"The act of printing has always seemed to me a miracle, just such a miracle as the growing up of a tiny seed of grain to an ear - an everyday miracle, even greater because it happens everyday. Ones drawing is sown on the stone or the plate, and a harvest is reaped from it." - from Van Gogh's letters.
In printmaking, a balance must be struck between the potential for surprise – the product of the almost infinite variations possible with most techniques - and the controlled progress towards a hoped for image. The actual craft of making an original print is something that often has an additional value almost separate from the planned print itself.
Therefore the creative process of printmaking has several levels. Added to the initial stimulation – the desire common to all artists to make a particular image, is the printmaker's addiction to applying a particular technique “one more time”; and in doing so to attempt to apply the lessons and potential gained from previous efforts. There will then almost certainly be a point in the making of any original print, where a variation occurs which, unlike in painting, cannot be simply re done, but must be used and incorporated if possible. There will then often be periods where creative decisions have been made and the technical ‘craft’ process embarked upon; leading to a time of relaxed concentration on the materials and tools themselves. There is too the added challenge in many cases – certainly in mine - of controlling consistency to produce the truly limited edition.
All my prints are entirely hand crafted and printed in small editions on high quality paper.
Most recent prints are combinations of linocut and screen prints, usually with layers of inks of varying transparency and often blended colour to build the image. Lino cutting is of course a very hands-on practical craft process and in my screen prints most stencils are hand painted directly on the screen, but I also make 'photo' stencils using a variety of methods.
However, in the early stages of thought and image manipulation, before I reach the final drawing painting and carving stage, I will also usually use the computer as a graphic compositional and research tool.
See my Blog for more information on how my prints are made.
Therefore the creative process of printmaking has several levels. Added to the initial stimulation – the desire common to all artists to make a particular image, is the printmaker's addiction to applying a particular technique “one more time”; and in doing so to attempt to apply the lessons and potential gained from previous efforts. There will then almost certainly be a point in the making of any original print, where a variation occurs which, unlike in painting, cannot be simply re done, but must be used and incorporated if possible. There will then often be periods where creative decisions have been made and the technical ‘craft’ process embarked upon; leading to a time of relaxed concentration on the materials and tools themselves. There is too the added challenge in many cases – certainly in mine - of controlling consistency to produce the truly limited edition.
All my prints are entirely hand crafted and printed in small editions on high quality paper.
Most recent prints are combinations of linocut and screen prints, usually with layers of inks of varying transparency and often blended colour to build the image. Lino cutting is of course a very hands-on practical craft process and in my screen prints most stencils are hand painted directly on the screen, but I also make 'photo' stencils using a variety of methods.
However, in the early stages of thought and image manipulation, before I reach the final drawing painting and carving stage, I will also usually use the computer as a graphic compositional and research tool.
See my Blog for more information on how my prints are made.