INTRO TO PRINTMAKING

Objectives of Intro to Printmaking

The obvious goal of this course is to help you achieve a useful level of understanding and competency in basic printmaking. Whether you are looking to become a serious artist or are simply hoping to expand your repertoire of artistic skills, this course will introduce you to a handful of printmaking processes and techniques so that you may incorporate them and expand upon them in your own creative practice.

It should be known the intention of this course is not to merely skim the surface of as many techniques as possible. There are other Intro to Print courses offered at GSU that are more conventional (and less experimental) in that they focus on traditional, step-by-step methods of teaching printmaking with what could be described as historically conscious expectations of execution. This course, however, is more of a workshop that will help you refine your creative vision by reimagining it through the printmaking lens. Our objective will be to concentrate on a smaller handful of printmaking methods (4-5) that will introduce you to a narrower but focused spectrum of printing possibilities. This course will address two overarching printmaking processes—intaglio and monoprinting—as each of these processes contain myriad of creative options in their inherent strategy and technique. Additionally, these two processes require two very different responses, as they are more or less on opposite ends of the printmaking spectrum regarding image controllability. Each of you will gravitate to one end of the spectrum or the other and likely find the opposite process frustrating and challenging. Such problem-solving is useful in your artistic development.

Conceptual Development in the Course

In addition to studying printmaking from a methodological point-of-view, we will also focus on the central themes of your own work. For this reason, you are asked to address the difficult challenge of exploring the nuanced (and sometimes painful) details of a new technique while also keeping in mind the larger theme of your work throughout the semester.

Regarding the personal thematic interests contained in your own artistic practice, the goal of this course is to expose you to new tools for image-making so as to reconsider your creative voice through the lens of a new approach. Because this is an advanced course, you are expected to bring your previous artistic knowledge and history to the work that you produce in this class. Each student will be guided and evaluated based on his or her individual stage of development.

Conceptual Guidelines and Requirements for this Course

At the beginning of the semester, you will be asked to clearly identify a central theme for the body of work you are to create this semester. This can be a continuation of a theme you have previously explored in other classes (more likely) or something completely new. Either way, you are required to present this theme in the form of an artist's statement the second week of class.

When choosing a theme, keep in mind the freedom you have in the subjective nature of art, and that the more you engage with an idea, the more likely it is to grow and evolve and become more complicated and layered. This is good. Beginning with something as simple as a single quote from a book can end up germinating into an entire body of work. I would suggest beginning with and idea that is simple yet specific and interpretable from many directions. I would also suggest being honest with yourself and choosing something that is deeply personal, has some kind of emotional resonance and that you do not forsee yourself getting tired of throughout the semester. This is meant to be challenging.

Here are some helpful questions to ask:

1. What themes have I gravitated toward in the past that still hold my attention?
2. Is there something I am obsessed with?
3. What do I get excited thinking about, talking about and/or sharing with others?
4. What am I curious about on my own without anyone requiring me to think about it?

Or more specifically:

1. Is there a piece of music, line from a song, or album that has followed me around for years?
2. Is there a poem or line from a poem that I can't get out of my head?
3. Do I have a favorite book or literary passage?
4. Is there a movement in history or a social or political issue I'm passionate about?
5. Have I ever wanted to explore the style or tradition of a specific artist or period in art history?
5. What vivid memories do I have, either through a mental image, photograph or dream, that I'm interested in recreating through imagery?

Because each of you are at different places in your artistic development, you will be asked to set the appropriate rules for how your images create a cohesive message or theme throughout the semester. Sometimes creating stricter rules/parameters can actually liberate you in your creative ideas. Creating too many options can be paralyzing.  WHILE YOU'RE NOT REQUIRED TO INTERPRET THE SAME IDEA OVER AND OVER AGAIN, THERE SHOULD BE AN ANCHOR OF CONSISTENCY AS YOUR IDEA DEVELOPS. Whatever you choose is expected to grow and evolve as your work grows and evolves.

Project Time Line

To facilitate this process, the ultimate goal of this semester will be that your work will culminate into a “book” of prints, each print engaging in some direct or indirect way to a larger, cohesive idea. You will be asked to present your collection of prints at the end of the semester in an appropriate binding, folder or box that relates to the conceptual themes of your work.

Project One: Line Etch and Dry Point

Project Two: Aquatint and Soft Ground

Project Three: Monoprint and Xerox Transfer

Project Four: Open/Combination Process that culminates the semester's prints into a single body of work.

Your final project will require three primary tasks: 1). that you create two prints that utilize your most effective printmaking strategies (you may use multiple processes), 2). that you combine these two final prints into a larger, appropriately "bound" presentation of your best work throughout the semester. You must present at least 6 prints, including your final two prints, in a visually appropriate container (either portfolio, creative folder, bound as in a book, box, or other solution). And 3). that you include a written artist's statement or forward to the work that provides a framework or thoughtful explanation of your ideas.