinburgh where they had completely changed all classic printmaking methods to the new non-toxic methods. I made visits and participated in workshops in both places. What was going on there and what he had developed was nothing but a revolution to me.

A few years later I wrote a hands-on manual on Photogravure, which I published for fellow photographers in Denmark. At the same time I started conducting workshops for individual photographers using this new medium in my own studio in Denmark.

Henrik now works partly in his studio in Copenhagen, Denmark and partly in his studio in Andalusia, Spain (pictured here).

Sophie: Can you talk about how the green printmaking movement has grown around Europe?
Henrik: Most of what has been written or communicated on Non-Toxic Printmaking has been written in English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Danish. This means that you can talk about a movement in the northern part of Europe where everybody understands English (Scandinavia, UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands). Spain and France came later. In southern European countries and the former East European countries where people do not communicate very well in English, practically nothing has happened.

Angkhor Temple Cambodia by Henrik Boegh. Photogravure from copper plate, 2003

Can you tell us what kind of projects you run through Grafisk Experimentarium?
Henrik: We test and evaluate new printmaking techniques and materials based on acrylics and polymers. We also impart our experience with such techniques and materials to art school and creative artists from around the world, and advise schools and graphics workshops on how to establish and equip non-toxic studios. In addition, we also arrange workshops, conferences and demonstrations of non-toxic printmaking.

Intaglio Print by Henrik Boegh from the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’. 20 x 20 cm

Sophie: What do you think needs to happen for the non-toxic printmaking movement to grow further?
Henrik: As I see it, it requires local “fiery souls” who can see an idea in communicating the message and who are qualified to make workshops. I am sure that among the younger printmakers the interest is present, but unfortunately the university teachers are hesitating, mainly because of conservatism but also because many of the universities already have the necessary safety equipment and evaporation systems that make it safe to use the traditional material. This means that you cannot blame the university nor the teacher.

Henrik Boegh during a demonstration at his studio in Spain

And here we have a key problem: it is correct that you can work safe if you have these necessary safety equipments and evaporation systems, but imagine what the students will do when they have finished the University and only learned to work the traditional way? They will of course continue to work with the traditional materials and techniques, but in unsafe environments, since they cannot afford to build up the necessary safety equipments and evaporation systems in their studios. And that would not have been necessary at all if they had learned the non-toxic methods.

Intaglio Print by Henrik Boegh from the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’. 20 x 20 cm

Sophie: What are some of the main challenges in order for environmentally minded practices to become the norm in printmaking?
Henrik: A good idea would be to arrange workshops in art schools and universities or send the teachers on workshops. On my workshops in Spain and Denmark, over half of the participants are teachers on art schools and universities from all over the world.

Intaglio Print by Henrik Boegh from the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’. 20 x 20 cm

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?
Henrik: The introduction of the acrylic etching grounds were nothing but a revolution, not only because they work for the purpose but especially because they made it possible to eliminate all the toxic solvents and materials from the studio.

Working with photopolymer plates and photopolymer films in printmaking meant using digital positives. This has built a bridge to the younger generation, who are used to working with computers, computer generated stencils, photography, etc – and not so much with pen and paper. This is not only completely non-toxic but also an entrance to the world of fine art printmaking for this goal group.

Photogravure by Henrik Boegh, 25 x 40 cm

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) processes & materials to work with?
Henrik: My personal favourites are photopolymer film, solar plates and spray on aquatint.

A workshop and demonstration at Henrik’s studio in Andalusia, Spain

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?
Henrik: Start with a good workshop instead of trying by yourself and get a lot of problems with no answers. Send a person from the studio on a workshop or arrange one in the studio. You are always welcome to come to Spain. This year, for instance, I did a workshop in the University of Andes en Bogotá, Colombia, for university teachers in printmaking. The workshop was a result of having one of the professors participating on my workshop last summer in Spain. One professor converted the studio to Non-Toxic techniques when he returned, I came over and did a workshop in Colombia and now they are all teaching Non-Toxic Printmaking.

Intaglio Print by Henrik Boegh from the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’. 20 x 20 cm

Sophie: Any upcoming projects or news?
Henrik: I consider my work with spreading the message of non-toxic printmaking as my personal mission and humble contribution to a better world – so I just continue.

Check out Henrik Bøegh’s website: www.grafiskeksperimentarium.dk
Henrik Bøegh’s work: www.artbag.dk/henrik

Read Henrik’s book ‘Handbook of Non-Toxic Intaglio’ and check out his DVD ‘Non-Toxic Intaglio Step by Step’.

Upcoming workshop from October 8th – October 16th 2016 in the Andalucían mountain village of Capileira, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Henrik Bøegh offers international workshops in Non-Toxic Intaglio in his printmaking studio in the lovely little Andalucían mountain town of Capileira, in the Sierra Nevada, Spain. The spoken language is English, Spanish, German, Danish according to the participants origin.

Image at the top:
Intaglio Print by Henrik Boegh
From the series ‘Angkhor Diary Notes’
20 x 20 cm

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Located in the beautiful Medieval Castle of Montefiore Conca, Opificio della Rosa is Italy’s first studio and centre dedicated to environmentally safer printmaking. Founded by Italian artist and lecturer Umberto Giovannini in 2009, Opificio della Rosa is specialised in printmaking processes such as Linocut, Woodcut and Letterpress. Here we speak with Umberto about setting up the studio, his love of woodcut, and the importance of minimising our environmental impact as artists.

Ferrocarril #1, Xylo Reportage, Argentina (2013-2014) by Umberto Giovannini. A series of 23 woodcuts, made on rough wood collected during the artistic trip. Each work is 12 x 31,5 cm

Sophie: When did your interest in the environmental ethics of printmaking begin?
Umberto: I was born in Italy in an area between the sea and the mountains where the feeling of nature is very strong. In 2009, I returned there with a group of artists and we set up our new studio and printmaking centre, ‘Opificio della Rosa’. The studio is in a medieval village of 200 people surrounded by woods – we needed to feel part of the nature. We made a studio based on the full respect of the environment and of the artists.

The incredible location of Opificio della Rosa at the medieval town of Montefiore Conca, Rimini, Italy. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: As an artist, I’m interested to hear your view on how the green printmaking movement has changed since you began working? Would you still consider it to be niche?
Umberto: Every change from traditional culture needs to be strong and revolutionary in some sort of way. I’m happy to see studios converting to greener processes and materials, step by step. But I’m not convinced about the total conversion to green techniques: sometimes, especially with etching, the quality is not the same. In our studio, we use natural products instead of solvents and acids, there is a lot of experimentation to do. For example, we use the non-toxic etching process of blue etching, which uses copper sulphate instead of nitric acid.

Inside Opificio della Rosa. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

In recent years, several studios around the world have been using this process in order to substitute the nitric acid, although it is not a complete substitution. A lot of people I know have adopted blue etching and they are very happy as there are no side problems in the studio and it is an environmentally friendly process. But to be used in the best way, the process has to be experimented with in the right way – it is tricky and you have to experiment a lot. In Opificio della Rosa, we are using this process for etching, as pioneered in Italy by Rome-based engraver Fabiola Mercandetti.

Carving tools at Opificio della Rosa. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: Are you one of the only environmentally safer studios in Italy?
Umberto: We are the first studio in Italy to be dedicated to low environmental impact printmaking techniques. In recent years, more and more studios have been converting their processes in this direction.

A view on printmaking materials inside Opificio della Rosa, Italy. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: Can you talk about some of the key innovations in this field?
Umberto: The big change was to use copper sulphate instead of nitric acid and green cleaning up products. We are investigating good quality, environmentally friendly inks, such as water-based inks. The quality of water-washable Charbonnel inks compared to their oil-based one is not the same – the same goes for Caligo water-washable inks. They are easy and quick to clean in a classroom but they are not really suited for professional work.

Regina 1, from the series ‘Regina d’Africa’ by Umberto Giovannini (2013) Woodcut, 22×20 cm

Sophie: What are some of your favourite (environmentally sound) processes & materials to work with?
Umberto: I work mainly in woodcut. It is a direct process and it is very easy to go in the green direction with this printmaking process – all you need is a block of wood, some tools (which you will usually use for the rest of your life) and energy in your arms. Flakes of wood are the only waste. The environmental impact is very low.

Ferrocarril #1, Xylo Reportage, Argentina (2013-2014) by Umberto Giovannini. A series of 23 woodcuts, made on rough wood collected during the artistic trip. Each work is 12 x 31,5 cm

All human activity has an environment impact. I think that an artist has to create – and creating something has an environment impact. That said, I think it is important to look for the less dangerous processes both for us and the environment.

Artist Umberto Giovannini and founder of Opificio della Rosa. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: As an artist, what are some of the challenges you have personally faced in order to transition to environmentally sound practices?
Umberto: For the past decade, we have been using essential oils and vegetable-based washes for our cleaning process – we are very pleased with the results. With 2 bottles of citronella oil (2 euros per litre), we clean rollers, spatulas and inking surfaces of the studio for one year.

