After sticking with me this long I think it is just fair to finally show you the result. As you have already noticed, I played a lot with different thicknesses of copper plates, methods, inks and papers, so no print is similar to another. Both the intaglio and the planographic methods were used for these series. The Castles PrintsLet's call this print series 2015 Journey Album. omming up next : Bellver Castle(Mallorca, Spain) , Alba Iulia Fortress, Corvin Castle, Roznoveanu Palace, The Palace Of Culture (Iasi), Sibiu Towers The Artist Inspired PrintsFor this series I needed a very pictorial starting point, in order to explore the medium of printmaking in a more painterly way and less in a graphic style. The Baudelairerian Spleen/ Legends and Literature Prints
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For my final piece I knew I wanted a place on the floor. I wanted to make it an effort to open the box. However, after walking around the building and experimenting with different heights and lights, I found an even better place. A much better one.
I have chosen the spot because: The light was complimenting my piece. The colours and the patterns worked unexpectedly well together. The materials (the wood, the marble, the floor) gave my piece a different meaning. It made it weight more. Probably the light was the best feature. It gave it a noble feeling. I came across one of the most beautiful Art Album. It featured some of Rembrandt's prints. What wow absolutely marvellous was the fact that all the prints inside were actually revived by some artist printmakers from the 1930, when some of Rembrandt's plates were reined and printed. I could not help photographing some specific lines and details that I found superb. One print that almost obsessed me was the one with the threes. The details were unbelievable! The human element gave life to the static landscape. The lines in the sky were breath taking. I need that book in my life. Too bad the few exemplars were published in the 30
AquatintI cannot say that my first aquatint was a complete disaster, neither my second or my third. Was I extremely disappointed by them. Indeed I was. Has my hart broken when I sow how different they were from what I was looking for? I cannot describe the feeling. Yet... There was something I could learn from. I have never enjoyed the easy path. Why test the way aquatint works with a tiny piece of copper when you can step-bite 2 copper plates( with a design that is not overly demanding yet not the easiest ). With my last 2 aquatints I tried to be more exact. I step bit it at 40 seconds. It had 3 min in total. The blacks(in fact dark grays- I have then darker by not wiping consistently the ink off the plate) are obtained with only 3 min etch. Regarding the choice of subject, during that period of time I was profoundly influenced by Munch's female portraits. I was reading about both aquatint techniques and the life of the Symbolist painter.
At the same time, I was also interested in Rembrandt's prints. I was reading about that historic period as well. Besides that I was skim reading some articles on the Internet(oh the holy Internet). One thing lead to another until I came across Rembrandt Peale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_Peale). I discovered some lovely 19th century American portraits. They captured a distinct world sense, a delicacy that seemed coming from a different age. Hard ground etchingAnd now you know... ...how it's made Printing
There is beauty everywhere. But I strongly believe that the micro-cosmoses all around us are pieces of heaven that should be properly glorified. I may be absurd, but I don't enjoy receiving flowers because it is too painful to see them dying. It s like being a witness of the sufferings of those hopelessly ill people. For this reason the only flowers I receive are the pressed ones, that are somehow suspended in time. They are in between the two worlds. They can live for ever. I found some very tiny square pieces of copper that I could not not buy. I knew it was going to be hard work.
I decided to print as many small plates as possible and as many times as I could.
I hoped it would be fast, unfortunately it took much more than expected. The second time I worked on stone I felt I could fly! I couldn't sleep the nights before of excitement! I had so many ideas! And most important thing of all: this time, Justin( the technician) promised me freedom- I was the one in charge of the process!
Now it was time to prove how I listened to all his instructions! Ehhh... Talking about listening and writing down and memorizing... I may or may not have forgotten something here and there and I may or may not have destroy this lithography! One thing is for sure! I captured every movement of it! My very first artistic idolatry was Grigorescu than Cezanne, and then Munch. Regarding the Symbolism, as a literature movement, I have never ever found anything more overwhelming than the power of suggestion, anything more divine than recognizing the emotion itself as the center of the universe, as the essence of life . I was afraid of words after reading their power in the verses of those giants of literature. However, after looking at Munch's prints, words are left outworn, faint. Those artworks encapsulate the whole tumult of life. I don't know if I am just overly impressionable, but as I first saw the print " Vampire " I shivered. The sensation was revived as I continued to explore his prints from the "Love" series. This weekend I walked on the streets of Bucharest and I stopped at some of the art museums that remained unseen. I visited artist Theodor Aman's and collector K.H. Zambaccian's memorial houses-later transformed in art museums. First stop was Theodor Aman's Museum. Theodor Aman's Memorial HouseThe building is a marvelous inside of both the 19th century architecture and the personality of the artist. Designed by the painter in order to capture as much natural light as possible and to reflect his tastes and his knowledge in art and architecture(the house borrows some highlights from Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci), the house , now a museum, shelters both the artist's printmaking and his painting studios, as well as an impressive collection of his art.
