S+ART

Wood Block Printmaking

Printmaking is an art-form with a long history that includes a variety of ways a print can be made. One popular technique is relief print making using a wood block. Wood block prints have a unique character impossible to recreate with other techniques.

As you probably guessed, the block print process uses a block of wood. The block is carved and then covered with ink using a brayer in order to create an impression. Wood Block is so unique because the wood itself has the uncanny ability to take on a life of its own. The type of wood that is chosen to make a block can really affect the type of print it creates. A hard block will offer sharp lines and an overall cleaner look but requires a fair amount of strength to cut. A softer block is quite easy to cut, but because of that, fine details can be easily lost. Regardless of what type of wood you decide to use as your block, it is crucial to have a flat block free of any warps or bends and sharpened chisels. Though sharpening can be boring and tedious, dull tools will ruin your block due to their unpredictability while cutting. Just like it is important in drawing to keep your lines all moving in the same direction along the object, in wood block the same rule applies to your chisel marks. If you move slow and keep a steady hand, it is easier to create a block to be proud of.

The technique of wood block printing requires a great deal of work and preparation. Due to its hands on style, wood block has a character unmatched by any other relief printing technique. In the tech-heavy world we live in, it is sometimes nice to get your hands dirty. 

 

 

 

 
 Congratulations to TSA instructor Max-Karl Winkler who recently had one of his wood block prints selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. Events transpired at the Drawn to Washington 2 show in Rockville, Maryland, sponsored by the Washington Print Club. From the 50 print show, the only awarded was a purchase prize selected by Katherine Blood, Director of the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress for the permanent collection. Winkler’s portrait, Karisa (featured above) was the one she chose.

Classes:

Beginning Drawing 8-Sessions

http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=223121

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~Griffin Baker 

 

Post: Portraiture & Lighting

 Photograph by Studio Arts instructor Marty Kaplan

 

When I photograph people, I generally rely on existing light since I'm most familiar with it, but also because I have no idea how to arrange and use studio lighting.  And, while I know that strobes are part of these set-ups, all I think about is flashing light at a dance club - and, then I get distracted with the idea of going to a dance club and never get any farther than that. 

 

Photographing people can be difficult, anyway, especially when there's so much to remember other than lighting, like location, background, posing and positioning, choice of lens, and having a clear idea how the photo should look, as well as being flexible and open to changing that idea if things doing work out as planned. 

 

If I had more time this fall, I would take the Introduction to Studio Portraiture course offered by the Studio Arts Department.  In fact, all of their courses are set to start within the next week or two, so if taking a class to improve your skills or learn new ones is something you've been thinking about, maybe take a look through their course schedule and register for one.

 

Next week, I'll be back to talk about strobes.  The photographic kind!

 

-Angela

The Tone Creating Methods That Can Make Your Drawings Sing: Hatching

 Drawing of Cecilia Gallerani Leonardo da Vinci Courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons

As I shared in a previous post, tone is essential to create form in a work. I also wrote about using blending and shading to create tone. A common alternative to blending and shading is the technique of hatching. This technique is equally as useful as blending and shading but relies heavily on line use. It is typically utilized in quicker drawings where time is of the essence or in drawings where line work and movement are emphasized. Hatching is an important discipline that every artist can use in their drawings.

A great way to start with the hatching technique is to begin utilizing contour lines to define your subject. It is important in any drawing to really understand the form of the object. After you have studied the form of the object, begin to picture vertical and horizontal lines being drawn across it. Are the lines strait because the object is flat? Or do they have a curve because the object is round? The next step is to begin actually hatching. Start at the edge or the most heavily shadowed area of the contour line and move in towards the center or the highlighted area of the object. Try to keep the direction and curve of these lines the same way you pictured the lines running across the subject. Keep in mind that when lines are closer together or layered on top of each other they make a heavier shadow; whereas, when lines are further apart, the hatched area is lighter. Cross-hatching is just like hatching except when you layer the lines you draw the second layer perpendicular to the first. This “second layer of line” should move along the object just as the initial hatching has but in a different direction. Hatching and cross-hatching are methods that can be easy to over-do. So, in order to achieve a firm grasp of the concepts, a fair amount of practice is required. Get started with hatching or cross-hatching by looking at masterworks from artists such as Leonardo Di Vinci and emulating his use of layered lines to build tone.

Hatching serves as a great alternative to blending and shading to create tone. Its versatility makes it a great technique for quick sketching and for creating movement in a drawing. Hatching is a great tool for every artist to utilize in their drawings. 

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~Griffin Baker