Saint Paul From Saint Brides tower bell, from the series ‘Fish Eye’ by Umberto Giovannini (2013) Woodcut, 50×40 cm

Sophie: What are some of the main printmaking processes practiced at Opificio della Rosa?
Umberto: Opificio della Rosa is specialised in Woodcut, Linocut, Letterpress. Master Jurgen Czaschka is running a symposium on burin on copper. We are also using non-toxic processes like blue-etching and lithography on paper.

At work in Opificio della Rosa, Italy. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: What advice would you like to give to an artist or studio who is looking to explore safer & environmentally sound alternatives to traditional printmaking?
Umberto: Experiment with new processes and new materials. Spread and share the information throughout the printmaking community.

Meeting inside Opificio della Rosa, Italy. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Sophie: Can you tell me about upcoming projects and plans for the studio?
Umberto: Opificio della Rosa has a lot of projects, in particular now with printmaking illustration and artist-books. We are designing special projects with universities such as Central Saint Martins in London, RUFA (Rome University of Fine Arts) and Academy of Fine Arts of Catania. You can find all the open courses on the website www.opioficiodellarosa.org We also have a program of artist residencies for special projects, which we design internationally with artists.

At work inside Opificio della Rosa, Italy. Photo Ilaria Costanzo

Opificio della Rosa’s website: www.opificiodellarosa.org
Umberto Giovannini’s website: www.umbertogiovannini.it

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The French artist Denise Crolle-Terzaghi shows us how she works and how her colourful prints are made. She uses only Schmincke Aqua Linoprint inks.

Gelatin printing is a versatile way to print with linoprint or acrylic colours. Besides a gelatin plate (ready to buy Gelli plates made of synthetic gel or self-made plates made with real gelatin – recipe below) and the mentioned colours you will need a selection of materials for creating texture and pattern on your plate: stencils, textiles, dried plant material, cardboard and so on. Printing with several colour layers leads to a unique building-up of colour and depth and every print, of course, is one of a kind, a monotype. This printing technique requires some experimenting and learning and the results are surprising and fun.

Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink Colours are great for this technique because they are watercolour inks and so can be reactivated with water and will not dry on the gel plate and ruin it.

Gelatin Plate Printing with Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Colours

By Denise Crolle-Terzaghi

You will need:
A selection of Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink Colours , used here: Permanent Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Ivory Black
Soft ink rollers (brayers)
A sheet of glass or plastic on which to roll the ink colours
Gelatin plate (ready to buy Gelli plates made of a gelatin replacement or self-made plate made with real gelatin – see instructions for making one below)
Spray bottle with water
Mark making objects (dry plant materials, threads, embossed cardboard and more)
Positive and negative stencils (cut out from thick paper or plastic film)
Absorbent paper like newspaper sheets (to remove as much colour as you can before cleaning the plate with wet cloth) and a cotton cloth
Smooth and absorbent paper to print on: drawing paper, drawing cardboard, mixed media paper (recommended minimum paper weight: 180gsm)

Schmincke Aqua Linoprint colours are available in 35ml, 120ml and 250ml sizes.

Step 1:
It helps if you cut a framing mat for registration, the same size as the paper you will use for printing. That will help you to have all the layers line up every time you’re changing colours. Position the framing mat. Roll a little Schmincke Aqua Linoprint in Permanent Yellow colour with your roller on your ink rolling plate to cover the roller with an even film of ink, then apply the ink from the coated roller onto the gel plate. Linoprint colours can be diluted with a little water if needed. Lay down some stencils onto the colour (here some paper flowers, dried plant material, some thread). Cover it with your printmaking paper and carefully press down with your hands, gently rubbing to pick up all the exposed ink.

Step 2:
Clean the plate and change the colour. Clean the plate with absorbent paper, then finish cleaning the plate with a wet cloth. You can also clean the plate in running water. No mediums are necessary. Roll your roller onto Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Magenta and apply to the plate. Press on corrugated cardboard to remove some Magenta colour and leave marks with no colour.

Step 3:
Add negative stencils where the ink won’t print (here a cut-out cat, dry plants and thread) onto the Magenta textured colour.

Step 4:
Lay on the printing paper carefully and print the second layer onto your artwork.
Now you see the intermediary result after two layers. Here you can see the colour blending from two coats of paint printed on top of one another.

Step 5:
Clean the plate as before.

Step 6:
Change the colour. Roll your brayer onto Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Cyan colour on your ink rolling plate, then roll it onto the plate.

Step 7:
Make marks with elastics (stretched around a cardboard sheet). Press the cardboard onto the colour to remove a little bit of Cyan colour.

Step 8:
Add some more stencils (paper flowers again and a circle) on top of the Cyan textured colour. Position the printing paper exactly and print the third layer.

Step 9:
Working directly on your print, add some detail on the third finished layer. Ink the cat stencil with Schmincke Aqua Linoprint in Ivory Black and use it as a stamp (mirror image inverted!). Press the stamp down with absorbent paper to prevent the colour from bleeding around the edges.

Step 10:
Remove the stamp gently. The cat on your print is now black.

Step 11:
Ink the plants with Schmincke Aqua Linoprint in the Magenta colour and use them as stamps to enhance the picture (using absorbent paper to press with as before). Your print is now finished.

Final Monotype

Here you can see the beautiful printing result.

Make Your Own Gelatin Printing Plate

Denise Crolle-Terzaghi’s recipe for how to make a gelatin plate
You will need:
100g of powdered gelatin (usually 5 boxes)
350ml of glycerin
125ml water (boiled before)
1 rectangular baking pan, size around 26cm x 32cm
1 silicon spatula
1 big bowl

Step 1:
Pour 125ml of cold water into the bowl. Add half of the glycerin. Stir slowly until the mixture is fluid.
Step 2:
Add the powdered gelatin. Mix well using the spatula. Be sure that no lumps are left.
Step 3:
Add the rest of glycerin. Keep stirring gently, then pour into the pan.
Step 4:
Let the plate harden before moving the pan. Let it set up a few hours (overnight is perfect).
Step 5:
Slide a knife blade around the edges of the plate.
Step 6:
Take it out of the baking pan and lay it down on a sheet of glass or plastic.

No refrigeration is needed after the gel plate is set. You can keep it for months on your working table. Just cover it with a plastic sheet to protect it from dust when you are not using it. When you notice it is hardening or some little cracks appear on the surface of the plate, clean it and cut it into small bits. Put them into a big glass bowl, add a little water and put it in the microwave to melt it. Then mould it as previously.

About the artist

Denise Crolle-Terzaghi

The French artist Denise Crolle-Terzaghi has been working for more than 30 years as an artist and a writer of creative books, published in French and translated for some other European countries. She has worked for different French and American paint companies and given masterclasses in different countries (e.g. France, Russia, USA, Denmark). The idea of printing monotypes without a press first came into her mind in 2014 after having watched some videos from the American artist Linda Germain, whose work she found more artistic than crafty. As the gelli plates were not available in France at this time, she started making her own plates with gelatine and glycerine (her recipe is above). As a writer as well as an artist she likes to build stories in her pictures. She also likes cutting paper and this technique requires a lot of die-cuts. Children, animals, and flowers are her favourite subjects. She likes to introduce them into her illustrations. She also loves to work with collected and unexpected objects to make marks in the colour layers (for example dried plants, sieves and more). Her belief: “For each good print I can make a few bad ones but when I am failing I just remember Linda’s good words “It’s just a piece of paper!” and I try and try again until I am satisfied! And failed prints can always be cut up to keep some good parts of them and used into collage projects.”

As well as on her website you can find the work of Denise Crolle-Terzaghi on her Etsy shop- CrolleTerzaghi.

Click on the underlined link to go to the Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink Colours on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

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Wood Engraving was pioneered in the late-Eighteenth Century by British artists such as Thomas Bewick and William Blake, who used the technique to produce illustrations for hand-printed books. Using a tool called a burin, the engraver cuts a reversed design into the surface of a block of end-grain wood. The block is then rolled up with an oil-based ink and printed from: where incisions have been made into the surface of the block, the paper will remain white; where the engraver has left an area of the block intact, it will print black.

Wood Engraving and Linocutting by Anne Hayward is a handsome, densely-illustrated manual for artists wishing to learn how to engrave on end-grain woodblocks. The first thing to note about this book is that its title is misleading. Aspiring wood engravers will find chapters on materials, artistic composition, cutting and presswork in this book, but for lino, all of this material is condensed into the fifteen pages of the ‘Linocutting’ chapter. There are a number of design principles and practical techniques which apply to linocuts as well as wood engravings, of course, but Hayward doesn’t often mention Lino outside her dedicated chapter on the medium. I would recommend that artists and students who are interested in linocutting look elsewhere (possibly to Nick Morley’s recent book), because this is, first and foremost, a book about wood engraving.

As such, it begins with a brief cultural history of the medium. The opening chapters on ‘Wood Engraving in Context’ and ‘British Wood Engraving in the Twentieth Century’ are excellent, especially the former, which contains a sensitive account of the combination of Christian and Pastoral imagery in six of Edward Calvert’s engravings (including ‘The Chamber Idyll’, pictured above). Also welcome is the brief attempt to trace the influence of William Blake and his followers ‘the Ancients’ upon contemporary wood engravers.