If there is something I adore doing in the print-room is working on a lithography. I love doing it because I am masochistic. :
1) It requires a Herculean strength to grain the stones 2)It involves the patience of a monk 3)You play with dangerous acids 4)Any little tiny mistake compromises your 2 months work I knew all those things before starting, so everything was even more exiting! Let me show you! Etching tools as illustrated in Feilding's 'The Art of Engraving', 1841. (a) etching needle, (b) scraper, (c) and (d) burnishers, (e) graver, (f) scooper, (g) scraper for mezzotints, (h) stipple graver, (i) roulette for mezzotints, (j) shading tool for mezzotints, (k) roulette for mezzotints, (l) dry-point graver, (m) hammer, (n) dabber for applying the 'ground', (o) brushes for applying varnish (p) calliper compasses.
Once the initial design was transferred, the etching could begin. Various types of etching needles would be used to Characteristics
DrypointEven from the Antiquity people scratched into a surface eg "graffiti" -"to scratch".
In order to create a drypoint impression, the surface is incised with a hard pointed needle of a sharp metal. Usually, the surface is a copper plate but other surfaces, such as acetate, zing and Plexiglas, may be used. The lines obtained with this method are formed by a burr thrown up at the edge of the incensed line, a larger burr will hold more ink than a fainter one. The size of the incision-burr depends more on the angle the needle is used than on the pressure. Drypoints have the disadvantage of a lightly faint incision that is destroyed bu the pressure of the press after 15 prints approximately. Rembrandt used this method, but complementing other methods such as etching and engraving. What is a PRINT?It is impossible for someone, professional artist or not, not to come across a print. However, there are only a few people how can tell the difference between an etching and a wood engraving or a lithograph and a screenprint. For some, prints are just copies of one design... of one drawing. A very correct definition.. but such a narrow one, as well! For others, it seems almost insulting to name a print an original, since a series has multiple copies. It sounds impossible to accept the uniqueness of each and every print Printmaking is a unique art, a unique mastery! The divine play of ink and paper, the rough fight between acids and metals and stone, the mystic reveal of marks on plate... This whole universe is so limitless, so fascinating and so enigmatic! The aesthetic effects produced by printmaking techniques are unrepeatable in any other format. The rules that apply in drawing or in painting are more or less followed in printmaking. Therefore, a print should not be analysed based on the principles of a composition used in these other processes. In order to accustom you to those methods, I ll briefly present the techniques, later on, I ll go into more depths, but only regarding those methods that I have explored so far. Printing ProcessesRelief MethodsThe easiest way to present this method is by making you think of a stamp. The design stands in relief from the block and it is printed using a vertical press. The most important processes are woodcut, linocut, wood-engraving IntaglioIntaglio prints are those impressions obtained from metal plates (usually copper, but not only) that are incised (using different techniques). Unlike relief printing, where the ink is applied on the designed surface, and then printed as the image(basically the portions left in relief represent the black and hold the ink and the bits that were cut away are the whites therefore not holding the ink), the intaglio plates hold the ink in the little incisions designed on top of them(the incisions are the black and "the relief" is the white). The ink is applied evenly on the plate and wiped clean so that only the incisions are left inked. Processes: etching (aquaforte), engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint Planographic- Lithography Printmaker's Booklet Print= a picture or a design made from an inked impression of a matrix Matrix= the surface (metal, wood, other material) on which the image is drawn in order to create a print. This plate or block is eventually inked and transferred to paper. Plates= matrix Impression= one copy of a complete print job produced under a print order. Also printrun (American English pressrun) Working Proof= completed work on an image, yet unfinished, unsigned impression(kept from the market) AP= Artist's Proofs= impressions belonging to the artist, not counted as prints in an edition, yet identical copies printed at the same time with the edition TP=Trial Proofs= experimental prints Edition= limited number of copies/ prints obtained from the same plate, excluding the proofs. Once an edition is completely printed, the matrix is destroyed to ensure that no more prints are pulled from the plate. Fine art prints are considered multiple originals, not reproductions. = A method of printing from a flat surface (such as a smooth stone or a metal plate) that has been prepared so that the ink will only stick to the design that will be printed
