Tonight was our last session in the eight-week course of relief printmaking taught by Shaqe Kalaj at Art & Ideas Gallery in Plymouth, MI. Wow...the time really passed quickly!
Tonight we completed our 2-color ink printing process. Last week we printed the first color and then took our blocks home to carve out the other areas during the week. Tonight we learned to register the blocks and then print with black over the base color.
Shaqe started with Carla's print. (I missed shooting Shaqe showing us how to line the block up.)
Shaqe is re-inking a spot here.
Now Shaqe and Carla are looking at the print that Shaqe just pulled.
Next comes the demo with my prints. I used red as my color and that ink was a lot more watery than the blue. It was a teensy bit frustrating to work with last week and my prints show it...LOL. But this is a learning exercise and I DID learn a lot from all the steps!
Getting ready for Shaqe to come and print one of mine.
Shaqe inking up my Blick Golden-cut block.
In the meantime, Carla has pulled a great print!
Shaqe getting ready to line up the inked block on the first print.
Shaqe registering the block on the print.
Shaqe burnishing the paper with a plastic spoon.
Close up...you can see the red ink through the paper but you can also see the black coming through where Shaqe has rubbed it with the spoon.
Checking to see how it looks...does it need more ink?
Yep, it needed more ink!
RE-inking.
Shaqe pulls the completed print off the block.
Not too bad (considering how icky the print looked to begin with)!
The block after I washed it off.
Carla and Shaqe looking over Carla's prints.
ALL of Carla's prints...pretty successful, I'd say!
Shaqe looking over my prints.
Shaqe agreeing that was the most successful of mine.
LOL -- my least successful...I hit the paper with the inky brayer when I was re-inking...I knew I did it so I didn't bother with trying to fix the ink around the edges...other than that it actually lined up pretty well.
My most successful 2-color ink print.
I really enjoyed this relief printmaking class. We got a great overview of many kinds of printmaking processes. We tried out 3 types of carving materials, we got a chance to try out hand tools and electric tools on two types of wood, we pulled a print that was included in the all ages student show at the gallery, we learned a method for 2-color printing...and we got individual attention, coaching and suggestions throughout the eight weeks. Oh, we also did some critiquing and got some help with artist statements and writing about our work.
I know I definitely want to take more classes from Shaqe at Art & Ideas -- she is a really great teacher. I learned a lot about printmaking and carving and also about drawing and thinking about things in new ways.
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