Today's postings
- [Baren 42689] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print (Tibi Chelcea)
- [Baren 42690] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print (Marilynn Smith)
- [Baren 42691] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print (Lana Lambert)
- [Baren 42692] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print ("Ramsey Household")
- [Baren 42693] Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v936) (Graham Scholes)
- [Baren 42694] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
Message 1
From: Tibi Chelcea
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:13:34 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42689] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print
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same level than woodcuts. If you're talking about the average western person
interested in art (not someone that does relief printmaking or is collecting
prints), probably the history of the last century would be: German
expressionists and British vorticists did a bunch of woodcuts, then linocuts
were important because Picasso did that, and then not much (they might know
a bit about street artists such as Swoon and Gaia that use woodcuts, and
maybe Gert and Uwe Tobias which are more gallery/museum type artists
creating large, unique woodcuts, but all of them are still relatively
unknown). So, overall, not much. There seems to be a resurgence lately with
woodcut & letterpress printing among younger/student artists, at least in
USA.
So, I'd venture to say that none is especially ahead in public imagination,
and probably the artist that you mention commands 30k because of his fame
and not because they are linocuts. Education-wise, it'd make sense to
introduce linocuts early, they are easier to cut and probably use cheaper
materials.
Tibi
Message 2
From: Marilynn Smith
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:34:34 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42690] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print
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they use. Lino seems to have come a long way. With people like
Picasso using it for printing I would think it is much more than
something to be used in schools. Seems to me there are numerous
professional artists out there using linoleum with great results. As
far as being on par with wood cut, I would not know. It seems to me
that it is just another substance to use. Personally I would think
the final result, the print itself, would be what would count the most
not the surface used to carve it.
Marilynn
Message 3
From: Lana Lambert
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:37:09 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42691] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print
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Your statements and queries about lino cut printing got me thinking.
I enjoy working in both woodblock and linoleum. When I discuss my work
with people I find that the conversation can predictably run along the
same thread as follows:
(client) "So tell me about this piece. "(me) "This is a three color
woodblock print that was printed in the Moku Hanga fashion. Here are
the blocks and brushes I use in order for you to get an idea of how it
was made."(client) "Wow, neat block! You carved this? Seems like a
lot of work just for a print. Can you show me the block for this print?"(me)
"Yes, this is actually a linoleum block print. It was done with this block and
I used oil based ink in the western fashion to print these prints."(client) "Oh,
I remember doing these in high school."
Is it that some people had exposure to linoleum printing in their formative years
that makes the concept more easily accessible and therefore less of a mystique? Is
it that linoleum is easier to carve than wood and therefore viewed as inferior? I've
often wondered about these things. I've gone through the phase of staying away from
linoleum because I thought that they wouldn't sell as opposed to woodblocks but then
I realized that art is subjective and normally people don't thinkabout linoleum vs.
woodblock when they want to purchase art anyway. If they've fallen in lovewith the
image, they will purchase it regardless.
Printmaking and bookmaking go through predictable patterns of crests and troughs in
popularity. Just when it looks like no one in their right mind would ever think about
taking up printing again suddenly it's taken up by an underground cult and turned into
a chic and hip thing to do (letterpress). If they've stopped teaching kids in school how
to print, I'm sure that linoleum will gain popularity down the road again as people get
turned on to its existence again.
On the wood vs. linoleum argument. I've heard some people call linoleum "cold" vs. wood
having more "character". Each material has its caprices. Linoleum has no grain and is great
for it's smooth coverage of color. It's up to the artist to break the feeling of "cold" and
turn it into the word "crisp" or "clean" or simply bank on the "cold" feeling to convey that
message as well. The "character" of wood can be infamous if you're trying to print a large
area of solid color and the grain sticks out like a sore thumb. This too is up to the artist
to integrate into a composition. In linoleum's defense, I've yet to hit a knot and chip a tool
in lino carving. I have had the laminate come off of a linoleum "block" before though, bad
manufacturing.
Lastly, IF we continue down the path of our current rate of consumption, linoleum will become
a much more popular medium than woodblocks (economically speaking, I think it already is more popular).
Finished lumber is not as cheap and easy to store as linoleum. A good friend pointed out that linoleum
is a "green" material as it is made from saw dust and glue. The saw dust isn't filling a landfill
anymore (until you throw out your old carvings).
Okay, (dusts off soap box) now it's ready for the next barener!