These art-historical chapters do a good job of preparing the reader for the purely instructive sections of the book which follow. These pages are densely illustrated and lucidly written. Where contemporary engravers have come up with varying solutions to the same problem, Hayward gives a range of advice, which is generally a strength (though it’s frustrating that she ducks the question of which tools the beginner should purchase first by giving a synopsis of other engravers’ opinions on the matter). It is interesting that Hayward takes the reader through the process of squaring-up which must surely have suggested the compositional divisions evident in her recent work such as ‘January Afternoon‘ and ‘As the Light Changes.’

There are images of finished engravings (mostly Hayward’s own) throughout the instructive sections of the book, so that the reader can flick between photo-demonstrations of the type of cut a certain tool can make on a woodblock, and the use of that texture in a finished engraving. These images are the book’s real strength. Wood engravings are normally printed in a rich, matte black ink, and never look their best on a glossy page, but the usual complaints about shiny or greyish blacks cannot be levelled at this book. The images in Hayward’s book compare favourably with those in other recent wood engraving manuals such as Simon Brett’s Wood Engraving: How To Do It. It almost has the appearance of a coffee-table book.

Anne Hayward’s ‘Wood Engraving and Linocutting‘ can be bought at Jackson’s, as can ‘Linocut for Artists and Designers’ by Nick Morley. You can read a recent review of Linocut for Artists and Designers on our blog.

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Linocut is used to stunning effect by artists, illustrators and designers who choose it because of its strong graphic qualities, accessibility and versatility. Whether you are printing by hand at your kitchen table or on a press in a printmaking studio, Nick Morley’s 165-page book from Crowood Press will get you started and then take you on to explore the myriad creative applications of linocut printing. Illustrator H Locke enjoys using linocut and has written a review of ‘Linocut for Artists and Designers‘, taking us through the book section by section.

‘Linocut for Artists and Designers’ by Nick Morley
Book review by H Locke

The first thing I noticed about the book is that it is a lovely object in and of itself. The cover photography is beautiful, and both cover and inner page paper stock are high quality, making this the kind of book that would be a perfect gift for someone interested in the subject.

I attended one of Nick’s workshops earlier this year and have been working with lino since then in an attempt to improve my technique. I admit to being a little obsessed, yet a lot frustrated by my inability to achieve the results I want every time. So I actually had been waiting with some excitement for his book to come out in the hope that I could recap some of his teachings and also solve a couple of problems in my current practice.

On to the contents (via a good sniff of the paper. For the book sniffers out there, this one’s rather delicious).

The book begins with a very short introduction to linocut, but no more than a couple of paragraphs before launching right into materials. For me this is great, as that’s what I want to get into – tools and techniques. It also tells me this is a practical book, rather than bedtime reading.

Chapter 1
The first chapter outlines the standard range of linocut tools, with tips on sharpening techniques, inks, papers, rollers, etc. Explanations are supported by beautiful (and helpful) photography with text clearly chunked, making pages easy to scan. I expect this will be particularly useful for me when I come back to double check something mid-print.

The end of the first chapter shows work from a ceramics & linocut artist with an interesting interview about his own tools and methods of working, which starts to show the reader how versatile linocut can be.

Chapter 2 is entitled “getting started” and this is where we dive into the doing.
The first thing we see is a full page photo of Nicks amazing studio called Hello Print in Margate and yes, it is as cool as it looks.

Hello Print Studio in Margate

In this section, Nick sets out some general guidance and things to think about when setting up a workspace – whether it’s a large studio or a kitchen table at home. But I warn you, this book will make you want a studio! Also included are tips on the actual carving methods, how to and how not to (thus avoiding things like stabbing yourself with tools) as well as how to ink and print your block if printing by hand. This is the area I have the most trouble with, so it’s great for me to see lots of photos of each stage of the process.

Finally there are helpful hints on cleaning up and storing finished prints. And again the chapter ends with some inspirational examples of another artists work. Something important to say here is that everything included in this section is exactly how Nick explained things to us in his workshop, which is helpful for me personally as its like having him on hand to remind me which things to do and not do!

Chapter 3
The next chapter focuses on printing presses for linocut. Again, more beautiful shots of Hello Print, as they have some great printing presses there, but also diagrams of how the different presses work. If you’ve got access to these machines, then this section will be helpful as Nick also demonstrates how to use them for best results as well as that all important health and safety stuff covered off too.

Showing the breadth and variety of effects that can be achieved with what is essentially a fairly simple set of tools and materials

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 4 looks at black and white printmaking, which is a really nice way of going in-depth into printmaking techniques and effects, discussing things like printing pressure and amount of ink – a balance I struggle with, so it’s great to see a double page spread of different results or what I’d call “things that can go wrong and often do”.

There are also some beautiful examples of black and white work in this section including Nick’s ‘Ghandi’, which is one of my absolute favourites.

Chapter 5 then naturally brings us to colour printing with discussion of types of ink you can use and how to use them to best effect. There are some great tips here on designing a multi-coloured print, with step by step photos showing the drawing and inking process. The book gets slightly more complex here, with more advanced inking techniques explained clearly – so there’s plenty of material even for accomplished artists. I imagine as someone new to linocut that as I become more experienced, I’ll be coming back to this book over and over to try out some of these methods. There are also some really beautiful prints shown in this section which will inspire you into try all sorts of things!

Chapter 6 discusses linocut in the context of fine art with some recommendations on making print editions, pricing them, etc. For a new artist this will be invaluable whereas for established artists, much of this will be familiar ground, but there are definitely sections specific to printmaking which will only enhance your practice.

The last two chapters explore the wider applications of linocut – fabric printing, artist books and some more advanced techniques for the brave including, rather marvellously, Nick driving a steamroller at East London Printmakers. Fantastic.

In conclusion….
What I love about this book is how practical and useful it is. It’s really obvious how much knowledge and practical experience Nick has, as well as being an incredible artist (and patient teacher!). But although his knowledge is central to the book, he didn’t fill it with examples of only his own work – which he could have as it’s all amazing – but he included examples of many, many other artists work, showing the breadth and variety of effects that can be achieved with what is essentially a fairly simple set of tools and materials. So yes, this is definitely not like one of those celebrity chef cook books – it’s about linocut first and foremost and is as excellent and as humble as the man himself.

For all the reasons above this is the one book I have to have on hand at all times – to the extent that I actually have two copies, one in each of my studios.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the book Linocut for Artists and Designers on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Image at the top:

Gandhi book cover illustration that Nick Morley did for The Folio Society in 2010.

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Jackson’s are happy to announce that we now stock two ranges of Akua printmaking inks, Akua Intaglio and Akua Liquid Pigment, both of which are available in a wide selection of colours. We wanted to look into the properties of both inks, so we got them over to the office, carved ourselves a little square of lino, and started to print.

Which Akua ink is right for my work, Akua Intaglio or Akua Liquid Pigment?

While Akua Intaglio ink was originally designed, as its name suggests, for intaglio methods, it is also suitable for many relief printing methods such as linocuts. It comes in a small pot and is a thick, buttery ink, though it isn’t quite as stiff as many oil-based letterpress inks, which are often described as having the consistency of a soft cheese. Nevertheless, it is sufficiently thick to hang in a long, spidery string if you dip your fingertip into it, and it is certainly stiff enough to roll well and to deliver a crisp print.

If you are using Akua Intaglio for intaglio printmaking or for relief printing from woodcuts or linocuts, you should use it like this, straight from the pot. Any of the Intaglio colours can be mixed on the slab, and you can use Akua modifiers to alter the properties of the ink. You can also use small amounts of Akua Liquid Pigments to tint the Intaglio Ink, which shouldn’t have an effect on its working properties.

These Liquid Pigments come in a squirty bottle rather than a jar, and are much more watery; they are primarily designed for monotype printmaking, though they can also be applied to Japanese woodcuts with a brush. They don’t have a suspending agent added, so the pigment can separate in the bottle. Thankfully, Akua put a small mixing ball in each bottle, so you should be able to remix the ink by shaking it before use (please make sure the cap is closed!)

The following tables go some way to explaining which Akua ink is suitable for each printmaking technique, and how to use each ink. The really important thing to remember is that while both inks are made using water, the Akua Intaglio is not water soluble (though you can clean it up with just water and soap). If for any reason you want to loosen the ink, use a few drops of Akua Blending Medium – water will cause the ink to lump up and become unworkable.

Testing Akua Intaglio and Liquid Pigment.

We decided to try both types of ink on a carved block of linoleum, using two colours of Akua Intaglio (Phthalo Green and Red Oxide) and tinting with the Lamp Black Liquid Pigment.

The outside of a tub of Akua Intaglio is really no guide to what the ink will look like in use. Both the Phthalo Green and the Red Oxide look dark in the tub, but are very vibrant indeed when applied to the block and rolled. Both inks rolled well and gave a reassuring, sticky hiss as the brayer passed over them.

Not having a sophisticated relief-printing assembly in our office, we burnished our lino landscape by hand (with a tablespoon!), but the ink still gave good coverage on damp printmaking paper (Arches Velin and Fabriano Medioevalis). While you can print on either damp or dry paper with Akua Intaglio, once you’ve tinted the ink with Akua Liquid Pigment it’s best not to print on dampened paper, as the Liquid Pigment is soluble and could bleed through the paper.

Printing our linocut in Akua Intaglio Red Oxide with aid of a tablespoon. In the bottom left of the photo is the first proof on white A4 cartridge paper.

