From Paper to Copper: The Engraver’s Process

A demonstration by Andrew Stein Raftery, Associate Professor of Printmaking, Rhode Island School of Design.

Watch the very methodical and detailed work that goes into turning a piece of art into an engraving for reproduction. Hint: this takes a whole lot of tracing and even more patience. Ask us to show you artifacts in our gallery that were printed from copper engravings.

From the British Museum: MA student of Printmaking Peter Wylie demonstrates the traditional techniques of etching, using acid, smoke, rosin, plate, and stylus.

The process has been used by artists from Rembrandt and Goya to the present. This brief video is absolutely mesmerizing. Ask us to show you artifacts in our gallery that were printed from etchings.

Print Making: etching

New Digital Maps vs. Old Paper Maps

PBS NewsHour. Human error in old mapping compared to modern usage of GPS and digitized maps through crowdsourcing.

It used to take decades or hundreds of years to make map edits due to travel limitations. Now it takes just a few weeks or less thanks to modern technology. Example: California was considered an island for a few hundred years. Ask us about this map!

From Royal Academy of Arts: Rebecca Salter RA studied traditional woodblock printmaking during the six years she spent living in Japan. For the RA Summer Exhibition 2016, she commissioned the Sato Woodblock Workshop in Kyoto to produce two limited-edition prints based on her watercolor drawings created on traditional Japanese rice paper.

This video shows the process of creating these prints. Ask us to show you artifacts in our gallery that were printed using these wood blocks.

Japanese woodblock printing

How Did Hokusai Create The Great Wave?

From Christie’s: Japanese artist TakujiHamanaka takes us inside his Brooklyn studio to explain why he adopted a centuries-old technique to create contemporary woodblock prints.Although two centuries separate Hamanaka from Hokusai, the contemporary artist’s printmaking has been shaped by the same techniques employed by his predecessor.

Ask us to show you artifacts in our gallery that were printed using this style.

Stone Lithography demonstrated by Alastair Clark, Assistant Director at Edinburgh Printmakers Lithography works on the principle that grease and water repel each other. In Stone Lithography, images are drawn and printed directly on blocks of limestone.

Working directly on the stone’s surface allows a direct approach to making marks and images. To print, sponge with water before rolling oily ink across the image. The water acts as a barrier so the ink sticks only to the image. Ask us to show you artifacts in our gallery that were printed this way.

Stone Lithography at Edinburg Printmakers

Master Penman Jake Weidmann

Jake Weidmann is the youngest “Master Penman” in the United States by three generations. His work shows an attention to minute detail that only comes through years and years of practice. His finished pieces — which fuse calligraphy and fine art — remind us that handwriting can be beautiful.

From TEDxTAlks, Denver. Master Penman Jake Weidmann explores the connections between the pen and how we learn, think, and carry our cultural heritage. He works across several mediums including drawing in pencil and charcoal; pen and ink; painting in acrylic, airbrush, oil and gouache; sculpting in wood, bone, antler and clay; and is versed in numerous forms of calligraphy. Weidmann is best known for the integration of flourishing and hand- lettering in his art. He also designs his own hand-made pens.

He, like his pens, travels the globe, reintroducing this Old World art form and cultivating its relevance in the world of today, of tomorrow, and forevermore.

Why write? Penmanship for the 21st Century - Jake Weidmann