1: the process of printing from a plane surface (as a smooth stone or metal plate) on which the image to be printed is ink-receptive and the blank area ink-repellent 2: the process of producing patterns on semiconductor crystals for use as integrated circuits Origin and Etymology oflithography German Lithographie, from lith- + -graphie -graphy During the last couple of weeks I have just invaded the printroom from the first hour In the morning up until when almost everyone left uni. I cannot describe the joy of discovering so many possibilities and having first attempts that are not failures. I struggle finding the time to learn more processes and more methods and techniques. I think I can best describe it like this I have never really thought about any kind of printing before coming here. I know nothing about it Seeing a lithography by Cezanne or a woodcut by Durer just revealed to me the drawing talent of the artist. Nothing more. I was a complete stranger to the way those images were obtained. I feel so ashamed now. I was so ignorant. And I couldn’t even truly appreciate the genius behind those artworks. Now I try to make it up. And as usual, I want it fast. And I want it all There is something I cannot explain. Although I tried to. I am not patient, I hate waiting. Printing involves an appatrently excruciating amount of waiting. But I don’t mind it. Not at all. Since it is part of the process i got to the point of actually endrearing it. And since almost all the printing techniques involve wainting, I figured out that during the waiting time of one I could work on another. Isn’t it perfect?
Since I first walked into the print room and found out about lithography I knew I wanted to learn how to do it. Everyone kept complaining about what a tiring process oit is. The harder it seemed the more curious I become. Until eventually I did it. And I absolutely loved it. Now I have to ground my second plate. I eventually bought copper plates for etching/drie point/mezzotint/ aquatint/ hard ground/soft ground.hip Well… now I am in debt. My artist life has officially begun. Each Wednesday Justin(the technician, Ehm… I don’t really like the word technician, to be honest, it islacking the essential… I d rather say the craftsman or master or artist or teacher.. anyway) shows us new technique. Everyone sound amaising and exciting, the problem woyld only be, there are not enough hpurs in a day for me to learn them all. What I would ideally do is learn to perfection… or…. Better said, learn the craft of 2-3 main techniques and in the meanwhile experiment with whatever I can, as much as I can. So far I discovered I love lithography, dry point(and ETCHING! Absolutely! What could be better than scratching a copper board and then becoming a pseudo-alchemist playing with acid?!) and woodcut. The best part is that all those methods are, in fact, small universes, full of surprises and mysteries! During the last days I worked on co copper plates and lithography. Regarding the copper boards, I tried aquatint, mezzotint and hard ground. I draw. I paint. I colour. I see. I imagine. Then, I show you a shiver of what I see.
This has been my life ever since I can remember. With every new line I try to come a little closer to the image in my mind. I tend to spend way too much time lost in my thoughts, playing with words, lines, characters and colours in my mind… daydreaming. My mind is a very noisy place, a very crowded one and… sometimes it can be a dark one. But I love to see. I love to observe, then I contemplate. I see beauty everywhere. I see pieces of perfection at every step, not only colours, tones, shadows and lights, but ideas, words, emotions. In my mind I have the perfect image and I feel that it is my duty, it is my responsibility, it is my burden to show it to you. Every time I try to and every time I fail. Wonder why I am still doing this? Still painting, still drawing? Still suffering from my powerlessness? It is because of that moment of rapture (which usually lasts shorter than trice), when I feel that I captured the spirit of the image in my mind. It gives me hope, it ensures me I am doing the right thing, the only thing I should do. I need to do. I must do. So here I stay, endeavouring every moment to seize the very soul of an idea and then reveal it in all its greatness. With every painting I am drawing near my distant aim. This everyday strain is tormenting, but, God, it is sublime! So I will continue drawing, painting, colouring, seeing and imagining until I will have finally chained the Image on the canvas. |
AuthorFine Art student @BCU Archives
May 2016
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