Checking the coverage on a dampened slip of Arches Velin White.

After a couple of pulls in red and green, we added a few drops of the Lamp Black Liquid Pigment to the ink to darken it. Strictly speaking, the Liquid Pigment should probably be added to the Akua Intaglio before it is rolled, so the rolling process also mixes both inks together evenly, but we didn’t encounter any problems adding a couple of drops onto already-rolled Intaglio ink then rolling over the top. As long as you make sure to lift the roller so that the ink is moved across the slab (rather than picked up and deposited in the same place) you should be fine.

Dropping Aqua Liquid Pigment onto rolled Akua Intaglio.

Rolling in the Lamp Black Liquid Pigment to try and darken the Phthalo Green to a deep Viridian.

Lino print in untinted Akua Intaglio Phthalo Green, burnished with a spoon.

Lino prints in Akua Intaglio Phthalo Green. The print on the left has had a small amount of Akua Liquid Pigment Lamp Black added; the brighter print on the right is the Phthalo Green straight from the tub.

If you are only adding a small amount of the Liquid Pigment, it shouldn’t alter the tack of the Intaglio ink, but out of curiosity, we did add a large amount of the Lamp Black just before we cleaned up. This did slightly alter the consistency and tack of the Phthalo Green, and if I was after a significant alteration in tone, I would probably try to mix two Akua Intaglio colours together rather than tint with the Liquid Pigment. Happily, the Intaglio inks come in a wide range of colours, so this is very possible.

The cleanup process after our tiny edition was printed was swift and almost painless. Akua advise you use water to clean the liquid pigment and water with some dish soap added to clean up the Intaglio ink. We used a scourer with fairy liquid on it.

We were really impressed with how easily both inks lifted off the slab, the roller, and the lino; just a small squirt of liquid soap and water, then a wipe with some absorbent paper and the slab was clean. The benefits of using Akua really did start to become clear when we reflected that we would have had to go through essentially the same process if we were cleaning up traditional letterpress or printmaking ink, but with white spirit instead of soap and water. Cleaning up Akua Intaglio takes much less time and effort.

Akua Intaglio and Akua Liquid Pigment are available at Jackson’s in a wide range of colours.

The post Akua Intaglio & Akua Liquid Pigment appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

It has become an annual tradition at Jackson’s!
Each year we ask artists to submit a photo that will encourage people to make their own linocut Christmas Cards.

Since there are so many lovely, skilled printmakers on Twitter we always do the competition there. Every year we get some great photos from creative artists.
This year we have a winning image from Anthea Bee, that will feature in our newsletter about printing your own cards. Anthea will receive a £50 Jackson’s gift voucher.
We have also selected eight runners-up who will each receive a tube of Caligo Safewash Relief Ink.

Winning Photo

Anthea Bee
Lino printing Christmas cards in two colours.

Runner-up Photos

Creative cards using linocut printmaking!

Louise Thompson
Christmas Mouse Lino print cards red berry added with acrylic on cut eraser stamp.

Andrea Clement
Linoprint cards with hares and robins

John Bide
A compilation of photos from his linoprint of a Christmas robin. He said he was “hoping to give others inspiration to try linoprinting as I only started at the beginning of October “

Caitlin Lawlor
An edition of intricate snowflakes using the time-honoured spoon burnishing method.

Rachel Willock
A colourful graffiti-inspired Christmas card.

Melanie Hunt
A very effective graphic design for this reindeer Christmas card.

Kelly Burgess
Kelly said she is feeling inspired for the festive season and enjoys using washable inks.

Tina Hagger
She said the two linoprint designs fit in the press together, halving the Christmas card production time.

Make Your Own Cards

We hope these great examples of printmaking will encourage you want to have a go at making your own linocut Christmas Cards this year!

Here is an earlier blog post that might help:

Create Your Own Festive Cards Using Lino Print

Click on the underlined link to go to the Printmaking Department on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39 or more.

The post Be Inspired by These Great Linocut Christmas Cards appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Each year at Jackson’s we like to start our festive season by encouraging our customers to print their own linocut Christmas cards. This brings a nice, personal touch to your Christmas greetings, and can also be an enjoyable family activity. This article sets out what you will need before describing, step by step, the process we used to make our small edition of cards.

What you will need to make Linocut Christmas cards

Making your own linocut Christmas cards is not particularly expensive when you consider the going rate for mass produced cards. You might easily pay £5 for five cards at any of the major high street stationers, or more at an independent or high-end retailer. That wouldn’t even be enough cards for my immediate family.

Unlike shop-bought cards, homemade cards get less expensive the more you produce. If you are planning to send forty Christmas cards this year, you might save a small amount by making your own, especially if you already own a roller or a suitable relief ink. If your address book is really large, you would probably save a significant amount, especially if you bought your Fabriano Medioevalis blank cards with envelopes by the hundred.

To print your own cards you will need the following tools and supplies:

• A suitable piece of lino. It’s probably best to get at least a couple of small blocks, just in case you make a mistake. As well as traditional lino, you can now get softer, rubbery blocks such as JAS Softcut Linoleum or Speedball Speedy Carve Blocks. These blocks take less time and effort to carve, though they’re probably not quite so good for fine detail and they can be a little difficult to print from (as we’ll see below). The trade-off is between time and effort on the one hand and image quality on the other. If you’re planning to print your cards by hand, there’s no need to get a mounted block, though a mounted surface will also be easier to print from.
• Some lino tools. We used the Flexcut Mini Palm Set of four tools, which were really well suited to the soft surface of the Speedy Carve block, and the Essdee Lino Carving Tool Set of Five Blades. These aren’t the easiest tools to use because the set only includes one handle and you have to keep switching the blades round, but they are perfectly serviceable. They’re very reasonably priced.
• A roller. Unless you’re planning to make a really large card, a small roller such as this Essdee 2 inch lino roller will be fine.
• A surface to roll ink on. We used a square-foot perspex slab, but glass is equally suitable. Essdee do an ink tray which provides a good surface to roll on and clean up. I have even used the back covers of magazines before, but they do need to be white (so you can see the ink), semi-gloss (so the ink stays on the surface), and semi-hardbound or reasonably rigid (so they don’t flip up or bend as you roll out tacky ink). The advantage of the magazine technique is that you only have to clean the roller.
• Some relief ink. Oil-based relief and letterpress inks are suitable for printing from blocks of lino, but they can take a long time to dry and the cleanup operation often involves white spirit. I’d advise you to go for an ink that’s easily cleaned up. There are now a number of relief inks which can be cleaned up with just soap and water, including Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink and Akua Intaglio (great for relief work, despite its name, as we found in a recent blog post). At first I’d say just go for a small tube or pot of each colour (<100ml), as a little ink goes a very long way. We used a small pot of Akua Intaglio Phthalo Green, a small pot of the Red Oxide from the same range, and some Akua Lamp Black Liquid Pigment (which we used to darken the Phthalo Green slightly into the colour of a holly leaf).
• Suitable paper. Fabriano Medioevalis card blanks are ideal for printing your own Christmas cards. At 120gsm, they have a really pleasing robustness to them. The surface of the paper is slightly textured and each card has four deckle edges. They come in packs of ten or a hundred, and can be bought with envelopes or without.

In addition to these specialist supplies, you will probably also need a fineliner or black felt tip pen, some ink and some white paper for proofing, though none of these things cost much and many people will have them lying around the house already.

Just for the record, I used cutters from the Flexcut Mini Palm Set on a couple of Speedball Speedy Carve Blocks. I then printed with Akua Intaglio Ink (rolled with an old brayer we had lying around the office) onto ten Fabriano Medioevalis card blanks. I printed my cards by hand, burnishing them with the back of a tablespoon.

How to make a small edition of Linocut Christmas Cards

1) Choose your design.

I decided I wanted my cards to feature a robin sat amongst holly leaves. This isn’t the most original design for a linocut Christmas card, but it was quick to do and presented a number of design advantages.

There are a number of things to consider when choosing your design. First, obviously, is the size of the block and the card; you can’t be too ambitious. The second is the colour of your inks. The robin and holly fitted the inks we had in the office, a dark green and a bright red. I decided to carve a couple of Speedy Carve Blocks; one for the dark green, and one for the bright red of the bird’s chest and the holly berries.

It’s important to think ahead about the way you are going to cut the block. If you are attempting a figurative piece, remember that it is useful to have a mix of solid colour, shaded areas (that have been stippled, hatched or crosshatched) and solid white. The robin in the holly was suitable because it had darker areas (the bird’s wings, the holly leaves), light areas (the bird’s chest, the areas between the twigs and leaves) and medium tone areas (on the top of the twigs, the bird’s flank).

The last thing to consider is how you will roll the ink onto the block. It’s really hard to roll ink onto a design made up of disparate dots, because the roller is likely to touch areas of the block which you are intending not to ink. You want enough uncut (‘black’) space to support the roller as it passes over the surface of the block. In terms of the photo below, the block with the robin on will be much easier to roll up than the irregular block with the robin’s breast and berries.

