Ok, I am not normally one to link to videos, but this one touched a soft spot for me. There is something about ink that gets under the skin (and under the fingernails) of every printmaker. We love the way the stuff goes down on paper, the way it layers, the way it shines. I love to mix color, to [...]
I work alone most days. This is not really by choice, so much as by circumstance. Unlike many printmakers, I am fortunate enough to have my own studio. This has some distinct advantages (things stay pretty clean and if they don't I have no one to blame but myself) but there are also some drawbacks. When I was in art [...]
A recent comment on Amie Roman's blog makes the claim that printmaking, as an art form 'is dead'. This was in response to an entry where she discussed reproductions vs. original prints. I have written on this topic myself. This got me thinking. Why am I a printmaker? Other than the investment in presses I mean. What was it about [...]
A while back I wrote about color and pigment in inks and paints (Copper Plate Daily - October 10 2009). I have been thinking lately about the differences between mixing colored inks and using process color. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, process color is the mechanism of creating color on a substrate by printing dots [...]
I was reminded the other day of the challenges presented by working with paper. Frankly, it was a reminder I would have lived without, but I guess it was good for me. The fundamental problem is this: paper changes size. Painters have the same problem to an extent. The cotton or linen substrate that they paint on absorbs moisture from [...]
Mise en place is a concept from the culinary industry. It refers to the process of preparing all of the tools and ingredients for a dish before beginning to cook. The vegetables have been portioned and chopped; the meat is cleaned and proportioned; the spices gathered; the pots and utensils gathered. In short, everything is ready and in easy reach [...]
One of the thinks that I love about prints is the malleability of the medium. When you are working on an image, you can change it in so many ways... you can add or remove plates, you can rework plates (some processes adapt to this more readily than others), you can change colors, you can change print order, etc. Each [...]
Part of being an artist is being a businessman (or businesswoman). Part of being a businessman is effective marketing. Part of effective marketing is being on the lookout for new places to sell your work. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about that lately and have decided it is time to stretch my wings a little bit. [...]
Every now an then, every artist runs into problems (or at least every artist who is looking at their work with a critical eye). They may be technical problems. They may be composition problems. They may be color problems. They may be all of these. The question is, how do we deal with them? Do we let them defeat us [...]
I got to thinking today about what it takes to be successful as an artist. Of course, everyone defines success in their own way, but for me it implies a certain degree of recognition beyond friends and family. Perhaps beyond my own region. It also implies that the 'income' is greater than the 'outgo' (at least the art supplies outgo). [...]
