Course Title: ART220 Printmaking II
Term: Spring
Course Description
An intermediate course in printmaking that introduces the screen-print process, as well as further investigation into the lithography and monoprint mediums. Prerequisite ART 120. Lab Fee $75
Course Objectives
1. Introduce the students to appropriate terminology in the screen-print, advanced lithography and monoprint processes by examining past student and professional examples.
2. Offer hands-on technical demonstrations that will give student’s safe, working knowledge of each process.
3. Deliver specific information regarding equipment and materials that are oil-based and/or inherently dangerous. Safe cleanup procedures also covered.
4. Provide students with knowledge of water-based screen-print materials and the know-how to properly print and reclaim their matrices by using a pressure washer.
5. Engage the class in critical dialogue by conducting open lines of communication during critiques that analyze historical and contemporary sources in visual problem solving.
6. Initiate beginning use of Mac computers, Adobe software, and Epson printers as they apply to the screen-print process by offering hands-on demonstrations with software and output systems.
7. Introduce the students to the necessary procedures on applying for juried shows and publications by directing them to online resources.
Course Outcomes
1. Students will be proficient in delivering print-related vocabulary and will be able to offer references that provide them and their peers with process and conceptual influence.
2. Students will be able to safely execute printing processes in the screen-print area, as well as lithography the press in order to produce screen-prints, lithographs, and monoprints.
3. Students will be able to safely clean and remove spent materials and understand the chemistry and inherent dangers of hazardous printmaking materials.
4. Students will be able to safely execute screen-prints and reclaim their matrixes.
5. Students will be able to critically examine their own work, as well as their peers in a positively uplifting manner during critiques and presentations.
6. Students will begin to have a better understanding of Adobe Photoshop and will be proficient in the use of large format Epson printers.
7. Students will take part in national juried printmaking exhibitions and publications.
Final Digital Portfolio
Printmaking students are required to maintain a Digital Portfolio documenting all printmaking projects created in the course. Documentation techniques will be covered in the class. The work and digital portfolio will be reviewed and graded for accuracy and quality. High resolution images should be utilized for personal websites, social media, as well as the shared ART 220 Google Drive folder.
Digital Presentation/Paper
All Art 220 students are required to present one Digital Presentation via either Powerpoint or Google Slides. At the beginning of the semester, intermediate and advanced printmaking students (ART 220-420 is a stacked section) are divided into two groups to present either the week before midterm (ART 220) or the week prior to final critique (ART 320 and 420). One three and a half page paper, which includes a formal title page and works cited, along with a 7-10 minute digital presentation is required. Students are timed for the duration, which should include a grouping of at least twelve high-res images by an artist-printmaker whose work is no older than the year 2000. Items are to be saved via Google Docs and all hardcopies must be honor-pledged by hand. Students can also choose to imbed videos no longer than one minute in duration for their peers to view any process-technique related studio footage.
Skill Building Exercises
Sketchbook: Students are required to purchase a new sketchbook and continue production throughout the entire semester in order to build upon concepts and acquired skills. The sketchbook will be a frequently used reference and should be accessible during each course meeting. It should contain the course syllabus, a minimum of 20 thumbnails and 5 preliminary sketches/drawings/compositional studies per each project, ideas and thoughts, notes on instructions, equipment and material usage, copied publication/online articles and reproductions of interest, vocabulary, experimentation w/ materials, proof prints or rubbings, and color studies. Intermediate printmaking students may also incorporate Adobe Photoshop and varied technology for image creation. Hard copy visuals are to be output, chronologically collated, and adhered within the sketchbook. Content and quality are to be worked on throughout the semester in order to establish a life-long professional habit. One completed 75-100-page book is the requirement. At least 9”x12” in size.
Portfolio: Students are to first protect their printed projects inside of a wrapped, acid-free packet prior to placing editions or series within a portfolio before turning in for grading purposes. All assignments must be turned in a sturdy portfolio that can open flat or in an envelope style. Students can purchase a portfolio or make one; it doesn't have to be overly expensive as long as it easily accessible and sturdy/stiff. The portfolio should be large enough to contain prints with an extra inch or two around the largest sheet of paper in order to protect prints from damage, including corner or edge folding, wrinkling, or denting. If handmade in order to save money, acid-free paper must be lined between the packets of printed works and acidic receptacle such as corrugated cardboard. Each packet must be labeled with each project’s print process and a list of the prints contained within.
Final Presentation: Students enrolled in ART 220 (Intermediate Printmaking) are required to mat one print from each of their main editions as well as two of their monoprints for final critique/presentation. Large Scale works can be floated on acid-free foamcore without hinged window mats. Students are to comply with the prior guidelines demonstrated and lectured upon during ART 120 on how to construct an industry standard classic, hinged window mat. The resultant grade will be based on proper construction and craftsmanship that entails clean, sharp beveled cuts, and accurately measured borders without smudges, construction lines, or fingerprints. Archival/acid free materials are required, utilizing white mat board and white or black foam core for backing. Various opportunities throughout the academic year also provide students with optional how-to framing demonstrations. If choosing alternative methods of presentation, such as riveted corners, installation, etc…, students must first propose these no later than two weeks prior to the final critique.
Professional Practices: Students are provided instructional methodology on the application to national juried show opportunities, as well as publication application. Digital and device based image capturing is covered along with post-production documentation techniques in Adobe Photoshop. Students are required to upload all printed projects to Google Drive as well as any call-for-entry applications.