2) Darken the block

Cover the surface of the block in an ink which is darker than the linoleum. This will allow you to see your cuts (which will print white, if you’re using white paper) as you make them. It’s best not to use black, as you will need to draw your design onto the block after the ink has dried, and your fineliner or felt tip won’t show up on undiluted black ink.

If you are willing to wait for it to dry, you can use coloured relief ink (applied with a roller), but it’s not necessary to do this. Waterbased inks will darken most lino blocks without any problems. I used a light coat of Liquitex Acrylic Ink in a similar colour to the Phthalo Green relief ink I was planning to use.

3) Draw the design and transfer it onto the block.

Once you have a design in mind, place your lino block onto some cartridge paper and draw round it, so that you can practice your sketch within the confines of the block. Always keep in mind the fact that your design will print in reverse (vital when you’re carving words, but also important when you’re depicting cars driving on the left or people shaking hands etc.)

It’s not necessarily worthwhile producing a really detailed sketch at this point; just pick out the outlines and indicate the areas of dark shadow and medium tone. The design doesn’t have to fill the space, and indeed it can be more pleasing if the image has irregular edges.

I drew my robin onto multiple sheets of acetate so that I could layer the two colours and flip the design over to see how it would print. Tracing paper also works for this.

Once you have settled on an image, there a number of ways to transfer the image onto your block. The simplest is just to copy the design straight onto the block in fineliner. You can also draw through your original drawing, having first covered the back of the drawing in soft graphite. Carbon paper also works really nicely for this.

4) Cut the design out

It’s now time to assemble your tools. Once you’ve made a cut you can’t go back, so it’s best to be cautious at first. Even if you are aiming for a bold line, it’s best to score a thin line and then thicken it by going over it again with more pressure. The main drawing tools you will need will be U or V gouges. The former is good for stippling (as on the twig in my robin print) and for lines of a fixed width; the latter is good for lines of varying width (as on the robin’s plumage).

If you are using a lino block (rather than a Speedy Carve Block or a piece of Softcut) you might want to warm the lino slightly by placing it on a radiator, which will make it slightly easier to cut. I was rushing at this point, and was very grateful for how easily the Flexcut tools cut my Speedy Carve Block – like a hot knife through cold butter.

Please supervise children at all times and don’t cut towards your hand unless you are using a safety guard. Lino tools are very sharp.

5) Take a proof

Once you’re happy with the appearance of your block, it’s time to roll up some ink. Remember this is nothing like drenching a roller in watery paint when you’re painting a wall. Relief inks are tacky, and the roller should be lightly covered.

Smear a small amount of ink onto the rolling surface. Roll back and forth a couple of times to transfer some of the ink to the roller, then start to roll the ink out in one direction, lifting the roller up at the end of the stroke and placing it back at the start. This spreads the ink out over the surface more effectively by ensuring that the inky bits of the roller aren’t coming into contact with the same inky areas of the slab over and over again, as they do if you simply roll back and forth without lifting.

Roll the ink in a couple of directions until it is thinly and evenly spread over the block. The ink should be catching the roller and hissing slightly as the roller passes over it. Each stroke of the roller should be lifting a visible trail in the ink (as in the photo below).

Each stroke of the roller should lift a visible trail in the ink.

We used a small amount of Aqua Liquid Pigment to tint our Akua Intaglio Phthalo Green, aiming for the dark viridian of holly leaves.

Rolling in the Akua Liquid Pigment

Once the roller is lightly covered in ink, carefully ink up the block, rolling in a couple of different directions. Normally you wouldn’t need to press down at all; the weight of the roller would be enough to transfer the ink onto the surface of the lino. However, unmounted blocks (especially softer blocks like Speedy Carve Blocks or Softcut) can be slightly irregular at the edges. With my robin, I found that the surface of the block sloped off along its longer edges. This meant that these areas weren’t getting inked properly. The purpose of the proof is to find this type of thing out, so that you can work round it. In my case, this involved inking up the Speedy Carve Block with a little more pressure than usual, concentrating on these areas.

Inking up the block. The roller should just be ‘kissing’ the surface of the block. Don’t push down at first; let the weight of the roller do the work.

Now carefully place a piece of plain cartridge paper onto the surface of the block, making sure you don’t drag it over the surface and smudge the ink. Pressing down with a few fingers to keep the paper pinned to the block, rub the paper with the back of a spoon, as shown in the photo below, concentrating on the raised areas of the block which are covered in ink. Be firm, but don’t put your whole weight into it. You need to go over each piece of the block more than once to make sure there aren’t any areas which have half-printed.

Burnishing a print with a metal spoon.

Once you’ve thoroughly ‘burnished’ the paper, peel it back to reveal your first proof. At this point you may want to make alterations with your tools again. If there are large areas around the edges of the block which are lowered so that they shouldn’t be printing at all, it may be worth cutting them away completely with a craft knife. This will stop you inking them by accident and printing random splotches around the edge of your intended design.

Checking the quality of the print on a linocut Christmas Card. It’s possible to peel the print back to check it, as long as you keep a couple of fingers on it to pin it in place on the block.

6) Print your cards!

Once you’re happy with your proofs, it’s time to print your edition of linocut Christmas cards. Print them in the same way you printed the proof, but remember that you will have to ink the block up again (lightly!) between each print. Stand them up to dry; they should be dry within 24 hours, but there’s no harm in leaving them for a couple of days.

The initial print of the robin and holly in Phthalo Green came out quite nicely. I printed an edition of ten, and was intending to add another layer of Red Oxide on the berries and on the robin’s breast, but the red turned out to be rather overpowering. Instead I experimented with adding watercolour over the top of the print, as shown below.

If you used a water-washable ink, the cleanup process should be pretty simple; just put a little liquid soap on some paper or a scouring pad or rag, then give the block, the ink slab and the roller a wipe and a couple of washes with wet tissue paper. Remember to keep your block for next year, and try to store the roller upright in a jar or rested on the back of its handle, with the rolling surface in the air, to stop the rubber deforming.

Having sliced the breastplate, I tried to register it by hand, but the ink was too vibrant.

The Red Oxide was far too rich for my liking. We could have thinned the paint with Akua Transparent Medium and tried again, but we didn’t have time and the original print looked nice enough to send.

Adding watercolour over the top of a linocut Christmas card. This takes no time at all and can be a nice way of adding colour variations to the piece.

‘Robin in Holly’, linocut Christmas card hand-coloured with watercolour.

Adding watercolour to the linocut Christmas card ‘Robin in Holly’.

An edition of linocut Christmas cards printed onto Fabriano Medioevalis card blanks. The cards come in a beautiful presentation box, which is ideal if you’re making an edition for someone else to use.

The different states of our linocut Christmas Cards drying.

All of the materials discussed in this article are available at Jackson’s, including Akua and Caligo inks, Essdee rollers, Fabriano Medioevalis card blanks and a wide selection of lino tools. If you have a question about the process of making linocut Christmas cards, or about any of the materials described in this post, do leave a comment and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

The post How To Make Your Own Linocut Christmas Cards appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Our interest was recently piqued by a review of some Pfeil Linocut tools which was left on the Jackson’s site, and which mentioned that the reviewer had years of experience in the medium. The comment turned out to be from the printmaker Paul Wilkins, who very kindly agreed to talk us through his artistic practice while also reviewing the Pfeil tools at greater length.

A review of Pfeil Linocut tools by Paul Wilkins

I was first introduced to linocut at art school back in the 1960s but I have always had a fascination with producing multiple images in one form or another.

One of my other passions has been collecting old books, particularly those illustrated with beautifully-detailed line engravings, and it was these that led me to produce my own end-grain wood engravings on boxwood and various fruit woods, and I still enjoy doing these today. However the desire to produce more and more prints in larger formats than can practically be done as wood engravings – and the wish to use more than one colour – prompted me to use lino as a less expensive and more appropriate material.

I have tried most types of lino but I have to say that I do prefer to use the traditional hessian-backed lino as I find this produces a much sharper and finer line, although it is slightly harder to carve than the vinyl types. Most of my prints are produced using the ‘reduction method’ of printing, where the same piece of lino is used for each chosen colour consecutively, carving away the previous colour before printing the next.

‘The Paragon, Bath’ by Paul Wilkins (reduction linocut).

Up until a few months ago I had been using the inexpensive linocutting tools commonly available in your high street art shop – the kind with replaceable blades. In fact, I have had one of these since my days in art school back in the 1960s! However as a present my son treated me to one of the Swiss Pfeil linocut tools and I was so impressed with it that I now own four Pfeil linocut tools of various sizes, purchased from Jackson’s.

You can immediately see that these tools are extremely well made, with finely-turned hardwood handles, brass ferrules and beautifully-finished steel blades. They feel wonderful in the hand and are an absolute joy to use. They have been sharpened ready for use.

I have been using these tools now for almost two months and they are as sharp as they were when I bought them. I have purchased some fine ‘stropping’ compound and a leather strop to maintain this sharp edge but I haven’t had to use it so far.

I would certainly recommend these tools to anyone who is serious about producing good-quality linocuts or woodcuts, and whilst they are more expensive than the usual run-of-the-mill linocut tools, they are an absolute joy to use and will last a lifetime.

‘Tufted Ducks’ by Paul Wilkins (Reduction Linocut).

