PRINTMAKING, part III (final)
a certain degree of dampness in order to take the ink properly. That varies with the paper, and also with the ink or paint used. A lot of variables! Those always lead to an unpredictable result, and it will be backwards from the original, too. Fun!
Stencils and serigraphs ("silkscreen", now usually polyester fabric) are really direct applications of paint through the openings, so the image is NOT BACKWARDS. This has fewer variables, and thus is good for printing quick signs, for example "STRIKE!" "Don't Patronize This Dealer!". This technique has really been perfected by activists wanting to get the word out in a hurry - posters slapped up on walls, signs carried by strikers. But it can also be used as an art medium. Toulouse-Lautrec did OK in this medium! And it is terrific for kids, if they have someone older to cut the stencils out for them. Many stencils, each for a different color.
Woodcuts and lino cuts are other print media. They are called RELIEF prints, as a genre. What is cut away shows as bare on the paper, and what is inked on the relief block will also be inked on the paper. These images are also BACKWARDS, so doing written words is an interesting challenge. I do enjoy the aspects of carving. It is a whole other bunch of concerns, concepts, and approaches - and surprises, although the surprise factor is much smaller than with the loose medium of monotype.
So, this is a little taste of printmaking. I really do enjoy it, and prefer it to painting now. It is the goofy surprises that I really like, the occurrences that I do not anticipate. These are the spirit of the Muse coming through.
6/30/00
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