Printmaking I George Mason University Fall, 2014 AVT 243 001 TR 10:30 a.m. – 1:10 p.m., CRN: 71241 AVT 243 002 1:30-4:10 p.m., CRN: 72687 Aug. 25 – Dec. 6 Instructor: Amelia Hankin E-mail: [email protected] SOA Room 1009 Office hours: by appointment This syllabus is posted on the SOA website at soa.gmu.edu under academics. Course Description: This course is an exploratory study of printmaking techniques including Relief, Intaglio, and Screenprint. Students pursue individualized projects while mastering each technique. Emphasis is on the experimentation, the development of the technique, and the utilization of printmaking as a tool for challenging studio practice and expanding broader critical concerns. Students gain an understanding of the print studio and its equipment, the tools, and terminology necessary for producing quality images. Students will be expected to invent, experiment, analyze and improvise. Purpose: An introduction to the basics of hand printmaking. With an emphasis on the translation and transferal of images, the tools, equipment, and technical skills that enable the making of a well defined print. Students will explore various print media with reference to historical and contemporary models. Discussion, presentation, and field trips will focus on the practical and conceptual concerns of making multiple images. Bibliography: There is no required textbook in this course. Any required readings will be posted on Blackboard. The instructor will bring in monographs and overview books to look through, and there is a library of print and papermaking books in the computer lab within the shop. Some recommended titles: Printmaking, A Complete Guide to Materials and Process. Grabowski & Fick Magical Secrets (multi-volume series on intaglio techniques.) Crown Point Press The Art & Craft of Woodblock Printmaking. Laitinen, Moilanen, and Tanttu. Relief Printmaking: Woodcut & Linocut. Card. Eye on Europe. Wye. The Critique Handbook: a Sourcebook and Survival Guide. Buster & Crawford In addition this course is designed to: 1) Stimulate perceptual growth and visual awareness in the student. 2) Identify printmaking tools, methods, materials, and mediums as well as demonstrate skill and craft in their usage. 3) Conceptualize an idea and then compose it into an aesthetically resolved artwork. 4) Use creative process, including experimentation, to analyze and solve problems and explain why creativity is an important mode of human expression. 5) Utilize digital software and technology for research and image manipulation. 6) Apply a set of criteria to evaluate a work of art. 7) Utilize recommended health and safety practices, and demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively with others in a Printmaking Studio setting. 8) Demonstrate reasonable oral and written skills using correct Printmaking terminology. 9) Demonstrate an awareness of the art making traditions of various cultures. 10) Create a portfolio of work that can be used for job and/or educational placement. Student Participation and Evaluation: Students develop a suite of prints or other related investigation in tandem with their studio work or based on a theme of the instructor’s choosing or their own in consultation with the instructor. Students are required to keep all of their work completed throughout the semester. Critiques and portfolio reviews will be the primary method of student evaluation. Since evaluation is based on work done in class, class attendance is mandatory. It is important to be on time since all demonstrations will be conducted at the beginning of class. If the student is 20 minutes late they will be counted as absent. This class fulfills a General Education Core requirement for Arts. Core requirements help ensure that students become acquainted with the broad range of intellectual domains that contribute to a liberal education. By experiencing the subject matter and ways of knowing in a variety of fields, students will be better able to synthesize new knowledge, respond to fresh challenges, and meet the demands of a complex world. Arts goal: Mason courses in the film making, visual and performing arts stress generative, inquiry based learning through direct aesthetic and creative experience in the studio environment. Courses aim to achieve a majority of the following learning outcomes: students will be able to identify and analyze the formal elements of a particular art form using vocabulary appropriate to that form; demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between artistic technique and the expression of a work’s underlying concept; analyze cultural productions using standards appropriate to the form and cultural context; analyze and interpret material or performance culture in its social, historical, and personal contexts; and engage in the artistic process, including conception, creation, and ongoing critical analysis. Requirements: 1) 8.5” x 11” sketchbook/notebook for ideas, lecture notes, diary entries Print Projects - Completed on time. 2) Participation in all classes, visiting