The image at the top of this post shows Paul Wilkins using Pfeil Linocut tools. Paul’s online store can be accessed here. His original review of the Pfeil L 11/2 Linoleum and Block Cutter read as follows:

I now own three of these tools and have just ordered my fourth. I have been Linocutting for many years and these are by far the best tools I have used, they are of excellent quality and retain their very sharp edge well and should last a lifetime.

The full range of Pfeil Linocut tools can be viewed and purchased at Jackson’s.

The post Paul Wilkins reviews Pfeil Linocut Tools appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Rebecca Roscorla’s pictures combine relief printing, monotypes, screen print and collage to create multi-layered, exotically hued magical worlds. Her images marry abstract pattern with motifs such as isolated figures and fruit in bright greens, reds and yellows. The compositions are full of energy and texture, always with an element of the unknown about them; nudes are placed out of context on a decorative abstracted backdrop, making them all the more beguiling. Roscorla takes her curiosity and observations for a walk, using intuition and a playful state of mind to make decisions about the pathways she will decide to go down in order to make her pictures. She lives and works in London.

Figurehead (in green, yellow, pink and red)
Rebecca Roscorla
Screen print and collage, 45 x 33 cms, 2017

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Lisa: You like to combine lots of different printmaking processes and work in an intuitive way. How much do you know about what you might create in a session the moment you walk through the studio door?

Rebecca: I arrive at the studio with a bag of images to play with; sketches, collages and drawings that I’ve made.  Sometimes I’m simply attempting to recreate one of those images in print.  Often I begin with no preconceived notion of what to do; but even those are not as spontaneous as they appear.  I’ve been developing my practice over a long period of time.  I sketch and play around with ideas everyday (although not for long). Themes and motifs reoccur and develop.  I’ve no idea what’ll happen next but I’m well-rehearsed!

Sweeping Woman (orange, yellow and pink)
Rebecca Roscorla
Linocut, 17 x 12 cms, 2016

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Lisa: Do you think of your images as having any kind of narrative?

Rebecca: Well, I thought there was no narrative but recently changed my mind.  I was walking through London and saw a great looking stained glass window.  Later I sat down to draw it from memory only to realise it was a scene I’d already printed supposedly off the cuff.  The window depicted Adam and Eve.  Although my print (Eve and Eve, after the window) is a more abstract version aside from the two figures, the basic forms and composition are the same.  So now I think it’s all narrative, I just don’t know necessarily what that narrative is.

Eve and Eve
Rebecca Roscorla
Monotype, 29.5 x 21 cms, 2017

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Lisa: Can you talk us through the main processes that you like to work with and what qualities you like most about them?

Rebecca: Relief printing, screen printing and collage.  I love collage. I Love the limitations of each process. Being able to do anything is horribly hard.  Where do you start?  Where do you go?  In print many decisions have been made for you simply because many options are off the table.  You are forced to limit the colour range, to simplify and make compromises for the printing process.

Reclining man in orange, green and pink (left and right)
Rebecca Roscorla
Monotype, each 54 x 41 cms, 2016

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Lisa: Your monotypes of figures as seen on your Instagram look like collages, they are very full of energy and movement (I’m looking at the reclining figure monotypes) Can you tell us exactly how you make these?

Rebecca: I use a thin piece of plastic as a plate.  In the case of the reclining figures it was an old portfolio folder.  I then cut up and tear various shapes in paper and plastic, ink them up, arranging them on the plate as I go; then print.  The reclining figure monotypes were a complete surprise.  I was shocked they came out.

Corner snake
Rebecca Roscorla
Screenprint and collage, 2017

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Lisa: How do you select the colours that you are going to work with?

Rebecca: I struggle with purple, blue, black, grey and brown.  They are off the menu!  With the very occasional exception.  If you see black, you’re actually looking at dark green.  The colours then often dictate the image.  I’m struggling to achieve colour harmony, that’s the game. You add a bit of red or whatever, it throws out the whole image, so then you try to balance it.

Atomic Fruit
Rebecca Roscorla
Monotype, 29.5 x 21 cms, 2017

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Lisa: Are there any particular inks/papers that you like to work with?

Rebecca: For my monotypes and lino cuts I like thin paper, the thinner the better. I’ve been working with a Japanese paper called ‘Hosho’ recently. It comes on a roll, picks up the ink well and is surprising strong for something so fine.  I use Caligo Safe wash relief inks.

Lisa: What or who influences your work and where do you find inspiration?

Rebecca: It’s hard to unpick!  I think anything and everything influences you really.  I’ve spent a lot of time at the British Museum. I Love it there.  ‘Lost Magical Worlds’ (I got that phrase from an Eduardo Paolozzi exhibition) that’s a great description for everything at the BM.  Magical ancient worlds, when art was imbued with such significance and meaning. Not that I’m making the same lofty claims for my work!    But I certainly nick ideas from the displays. Also ‘Elle Decoration’. I subscribed over a year ago to try and change my focus.  It’s somehow easier thinking of your work as a small part of a greater interior; rather than facing a blank page.  It makes you less precious about the work.

Green Balustrade
Rebecca Roscorla
Monotype, 29.5 x 21 cms, 2017

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Lisa: How often do you find time to make work during a typical week?

Rebecca: It varies.  I print two days a week – by days I mean half days.  It’s an expensive habit. Then I collage and work stuff out late at night or early in the morning.  When the mind’s a little tired and will run less interference.  You make strange and interesting decisions at anti-social hours.  You’re less inhibited.

Yellow Stripes and Chains
Rebecca Roscorla
Monotype, 29.5 x 21 cms, 2017

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Lisa: What are you working on at the moment and what will you be working on next?

Rebecca: That’s a tough question, I guess I’m just working.  I need a break from my collaged monotypes, boredom is starting to creep in.  I’ll play with lino and screen print for a while instead.  My late night collages are getting stranger so this may indicate some strange prints to come.  We will see.

Lisa: Where online or in the flesh can we view more of your work?

Rebecca: www.rebeccaroscorla.com (which I don’t update as frequently as I should) and www.instagram.com/rebeccaroscorla (Which I don’t post on as frequently as I should, obvs)

Figurehead (in green and yellow)
Rebecca Roscorla
Screenprint and collage, 46 x 35 cms, 2017

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Header Image: ‘Red Brail Flowers’ by Rebecca Roscorla, Monotype, 29.5 x 21 cms, 2016

The post Rebecca Roscorla & The Magical World of Print and Collage appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

We first came across Anthea Bee’s work back in December 2016, when her linocut Christmas card won our Festive Image Call Out competition. The competition was held on Twitter and we were surprised to find that she had entered – and won – with her very first tweet! Now that Spring has come around, we thought it would be a good time to follow up on her new work.

Duncan: Hi Anthea, thanks for talking to us. My first question is where did your interest in printmaking start?

Anthea: My background is as far removed from printmaking as possible. I qualified from medical school in 1985 and after working in the NHS for 29 years and following an unexpected family bereavement, I felt I needed a career break and a new venture. With a love of art and a desire to unleash any creative potential, I was introduced to a small local art group run by Susan Amos at Plough House in Chepstow. Here, at a one day workshop, I was shown the basics of lino cutting and printmaking and was immediately hooked on the process. I very much enjoyed drawing simple designs and shapes, the cutting and inking of the block, and the pulling of a freshly printed image.

With new-found energy, I trawled books and the internet, looking at the work of printmakers from Samuel Palmer, Eric Ravillious and Edward Bawden, to Japanese masters of woodcut including Hokusi and Saito, to wonderful current artists such as Angie Lewin. I decided to book on a short course in relief printmaking run by Christine Howes at Spike Print Studios, Bristol. There I learned how simple but also conversely how complicated printmaking could be, and how much joy a new experience could bring.

‘Oak Leaves’ by Anthea Bee (reduction woodcut on lime).

DM: How do you prepare for your linocuts? What tools, papers and art materials do you use?

AB: I work from home in a spare attic room where I have an old kitchen table on which I have a small etching press. I have a lovely set of Pfeil cutting tools which I use for lino and woocuts. My preferred inks are oil-based, and I use a variety of papers, mainly Zerkall smooth 120gsm and Strathmore 120gsm printing papers. I use an old wooden spoon for hand burnishing. The thinner Japanese papers are great for hand burnishing images from wood blocks.

My inspiration generally comes from nature. I love the strong shapes of leaves, flowers and birds, but anything that catches my eye for a design is game. I usually start with a rough sketch, sometimes drawing freehand on the block or by tracing and transferring the design from my sketch book.

Anthea Bee “Snowdrops” (multiple block linocut).

Anthea Bee, “Sycamore seeds” in production. This photo shows the third stage of a four layer reduction linocut. The dark grey is the last colour to be added.

Anthea Bee, “Sycamore seeds” (Reduction linocut).

DM: Do you sketch in pencil or use watercolour before designing your prints?

AB: I use a variety of ways in planning a design for a print. Often I will draw a sketch in pencil, sometimes detailed, so that I can trace and reverse the design onto the block. For subjects such as leaves and flowers I will sketch from collected specimens, but also use photos particularly to get detail for images such as birds. I use watercolour in planning  colour schemes for multi block or reduction prints. Sometimes I will go freestyle and draw directly onto the block.

Anthea Bee, “Hurricane Lanterns” (reduction woodcut on ply)

Anthea at her printing table.

