Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20, I taught a Reduction Linocut Workshop at
Oxbow Press in Reno, NV. It felt like a challenge to try to accomplish a multi-color reduction print in just two days but I practiced with the fish and leafy sea dragon prints to see if I could print more than one color in a day. With some success under my belt, and an easy registration system, off to Reno I went. It was the most fun I have had in a long time. There were 10 students, almost all printmakers but none well versed in reduction lino. Everyone brought images to review and discuss the pros and cons of using for reduction linocut. We used Gomuban, a product widely used in Japan, described as somewhere between ez cut and linoleum. It is very easy to carve and will hold fine lines. With the short time period, it made for a quicker cutting time. The majority of the first day was preparation for printing, altho at the end of Day One,
Miles was ready go and printed his first color. On Day Two with two available presses, everyone printed. And printed. On one press, we could print 4 at a time. So there was no waiting. The artists decided to pull editions of 20.
Candace Nicol, director/founder/goddess of Oxbow generously allowed workshop participants time to come back to complete their prints.
Rossitza had printed 3 colors by the end of day 2. Everyone spontaneously decided to do a print exchange with each other and come together in celebration with final prints at a party in August. So the community of printmakers in Reno is alive and strong. Miles Becker was the first to finish his print and he sent me a jpg of it which he has allowed me to share with you. It is titled
The Falcon. I couldn't be more proud of such a fine first print.
I realize I may have gone on too much about this workshop, but it was my first solo teaching experience and it was huge for me. It was such a good experience, I think I will keep on this path. Thanks to the students in Reno and Candace and Vicki at Oxbow Press for throwing a fun and organized workshop in the middle of a major art event weekend.
Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20, I taught a Reduction Linocut Workshop at Oxbow Press in Reno, NV. It felt like a challenge to try to accomplish a multi-color reduction print in just two days but I practiced with the fish and leafy sea dragon prints to see if I could print more than one color in a day. With some success under my belt, and an easy registration system, off to Reno I went. It was the most fun I have had in a long time. There were 10 students, almost all printmakers but none well versed in reduction lino. Everyone brought images to review and discuss the pros and cons of using for reduction linocut. We used Gomuban, a product widely used in Japan, described as somewhere between ez cut and linoleum. It is very easy to carve and will hold fine lines. With the short time period, it made for a quicker cutting time. The majority of the first day was preparation for printing, altho at the end of Day One, Miles was ready go and printed his first color. On Day Two with two available presses, everyone printed. And printed. On one press, we could print 4 at a time. So there was no waiting. The artists decided to pull editions of 20. Candace Nicol, director/founder/goddess of Oxbow generously allowed workshop participants time to come back to complete their prints. Rossitza had printed 3 colors by the end of day 2. Everyone spontaneously decided to do a print exchange with each other and come together in celebration with final prints at a party in August. So the community of printmakers in Reno is alive and strong. Miles Becker was the first to finish his print and he sent me a jpg of it which he has allowed me to share with you. It is titled The Falcon. I couldn't be more proud of such a fine first print.
I realize I may have gone on too much about this workshop, but it was my first solo teaching experience and it was huge for me. It was such a good experience, I think I will keep on this path. Thanks to the students in Reno and Candace and Vicki at Oxbow Press for throwing a fun and organized workshop in the middle of a major art event weekend.
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Congratulations! It sounds like it was a great weekend. Thanks for the tip, I had never heard of Gomuban. I bought some SpeedyCut blocks for an upcoming workshop and discovered that I HATE them. TOO soft, TOO squishy, and covered in fine crumbs all the time. It's a completely budget-minded class, so trying to do things on the cheap.. but...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, well done!