Category Archives: Research and reflection

Exhibition visit: Claire Romano and John Ross

I’ve been following for quite a while the activities of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP) n Norwalk, CT. They offer all kinds of interesting workshops and it’s within reach of a day trip from New York. Finally I decided to go there and visit the exhibition of prints from master printmakers Clare Romano and […]

More artists: ‘Rayograms’ by Man Ray

As a response to the leaf prints from Part 1, my tutor suggested I’d have a look at Rayograms by Man Ray. That was quite interesting. I first looked up ‘Rayograms’ to discover that the principle of placing objects on photographic paper, exposing the setting to light, then using a chemical to develop the photo […]

Research point: Contemporary printmakers using linocut (Part I)

Find a couple of contemporary printmakers whose work you like, and reflect on their techniques. How do they use lino? What sort of marks do they make? What could you learn from them? Atta Kwami, Ghana (born 1956) I found this artist when searching for linocuts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art website. They struck […]

Paper lithography

Just discovered this technique and got curious. I know not much about lithography, only that it’s based on water-friendly vs water-repellent materials. I recently saw some Lithographs in the Toulouse-Lautrec exposition. Paper lithography seems to use the same principle, but with paper as the medium. Photocopies can be transferred and gum arabic plays a role. […]

Research point: Artists relying on texture in their prints

Find some contemporary printmakers who rely heavily on texture in the prints. What sort of textures have they used to create effects? How well has it worked? I started this research by looking for contemporary artists, and came across the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Conneticut. There is currently an exhibition, the 4th Biennial […]

Exhibition visit: Toulouse-Lautrec at the MOMA

Actually I went to the MOMA to see the Sigmar Polke exhibition in the context of research for the OCA watercolour course, and barely made it there on the exhibition’s last day. While I found that exhibition not very inspiring, afterwards I took the opportunity to go to the Toulouse-Lautrec gallery, which presented “The paris […]

Research point: Back drawing / Paul Gauguin Exhibition

Find some printmaking artists who use back drawing. Examine how they use it and evaluate it. Does it work well? What can you learn from it? Make notes in your learning log. I did some preliminary research on the topic, but somehow wasn’t able to locate artists that employed back drawing. Then by chance, I […]

Research point: Matisse’s blue nudes

Henri Matisse’s blue nudes were made relatively late in the artist’s life – in 1952, two years before he died. I thought this would be an indicator that they incorporated many years of experimenting and experience with the technique of using cut-out paper to create compositions.       What makes them so powerful? I think […]

More artists: Linda Germain, Gelatine printmaking

While following up links I found in the context of my research on Barbara Schneider, I came across the website of Linda Germain, who provides a very hands-on tutorial and videos about using gelatine plates for monotype printing. She makes wonderful, simple prints using techniques I had already seen on printmaking students’ blogs: Using cut-out […]

Research point: Monoprints by Edgar Degas

French painter Edgar Degas lived from 1843 – 1917, somewhat earlier than I had been aware of. I had done some research on Degas in the context of another OCA course and had been very impressed by his realistic depiction of scenes and people, for example in ‘The Cotton Exchange’, a painting dating from 1873. […]