-Lana Lambert
Message 4
From: "Ramsey Household"
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 16:01:48 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42692] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print
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Carolyn
Message 5
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 16:38:10 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42693] Re: Latest prints and a query about the lino print
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Lana Lambert wrote:
> Okay, (dusts off soap box) now it's ready for the next barener!
> (client) "Wow, neat block! You carved this? Seems like a lot of
> work just for a print.
I politely correct them saying Its a lot of fun.... if it were work
I would find another occupation.
> (client) "Oh, I remember doing these in high school."
I would politely ask them if they missed out on on doing potato
prints!!!!!!
> they've fallen in love with the image, they will purchase it
> regardless.
One can only hope...
> On the wood vs. linoleum argument. I've heard some people call
> linoleum "cold" vs. wood having more "character".
I should hope this is all in the way the artist has handled the
medium. I am a printmaker as a result of my schooling and the
influence of.... I have two lino prints that were done by my art
teacher.... lovely works. I find it is the softness of the waterbase
pigments that also play an important roll in the final appearance of
the woodblock.
> In linoleum's defense, I've yet to hit a knot and chip a tool in
> lino carving. I have had the laminate come off of a linoleum
> "block" before though, bad manufacturing.
I moved away from shina plywood many years ago.... (As far as the use
of birch plywood, I found that the glue that hold the laminates
together eats the carving tools) .... it has never delaminated however
it is mechanical in appearance and when the carving is finished it
lacks the warmth and interest that a solid piece of cherry or basswood
offers. I quickly realized these plates are valuable and plywood
devalues them in a heart beat.
> Lastly, IF we continue down the path of our current rate of
> consumption, linoleum will become a much more popular medium than
> woodblocks (economically speaking, I think it already is more
> popular). Finished lumber is not as cheap and easy to store as
> linoleum.
A basswood plate cost me 8.00 board ft. My paper cost me $20.00 per
sheet (20 x 28 approx).
I wish it was the the year 1950..... when you could purchase the paper
for 10 a sheet and the wood for 15 a board ft.
Colour me dreaming.
Graham
CREATE-Cut-Print
Digest Appendix
Postings made on [Baren] members' blogs
over the past 24 hours ...
Subject: Mystique Series #11 : key block finished
Posted by: Dave Bull
|
A commenter to the previous entry asked to see a close-up of the little fish ... so here we are (clickable):  They aren't actually all that elegantly carved, but I think at this scale - the ruler divisions are millimetres - it'll do! So with the key block done, the next step is to work out some colour separations. Seki-san gave me a guide to work with, showing the kind of colours she has in mind for this, and I worked out a block set that should get us close.  I say 'close' because I'm not going to simply cut one block to match each of her colours; I'm going to build them with overlays. She wants some green tones for the sea grasses at the bottom, but I won't be using any green pigment at all when I start printing. She called for a murasaki purple on some of the plants and one of the fish, but I won't be mixing that either. All the pigments I will be using are transparent, so it'll all be done with A + B ... and +C ... and etc. etc. If you click to bring up the enlargement of that last photo, you'll see that there are very few areas of the image, that are covered by only one block, and some of them are 'hit' by three or even four. |
This item is taken from the blog Woodblock RoundTable.
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Subject: Borders #3: Israel/Palestine Separation Barrier
Posted by: Annie B
 BORDERS #3: ISRAEL/PALESTINE SEPARATION BARRIER Japanese woodblock (moku hanga) Image size: 14" x 22" (35.5 x 56 cm) 5 shina plywood blocks 20 hand-rubbed layers Paper: Echizen Kozo Edition: 12 Based on a satellite view of the West Bank at Qalqiliya. To learn more about other elements in the print: The Star-Bellied Sneetches The Christ Figure David and Goliath Abraham Expels Ishmael and His Mother The American Indian  Jacob Wrestling the Angel after Gustave Dor� The last element I've added to this print is a woodcut reproduction of Gustav Dor�'s engraving of Jacob wrestling the angel. The story is told in Genesis 32:22-30. Jacob is alone in the desert at night when a stranger begins to wrestle him. They struggle all night and then the story continues: The man said, ?Let me go, for it is daybreak.? Jacob is Abraham's grandson, son of Isaac, and in this passage Jacob becomes Israel. "Israel" literally means one who has wrestled with God. [Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here] |
This item is taken from the blog woodblock dreams.
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