DM: We know that you won our linocut competition with your first tweet – how has the linocutting and woodcutting been going since then? I see from your Twitter page that you’re branching out into wood engraving. How’s that going?

AB: I still consider myself a novice printmaker and continue to learn. There are many talented printmakers who run workshops and there are more skills and techniques to add to my core practice. I learned some basic wood engraving at Spike Print Studios using black vinyl as the block, but more recently was lucky enough to attend a course run by Kath Littler SWE where I used a block of lemonwood to engrave, a good new experience and definitely one to pursue further.

With support and encouragement from friends, family, and members from my art group I have shown my work at a variety of craft fairs, festivals and art trails. This year I will be taking part in Chepstow Art Trail and am displaying my work at Brockweir Village Shop, Chepstow, for six weeks from 29th July. I post my work on Twitter @theprintbee and was delighted that my first tweet was the entry that won Jackson’s Christmas Card Competition (linocut) 2016.

I live in a very rural area and the availability of high quality materials from online art suppliers like Jacksons has enabled me to pursue my interest in printmaking easily from home. I would encourage people to try their hand at printmaking, or any other art form for that matter. Perhaps try a course or workshop and see where it takes you. It can be very surprising how rewarding and enjoyable a new experience can be.

Anthea’s Chrismas cards, the winner of the Jackson’s 2016 Christmas Image Callout.

DM: What’s next? Do you have any projects lined up which you are excited about?

AB: Currently, I am working on an engraving of a group of friends cycling, to try and put into use some of the techniques I learnt on a recent workshop. I am practising on a black vinyl tile before potentially committing the design to a beautiful piece of lemonwood. I have found engraving wood a delicate and controlled process, very enjoyable but certainly something for me to work at!

The header image of this post is Anthea Bee, “Beehive” (Engraving on black vinyl).

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Bill Fick and Beth Grabowski’s ‘Printmaking: A Complete Guide to Materials and Processes‘ is a comprehensive 250 page handbook. Now available in an updated second edition, it covers digital, relief and intaglio printmaking, as well as lithography, monoprint, screenprint and collagraphy.

This book is absolutely bursting with information. The best chapters are the ones which deal with complicated or laborious printmaking techniques such as etching or lithography. These techniques entail a number of different skills and processes, from the preparation of the plate or stone, to the drawing and etching processes, to the inking and printing in a press. Bill Fick and Beth Grabowski split these complex processes up into manageable chunks, using diagrams and step-by-step photographs to illustrate each skill.

It is also very heavily illustrated: throughout, we are offered reproductions of fine art prints which show each technique being put to good use by contemporary artists. Each chapter also contains several two-page profiles which go into more detail about the careers of particular printmakers, printmaking collectives or ateliers.

The chapter on Intaglio printmaking is especially good, because Fick and Grabowski deal with ‘Intaglio printmaking’ as a whole, rather than treating drypoint, copper engraving, etching and mezzotint separately. By doing this, they avoid the erection of barriers between printmaking techniques which are often used in conjunction with one another (like etching and drypoint).

This second edition includes a new chapter, ‘Print & Make’, which explores the opportunities for creative expression within the many processes available to print makers. The other chapters have been updated and the illustrations expanded.

This book would be very suitable for art historians who wish to complement their knowledge of printmaking techniques, and for the novice who wants to try their hand at printmaking, but who doesn’t know where to start. It will also be an excellent reference work for printmaking studios. It contains a wealth of advice on studio safety, on materials, and on the use of presses, and since it has an ‘FAQ’ section, it will be a helpful means of resolving the problems which almost always arise during a day’s work.

Bill Fick and Beth Grabowski’s ‘Printmaking: A Complete Guide to Materials and Processes‘ is available at Jackson’s.

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Jackie Newell is a senior member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers whose gritty recent etchings depict the process of urban development. We caught up with Jackie to congratulate her on winning the Jackson’s prize at RE Original Print 2017, and to ask her about her working techniques as a contemporary printmaker.

Duncan Montgomery: Hi Jackie, thanks for talking to us today and congratulations for winning the Jackson’s prize at RE Original Prints 2017. I wonder first if you could tell us a bit about your background and your artistic practice.

Jackie Newell: My initial art training began with two years studying graphic design at Ravensbourne College of Design. I then moved to New York and continued my studies at The New York State University at Purchase New York (SUNY Purchase). It was here that many more opportunities presented themselves, and I was first introduced to printmaking, which I chose to study instead of graphics.

I particularly enjoyed the process of printmaking, and decided to explore all aspects of it. Stone Lithography and etching appealed to me most, as I could exercise my love of drawing and apply it in a new and exciting way.

After graduating, I returned to London, and studied for an MA in printmaking at Camberwell College of Art. I was elected to the Royal Society of Painter Paintmakers (approximately 25 years ago) and have been making prints ever since.

Jackie Newell, ‘The Derricks at Battersea’ (etching).

DM: How do you work up from a sketch on site to an etching or a monoprint or collagraph?

JN: I like to start with a drawing from observation. Then put it aside and make another drawing from memory. This allows me to use my imagination and not to rely on too much accuracy. I prefer to use charcoal as a drawing medium, as it allows me to push marks around. I also like to use a putty eraser as a drawing tool, as it creates tone and adds texture. After several drawings, I then decide on the most appropriate method of making a print. I do sometimes start with a Monoprint, and I do on occasions make collographs, although I prefer to combine these methods in order to achieve a stronger print.

I prefer to use a copper plate, as I can add all manner of material to achieve my desired effects. I also enjoy the process of etching as there is always an element of surprise that I find exciting. I work from home in my own workshop using a Hunter Penrose Littlejohn printing press.

Jackie Newell with her Hunter Penrose Littlejohn Printing Press in her studio.

I start by rolling soft ground onto the plate. This ground allows me to achieve a smudgy effect like my drawing in charcoal. I then draw a light image onto good quality tracing paper, and place it directly on the plate. Next, I gently smooth it onto the plate to hold it in place and transfer the texture of the paper onto the soft ground. I don’t bother using a bridge, as I like to add as many direct marks as possible, and I want the print to evolve from my initial drawing, rather than be a copy of it.

I then draw directly onto the tracing paper, using a variety of pencils and tools. I also place textures directly on the plate under the paper and use varying pressures to remove the ground. When I am happy with the drawing. I will remove the paper, take the plate and immerse it in a bath of ferric chloride for about 45 minutes. After this, I remove the ground from the plate, ink it, and take my first proof.

At this point, I examine the proof to see where it needs to be defined.

Jackie Newell, ‘Pylon III’ (etching and aquatint, 30 x 21cm).

Next I clean the plate, and apply a hard ground. I can then add to the existing marks, adding definition and also finer marks. I repeat the process of biting, proofing and reviewing the print. Finally, I use a lithographic tusche to paint directly on to the plate. I then add aquatint twice from a resin box, and bake it on the plate. I repeat the process of biting and proofing.

At this stage I usually know what to expect, and with luck the print is to my liking and ready for editioning.

Sketches around South Bank London (charcoal on paper).

DM: Your recent printmaking shows a strong focus on architecture, particularly in those parts of London which are still under construction. I’ve noticed that there are a few other artists who seem to be excited by similar subjects (some of whom, like Melanie Bellis and Anne Desmet, are also members of the RE). Do you feel part of a ‘movement’?

JN: I have often exhibited with Anne Desmet and more recently Melanie Bellis as part of a show of prints rather than subject matter. Although, we share an interest in architecture, I don’t think we can be described as a movement. I would say that I am interested in structures as well as architecture, particularly when they are either under construction, or in a state of decay. Pylons, across France and particularly in the mountains, fascinate me as do any communicating structures. Manhole covers are also of interest to me. Maybe this stems from my formative years at design college.

London is an exciting city and also accessible to me. It is a city that is always in a state of flux. Structures and buildings combined with ever-changing skies, and the refraction and reflections from the river, add an exciting dimension.

Jackie Newell, ‘Power Play 2’ (etching with aquatint, 2017).

DM: What’s next? Do you have any projects on the go at the moment which are nearing fruition?

I have recently been busy with editioning prints, getting them ready to send to other galleries where they are currently on show. I now intend to go back to the drawing board to create work for a group show in September, and also to work on a new Monoprint to enter the Masters show on Monoprinting, which is already open for submission. I am thinking of making a one off concertina book or scroll in mixed media (Monoprint, drawings and Chine-collé).

The image at the top of this article is Jackie Newell, “Blackfriars Bridge 2 Arches” (Soft ground etching and aquatint, 30x44cm). Interested readers can find out more about Jackie’s work by visiting her website.

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David Begley is an Irish printmaker whose recent works are monotypes: single prints taken from a plate which has been selectively inked, or inked all over and then selectively lifted (which is David’s preference). Having previously admired the striking selection of paintings featured on his website, we couldn’t wait to hear about David’s recent foray into printmaking.

Duncan Montgomery: Hi David, thanks for talking to us. What was it that got you interested in printmaking, and monotypes in particular? Had it always been on your list of media to try out, or were you prompted by the experience of subtractive drawing in your animations?

