I took a class at Em Space recently which was taught by two master printmakers from Japan. Ritsuko Ozeki and Takahiko Hayashi were both visiting from Tokyo because their work is on display at the Froelick Gallery thru November, and they agreed to give a three hour workshop on drypoint and chine collé.
Let me tell you, it was one of the funnest printmaking classes I’ve taken! Twelve students were all able to create an etching on plexiglass using a variety of sharp tools, and then make a print of it using fancy japanese paper samples the teachers brought with them.
The first etching I created was a bit like therapy…at least that is what a fellow student told me when he saw me furiously scratching at my plexi with rocks and pounding it with a nail and hammer. When I took the plexi outside to scrape it on the curb they probably thought I’d gone off the deep end. Here are the results…
The second etching I made was much more subdued, and instead of using chine collé on the entire print area (you can see the slight cream color paper behind the entire inked area on the print above), I put a small square of strawberry colored paper in the middle of the composition.
Here are a few more pictures of the process…
Check out more pictures of the class at Em Space’s facebook page.
This is very cool. Who knew you could print intaglio on a Vandercook? Now I’ll have to get one. Love the prints.
Yeah, I think they teachers were surprised too!