Course Projects
Monoprints: Ongoing production throughout semester
Monoprinting is the first process introduced in intermediate printmaking. Production of these unique impressions is ongoing throughout the term. Students are required to produce twenty impressions in all, not including trial and mishap attempts. Demonstrations draw upon the use of utilizing in a concurrent fashion the likes of the screen-print process. Experimentation in the open-screen technique is expected, as well as incorporating additional printmaking techniques in order to build upon conceptually rich, multi-layered graphic works.
Intermediate student’s monoprint work is series-based, with a strong emphasis on cohesive and conceptual content. The expectation is geared towards learning skills to build a body of printed works that would be equivalent to a small scale exhibition. Students are allowed to work on varied substrates other than paper, with wood/fabric/glass/installation and dimensional work/metal/ceramic/video are all possible alternatives. Students also have the option to include their main studio sequence into this portion of ART 220. Drawing, painting, digital media, and photography are possible cross-disciplinary mediums.
Additional requirements/skills: Students learn how to install and present their monoprints in Students are given a range of sizes and formats to work from, including: full sheet scale 30”x22” as well as large scale ranges of 26”x40” to 30”x44.” Larger work is an option, though must be proposed in class.
Project 1: Screen-print (5 colors) (Varied conceptual prompts)
The first screen-print project is a multi-colored edition that lays the groundwork for the integration of both historical and contemporary methods of image creation in intermediate printmaking. Varied conceptual prompts, such as “Broadsides” and “NEXTDOOR,” are assigned to challenge the students in regard to commercial and social topics in present day society. Students are required to work simultaneously with drawn/painted visuals, found images- such as bits of ephemera/paper shards, and rubbings from varied surfaces, in order to produce background solids/textures. Digital technology, including device-based apps and Adobe Photoshop, is also required, in which appropriated visuals, photographic inclusions and scanned visual languages produce the in-progress and final images.
Each limited edition consists of 5 prints, including the BAT print which establishes the final edition of
multiple originals. Students are required to use hot-pressed, woven papers that are appropriate for the seregraphic process in this edition. Demonstrations prepare the students to coat, expose, print, and reclaim the screen-print matrices.
Additional requirements/skills: Students work through several weeks of thumbnails and in-progress sketches until the final image is established in both their sketchbooks and Adobe Photoshop. Several critiques prepare the students to present in-person using standard show/tell methodologies including shared Google Drive Slide presentations. Students also learn how to utilize non-toxic/water-based inks and reclaiming chemicals in this printing process. Because this is a 5 color edition, students learn how to trap colors, incorporate transparent layers, as well as modulated split-screen techniques.
Project 2: 2-color Lithograph (Varied conceptual prompts)
The dual color lithographic edition comprises a direct drawing on separate ball-grained aluminum plates. Each semester the premise of this project changes, with an example being “Inheritance.” The main emphasis is working in a limited palette while managing color ratios (key black plate: linear versus color field and a second color, overlapping linear with outline, value, and transparency). Positive/negative relationships are established by way of gum arabic stopout.
Students work with prior drawing materials, such as grease-based lithographic crayons and pencils, as well as the introduction to liquid Tusche media. Stippling, painting, and dilution of varied tonal patches is demonstrated, then required in various percentages over the 2-color/2-plate project.
In addition, students are required to work in the “full-bleed” technique, with imagery extended to or close to the edge of the paper deckle. Students must consider the entire sheet of paper, where images are printed on 22”x15” half-sheets. Image arrangement/format is dependent upon the student’s choice, either vertical or horizontal, though only after rigorous in-progress critique on preliminary thumbnails, and resultant discussion.
Additional requirements/skills: With the introduction of liquid Tusche, students are taught to carefully etch varied potencies of this grease-based and often fragile aspect of the lithographic process. Students are required to create “key transfer papers” for accurate registration.
Demonstrations on the chemistry-based procedures of the etching process, as well as the skills to establish a “print base” and proper “rinse out” method involved in color printing, are covered in class. Students work through several weeks of thumbnails and in-progress sketches until the final image is established, final image transfer to matrix, and several trial proofs on lesser grade paper. Ink additives such as Setswell Compound and Laketine are also covered, allowing students to understand ink absorption, successful subsequent print layers, and archival ink longevity. Optional inclusions such as a third color and/or the incorporation of a “spot color” are continued learning components.
Project 3: CMYK Screen-print (Varied conceptual prompts)
In the final project of this course, students produce a CMYK screen-print, also known as the “four color process.” Building upon the first project in ART 220, students learn skills that intersect between fine art printmaking and commercial printing processes. Various conceptual prompts challenge the students to define contemporary ideas within the greater context of societal issues and popular culture. With the use of Adobe Photoshop, students construct scanned and digitally collaged imagery by way of collected, found objects, detritus and textural ephemera. Students are challenged to make use of appropriated visuals in order to make anew. Layers, channels, bitmap and color halftone are covered in several lectures and demonstrations which result in student in-progress digital presentations via Google Drive.
Students work in the half-sheet, 22”x15” paper format, along with tabbing to insure less material waste by way of affordable paper extensions. “Printer’s insurance” is also of importance to meet the requirement of the “BAT” and limited edition of 5.
Additional requirements/skills: Students work through several weeks of color studies and digital thumbnails until the final image is established. “Punch-hole” registration is covered, along with transparent ink mixing for accurate, 4-color reproduction. Students also work in geotagging the location of their found images in order to understand the time-based relationship between said ephemera and the descriptive metadata in their resources.