David Begley: I stopped painting in 2013 in order to focus on drawing. This led to me making a series of charcoal animations. I started printmaking last year, which was a natural step in monochrome from my charcoal animations, and yes, the subtractive element is similar.

I’m new to the medium so it’s very exciting. I blacken the plate and start wiping away, until I find an interesting image, then keep working on this until I feel it’s ready to print. I use perspex plates and at night a light-box so that as I wipe out, the image comes through from light. Making the images is what excites me most, and the anticipation of pulling the print – the wonder of how it will turn out. I’ve no interest in making editions at the moment. I love the immediacy of monotypes. Eventually I’d like to animate through the process.

David Begley, ‘Body of Light’ (Monotype, 19.5 x 15cm, 2016).

David Begley, ‘Light rising’ (Monotype, 15 x 19.5cm, 2016).

I was particularly struck by the use of a sfumato effect in your earlier oil painting, which seemed to prefigure the haziness of your subtractive drawings and monotypes. Did you feel like you had really found your medium when you began to make monotypes?

When I painted in oils, I spent time preparing grounds, using up to 15 coats of sanded gesso. It gave me such a beautiful surface to work on, the ground’s light came through the underpainting and consequent thin glaze layers. The works always began with a wipe-out – just like my monotypes.

Each medium has its time. I feel I have a new freedom in monotype. By its nature it must be completed in a day or night. By contrast, my paintings and animations took months to realise. So yes I do feel like I’ve found my medium, the ink can give some wonderful delicate tones and also dense sonorous blacks. I find monotype exciting now, especially after spending the last few years solely working in monochrome drawing / animation.

David Begley, ‘Chronus’, (oil on wood, 61 x 61cm, 2011 – 2012).

David Begley, ‘Lost in finds’ (oil on board, 30 x 50cm, 2012).

One of David’s plates on the lightbox, surrounded by tools used to lift ink.

I have a couple of practical questions about these monotypes: what ink are you using and what tools are you using to lift it? I fancy I can detect several different tools in there: there’s a mixture of crisp white lines, murky greys and, unless I’m mistaken, marks made by brushes, fabrics and fingers…

I use Caligo Safewash Ink made by Cranfield. It’s gorgeous ink, gives beautiful rich blacks and having used oil-based ink before, I prefer it. It’s non-toxic, without fumes and easy to clean up. I use a scribe, scrim, etching needles, feathers and fingers, rags, tissues, a water spray, waterwipes and cotton buds to wipe out. I enjoy finding new marks by experimenting with found tools – living beside a beach allows me forage daily. The edge of a small shell has made a wonderful tool for scratching out areas of light lines. I recently laid marram grass roots onto a plate, they printed beautifully.

For greys, I tonk. A technique from oil painting – lay down absorbent paper on the painting surface to draw out oil (speeds drying and generates intriguing surfaces). In ink, repeated tonking can create subtle and varied tones of grey.

Your website states that the monotypes from your recent series ’From the cast of Bone Black’ are inspired by a fiction piece you are writing. I was wondering whether you would be able to tell us more about the novel, and the relationship between the novel and the prints. Are they illustrations? Does the inspiration from the monotypes feed back into your writing?

I’m writing my first novel ‘Bone Black’. It’s a satirical fable intended for an adult audience and addresses the businesses of art, medicine and death. It is a work of speculative fiction with elements of black comedy, invented mythology and Grand Guignol which delves into the fields of art, homeopathy, bird-sniffing and the numinous. A central theme of the book is the creative process – how unexpected prompts create images, words and melodies.

As an artist I am continually open to chance, how a word or mark leads to the next, and one by one, ideas are pursued in whatever medium is appropriate. I do not plan the images in advance. Images prompt texts and vice versa. This interaction of image and text is crucial to my process in writing. In order to visualise a scene, I may draw it first. Several of this novel’s characters’ appearances are based on portrait / life models I’ve worked with.

David Begley, ‘R.G. (from The cast of Bone Black)’ (Monotype, 14 x 8.3cm, 2017).

David Begley, ‘Swan (from The cast of Bone Black)’ (Monotype, 14 x 8.3cm, 2017).

In order to ‘see’ the characters of ‘Bone Black’, I recently made the series ‘From the cast of Bone Black’. One ‘character’ in the book is a large egg, so I began by making a plate in the shape of an egg. Many of the images were surprising. Natural elements became part of the cast. Images led to further images, and the series has come into its own. The prints are not intended as illustrations, although they could be used as such for the published book. The story is a starting point for the prints, and in turn they feed the story.

‘The swan sniffer’ is a monotype currently exhibited at The Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin until August 12th. After making this monotype this year, it prompted an unexpected and now pivotal chapter in my book.

David Begley, ‘The Swan Sniffer’ (Monotype, 21 x 30cm, 2017).

Would you be able to talk about your influences? I see El Greco in there, and some of the mark-making in the monotypes reminds me of the work of the stained glass artist Patrick Reyntiens… Do correct me if I’m wrong!

I wasn’t aware of Patrick Reyntiens before seeing your link, thank you for sharing that with me. I first saw a painting by El Greco in the National Gallery of Ireland when I was 17, and I was quite overwhelmed. I still love the colour, space and light in his work. The shimmering drama of it. The hope. And his ability to move the viewer. In general I am most stimulated by a work of art if I am moved by it. I spent a week in 2006 in The Prado, and ever since Ribera is also an influence. Titian’s colour and Tintoretto’s compositions continue to excite me.

So what comes next?

I’ve been awarded a Travel and Training Award from The Arts Council of Ireland in support of a residency at Stiwdio Maelor, North Wales later this summer. So I’ll be writing there and on my return am looking forward to making a new clutch of eggs!

Caligo Safe Wash in for relief and intaglio printing can be bought at Jackson’s. Interested readers can find out more about David Begley’s work on his website.

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Chris Pig is a well-known printmaker of thirty year’s experience who mainly works in linocut and wood engraving. He is also the proprietor of Black Pig Printmaking Studio in Frome, a purpose-built printmaking studio. In this post, Chris recounts his experience using two printmaking products which have recently been added to the Jackson’s range, and which are integral to his working practice: Sunome Senaka Printmaking Paper and Van Son Rubber-Based Ink.

Using Sunome Senaka Printmaking Paper and Van Son Rubber-Based Ink

by Chris Pig

The first time I used Sunome Senaka was back in 1997. I was working on a very large expansive linocut and late in the day realised I hadn’t lined-up a paper to print it on. It took me months to find one that would work. For hand-burnishing with a baren, western papers are a non-starter; they aren’t manufactured for that purpose. So I had to trawl through every oriental paper I could find that was big enough. They all failed to give a decent impression because, as you burnish with a baren in outward, circular movements the paper stretches and ghosting results.

Chris Pig, ‘Life is very sweet Brother, who would wish to die’ (linocut, 1997).

When a friend recommended Sunome Senaka it really was a revelation. It has a laid paper side and an absolutely sheer smooth side – you use the smooth side of course. Because of its size it’s a little unwieldy, but when manoeuvred into position and laid on the block, it sticks to the ink as if it were fixed by suction. It’s incredibly tough, very, very thin (52gsm) and extraordinarily cheap for a professional-standard paper. I do a lot of wood engravings which are very small and a sheet of Sunome Senaka can do a whole edition.

I have just built Black Pig Printmaking Studio in Frome; the architecture and dimensions were all worked-out with the dimensions of Sunome Senaka in mind. The roof is of an exact height where sheets of Sumome Senaka can hang from ball racks with enough space for people to work underneath. That paper is so important that the whole building was built to accommodate it!

Chris pulling a large print on Sunome Senaka.

As for Van Son Rubber Based Ink, it was a similar story of trial and error. My prints, whether linocuts or engravings, combine two elements that are very difficult to print. Lots of fine gouge or burin-work on large fields of pure black. This presents the problem of retaining detail with non-solid blacks or losing the detail through bleed to obtain a solid black. It’s been the bane of my life for decades.

I was in Atlanta at the invite of my dealer Shawn Vinson for a show of my work. Some months before I’d made the acquaintance of Will Sergeant from a band called Echo and the Bunnymen, which will mean nothing to anyone born after about 1980 I suppose. We got on well and maintained contact.

Chris inking up a large block.

Chris Pig, ‘Will’s fear of pipes’ (wood engraving, detail).

I was working on a piece about phobias for a show at the Freud Museum under the aegis of East London Printmakers. It was going nowhere so I asked him if he had any interesting phobias and he replied that he did. He was afraid of large industrial pipes, afraid that they would blow up at any second. So that was my cue. I got him to pose for a friend of mine and then worked with the resultant photos. It was a good image. Will liked the proofs and I decided to edition it at the Atlanta Printmakers Studio. The director, Kathy Garrou presented me with a tin of Van Son Rubber Based Ink. I inked-up and did a run-in and it was perfect. This almost never happens. I realised that the stiffness of the molecules kept the ink on the surface and prevented it from bleeding into the finer lines.

Materials do matter; they are manufactured to meet a remit. Those two products made an enormous difference to my working practice and saved me a great deal of time and money, reducing my wastage for an edition from 20% to practically zero.

Van Son Rubber Based Universal Ink (Black) and Sunome Senaka Printmaking Paper are available at Jackson’s. Interested readers can find out more about Chris Pig on his website.

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