artists, discussions and critiques 3) Care and Maintenance of the Print Studio 4) Twelve hours (minimum) per week outside of class required (4 credits) 5) One 2-4 page paper an artist’s print viewed during the Library of Congress fieldtrip 6) 1 Documented Artists Report for Visiting Artists/Lecture (Carmon Colangelo, Oct. 16) 7) One ArtsBus trip to New York is required if an AVT Major Shop Rules & Safety Use solvents and acids only in designated areas. Wash hands thoroughly with soap after working with ink and solvents. Always thoroughly clean your station after printing. Keep clean paper areas clean. Do not place hot plates on glass tables. Wear gloves and protective eye wear when using the acid baths. Wear mask when applying aquatint. Place newsprint over print when running it through the press. Do not get ink on press blankets. Immediately after running print through press, wipe off the press bed. Do not leave anything on the press bed; tape, ink, plate etc. Remove prints from racks as soon as they are dry. Dispose of trash in proper bins. There are special bins for solvent-soaked rage, paper scraps and regular trash. Course Outline I. Introduction Discussion of printmaking as both a formal study and a tool for exploration of other media. Emphasis on developing expressive mark making, cultivating personal style, and drawing from experience. II. Relief printmaking: Linoleum block prints Relief is explored as a medium that embraces the aesthetics of line, shape, and space. Students receive instruction on learning the process of printing through in-class demonstrations that include: carving, printing, and editioning. III. Intaglio printmaking: Drypoint and Etching Etching involving hardground, aquatint and reworking of images is explored. Students learn multiple-state biting of zinc plates, proper plate wiping technique, chine colle, and editioning. IV. Screenprinting: Working with photo transparencies and drawings Screenprinting is explored as a versatile medium that always the student to work with layers of information and colors. The exploration of screenprinting techniques will involve preparing your artwork for screen- printing, coating and exposing a screen, and executing a one to two-color screen print. V. Final Print Exchange, Portfolio Critique, and Review MATERIALS LIST 1. A flat file drawer will be provided for you to store your paper and prints made during the course. 2. There are lockers in the hallway available for rental. 3. The following are provided: 1 zinc plate, 1 copper plate, 1 linoluem block, Screens for screenprinting, some newsprint, printing ink, 1 sheet of Rives BFK, 1 sheet of proofing paper. Some tools are available to borrow. Many consumables are provided. Students are responsible for supplying the following items: (LABEL YOUR SUPPLIES WITH YOUR INITIALS) Sketchbook/journal 8.5 x 11 Sketching media: graphite pencils, markers, pens, charcoal etc.) Sharpee marker 1 sheet of clear/tranparent film, 18” x 24” Small pad of tracing paper 18” x 24” pad of newsprint 1 Combination Etching Needle and Burnisher 1 Set of Speedball Linoleum Cutter with 5 blades 1 Rubber Speedball Roller 4” or 6” Artist tape or painter’s tape 1-2 packages of Playtex blue long Nitrile disposable gloves (no powder) One Portfolio Case, approx. 23”x31” (to transport and hold your prints) Tool box/tackle box for supplies One X-acto knife with 11# blade One pgk. X-acto blades Stretched screen (provided) 2 palette knives Opt. apron or work clothes Opt. scissors Printmaking Paper: Rives BFK (22 x 30”) or equivalent 225-300 lb western printmaking paper Five Sheets 22”x30” Rives BFK White Printmaking Paper 2-3 Sheets 22”x30” Rives Gray Printmaking Paper 2-3 Sheets 22”x30” Rives Tan Printmaking Paper Rice paper: Provided Art Supply Stores Plaza Art (recommended and close to campus) 3045 Nutley Street Pan Am Shopping Center Fairfax (703) 280-4500 University Bookstore Johnson Learning Center GMU Campus (701) 993-2668 Online stores McClain’s Printmaking Supplies www.imcclains.com 310-998-0098 Hiromi Paper International www.hiromipaper.com 503-641-3555 Renaissance Graphic Arts, Inc. www.printmaking-materials.com (215) 357-5705 Rice Printmaking Paper: You can find rice paper at Plaza Arts, Utrecht, but not necessarily at craft stores. Look for unadorned paper in white or natural with a soft, matte surface. Mulberry, Thai Mulberry, Kozo, Kitakata, Okawara, Hosho are available locally. You can also mail-order these papers. They can get quite expensive, so look for a sheet that is around 24 x 36” and under $5. You will need two sheets. Note that the dimensions is not universal, so each “brand” may be a different size. Masa is very cheap, but looks it. Sekishu is excellent, but more expensive. A sheet of Okawara and Kitakata each would be a good bet. Western Printmaking Paper: There are many types of western printmaking papers available locally. Standard is Rives BFK, available in several colors. Also look for Arches Cover, Somerset Satin or Velvet, Fabriano Rosaspina or Tiepolo, or for the budget-minded: Rives HWT, Rives LWT.