Printmaking Workshop Today

"Moo Print," ink block print, ©Jill Banks 2012

And now for something completely different.

My model: "Moo," oil, 12"h x 9"w, ©Jill Banks 2011, private collection

My last printmaking endeavor took place in college ... way back when. Fellow Artists' Atelier studiomate Roberta (Bobbie) Beasley offered a one-day free workshop on block printmaking today and we have a black & white show planned for March in the gallery, so I signed up.

It was perplexing at first. (What new approaches aren't?) We had to come up with a design, sketching it out on a piece of newsprint in pencil to be transferred to a linoleum block. My first thought was to sketch a shell that's part of one of the still life setups in the class. (I might try that one later.) Instead, I made another sketch, this time from a picture of my painting "Moo." While I was still sketching, others were moving on to transferring and cutting into the block. (The class included Jennifer Duncan, Elaine Elinsky, Terri Parent, Bev and me.)

Drying time for the day's work. Those are Elaine's tree (top middle), Jennifer's shapes (top right), Terri's Chinese character

The sketch was transferred to the block by placing it face down on the linoleum and rubbing with the back of a spoon. It was very tough to see the lines and dark areas (the transfer was poor), and that caused the trickiest problem to solve. The transfer was now a mirror image of my drawing and reference -- which made clarifying the lines/dark & light areas much more difficult.

The linoleum block (mirror image of prints) is the pink thing on top. My prints for today include the two "Moo Prints" below and a monoprint made at the end of class by painting and stamping on a plastic cutting board then transferred to paper.

Next came cutting out all those areas of the drawing that should remain white (or the color of the paper). Then, inking the block. Pressing it onto the paper. Ta-da! A print. Could you guess that it was a cow? Certainly an abstracted ones. Bobbie taught us that we could go back later to carve more out of the linoleum. If I were to try another stab at a print of a cow, it would be completely different. A sign of learning.

Thanks Bobbie for offering the workshop ... and the Great Falls School of Art for providing the space.

On Exhibit:


"Drama Queens" and "Classical Painting Atelier" are on view at the Artists' Atelier "Wet Paint!" February Exhibit, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. Open Hours: Saturdays, noon-4pm or whenever an artist is in ... or by appointment. Contact info below.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
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