11/20/15 Basic Drawing

Today's Class- The focus of today's class was a look at printmaking, an art form in which the finished art is usually produced from a fixed matrix (such as carved wood, etched metal, litho stones, silkscreens, etc) so that multiple identical copies can be made quickly.  However, an exception to the multiple process is the monotype, in which the art is offset from a perfectly smooth surface that can't absorb the ink.  The ink is manipulated on the surface until the artist is satisfied with the result and then it's printed onto paper, so that the drawing is essentially completed before it ever touches the paper.  I showed slides with examples of the various print processes used in the past 6 centuries, as well as examples from some professional print artist friends of mine, and a few examples of my own work.  Then I set up everyone with some materials and put out some still life stuff for everyone to work from.  Time was saved at the end for a class critique of last week's ink wash drawings.

How to make this up-  

Monotypes are printed from flat non-porous surfaces, such as glass, plexiglass, metal, or plastic.  The glass from a dollar store 8"x 10" frame works fine (I recommend taping the edges with masking tape to avoid cutting your fingers while handling it) but today some students were able to make use of old plastic cafeteria trays found by our classroom sink.  Few art supply stores carry oil based printing ink, but oil paint will work and I had students buy a small tube of black in their semester supplies.  We are not allowed to use toxic solvents or thinners in our building, but regular common vegetable oil (such as canola) works just fine for the purpose and I provided everyone with a small paper cup of it, along with some cotton swabs for drawing (a paint brush- bristles or back end- can be used, along with paper towels, stiff edges of mat board, etc.  no rules here.)  Paper from your big pads or sketchbooks can be used to print on, placing a piece on the inked plate and gently rubbing the back to transfer the paint to the paper.  Above and below are student examples.  Instructions on how to make this up can be found here.  Or if you prefer, wait until the next time you are in and ask me for details.  This is a portfolio exercise and must be made up by the last day of class to get credit.

Homework-  Because this is a new process and extremely messy, I am not assigning any related homework this week.  Since most of you are missing one or more homeworks, I suggest you use the time to catch up on one you have missed.  All homework assignments can be found by looking back through this blog.

Next week's class will be held on Wednesday November 25th at the usual time and place.  Orders from OCC.  

For next week 11/25/15- We will start our last new medium of the semester, the conte crayon.  This is a clay based medium, sticks a little harder than wax crayons and charcoal.  They can be used to draw shapes with hard edges, but also can be blended.  On the list of materials I put black and red (sanguine) crayons.  Bring those, your 18" x 24" pad, and erasers.