ART 124:  Beginning Printmaking
Spring 2007 Syllabus

back to home page

Transferability of Course within Nevada: This course is an elective for an AA Degree in Fine Arts, and/or an AAS Degree in Graphic Communications, and it fulfills the Fine Arts and Humanities requirement for an AA Degree, an AS Degree and an AGS Degree. It transfers as a Fine Arts elective.

This course provides academic knowledge and skills necessary for a chosen field of study in Graphic Communications and/or for transfer to a Graphic Communications or Fine Arts Program. It is designed to develop creative capacities and an appreciation for the arts.

Number of Credits:  3
Prerequisites: none
Meets: Tuesdays 1-5:30 p.m.
Recommended Text:  The Complete Printmaker, by John Ross

Instructor: Sharon Tetly
Office: Aspen 231
Office Hours: Monday 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Tuesday 5:30-6:30 p.m.; and Thursday 12:30-2:30 p.m.
E-mail: tetlys@wncc.edu
Telephone: (775) 445-4294
FAX: (775) 445-3141

Course Description:

Beginning Printmaking 124 is an introductory course in the expression of two-dimensional ideas and in some of the processes, materials and methods used in printmaking.  In addition to learning to use materials and processes that are new to you, you are encouraged to experiment, explore your ideas and take some risks.  The course will introduce you to monotypes and monoprinting, woodcut relief, collographs, intaglio, and Solarplate printing, a photographic process. 

Course Objectives:

To:

1. To introduce some of the materials, tools and processes fundamental to the discipline.
2. Develop specific skills related to art and specific to the discipline of printmaking.
3. Learn to apply course material to improve idea-development and problem-solving related to two-dimensional art forms.
4. Acquire an interest in learning more by asking questions and seeking answers.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, it is expected that students will have:

• developed their creative capacities.
• participated in at least one cultural or artistic activity, such as a visit to a gallery or museum or attendance at a community art lecture or event.
• developed an appreciation for the arts.

Class Structure:

The emphasis on is hands-on learning in the studio, and I tend to take an experimental, workshop approach. The basic format will be an introductory slide or video presentation and/or a hands-on demonstration that will show you several ways to approach the medium. You will then have two to three weeks to make plates and prints and experiment before we move on to something else.

Expect to put in at least 3-4 hours of additional time per week outside of class. Printmaking processes have technical aspects which require time to understand and integrate into your own way of thinking and working. Once you become comfortable with a process, it will begin to serve your own creative imagination. The most exciting part of teaching printmaking, for me, is when students begin to experiment freely and think creatively in the medium. My favorite phrase to hear is “I wonder what would happen if...”

I encourage you to combine processes and search for new ways to do things. We are in an exciting time for this medium. In the past few years there have been major advances in innovation that have created a multitude of new materials and new techniques for using them. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Please note: There is no Teaching Assistant for this class. Cleanup is something everyone is expected to help with—removing the blankets from the press and moving it back into place against the wall; putting away paper, emptying the water tub, putting away inks, and other printing supplies, etc. Each person is also responsible for putting away the materials he/she has used, and for cleaning up his/her work area each time before leaving. We will start clean-up about 5:00. With everyone helping, it generally goes quickly.

Effort:

There is an old saying that art is “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. For those whose life’s work becomes art-making it is usually not far from the truth. If you wish the objects you make to reach that high point at which you absolutely know you have made something wonderful, first apply yourself to learn the processes, ask lots of questions, and then experiment and follow your own intuitive process.

Know too that a classroom situation by its nature is a public one, with conversations, noise, unfamiliar people, shared equipment, compromises and, sometimes, competition. Make the classroom a place where you feel comfortable working and taking some risks. We have a boombox. Bring in music you enjoy listening to while you work. Make friends with your peers; share your knowledge, ideas and thoughts freely. Learn from one another and encourage one another’s creativity.

Studio Access outside of Classtime:

You are welcome to come in and work anytime the classroom does not have a regularly-scheduled class. Wednesdays and Fridays are excellent days to work as there are no classes scheduled in Aspen 214. As long as you have learned to use the equipment, are comfortable with the processes, and clean up after you are done, feel free to make use of the facilities. If you run into difficulty or have a question, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. If I am not in my office or one of the art rooms, try my home number 849-9044 or my cell phone 315-9948.

Attendance:

• Maximum of 2 absences allowed.
• You will be expected to complete the assignments and projects you miss due to absence.
• Please make an effort to be on time for class. It is disruptive to everyone else when someone walks in in the middle of a project introduction, demonstration, or critique.
• Please do not make appointments for other things during classtime, and turn off cell phones while in class.

Notebook or Sketchbook:

I would like you to keep a sketchbook or notebook for the class and bring it with you. It can be any size you are comfortable with and can be lined or unlined.

Printmaking involves many processes, some of them technically demanding, some with strict safety procedures. It is a good idea to make your own notes of pertinent information from demos, essential steps in the processes, safety tips you were asked to remember, any details of a process that were of particular interest to you. Once you leave this environment you will be on your own. Although you will understand the basic procedures once you go through them, you may not have reason to use them again for some time. A good set of notes keeps these processes available to draw on as you need them.

It is also a great place to jot down ideas that come to mind, tools you want to acquire, sources for supplies and information, artists that interest you, and your own thoughts. And, last but not least, a place to keep this syllabus and the handout I will be giving you.

Grading:

When we finish with a process, we will take some time during a class period to examine the prints created through that process before moving on to something else.

You will be expected to show a minimum of one print for each process and discuss what you have learned. More than one print is encouraged.

Criteria for grading will be based on:

• The quality of the print
• Idea, complexity, composition, and resolution
• Time and effort involved
• Presentation (well printed, no extraneous marks or fingerprints in the borders, a suitable border around the image--usually 2-3 inches--on three sides with an extra half inch or more at the bottom, if a multi-plate print, successive printing are aligned accurately).
• Also Required: Make one print from each print process to go into the college print archive.

Your Mid-term and Final Portfolio will include whatever of the following we have studied to that point:

• A minimum of one finished print in each process studied—one monotype, one collograph, one woodcut, one intaglio, and possibly one Solarplate print (depending on how far we get.) More prints are encouraged. Please include everything you have done that you feel good about.
• One multi-color print. This is in addition to the above requirement and should involve a different matrix. There are numerous possibilities for this—monotypes and monoprints, reduction woodcuts, puzzle woodcuts, multiple plate collographs or intaglio prints or any combination of the above.
• One series of prints from the same print matrix for one of the processes. This also is in addition to the above requirements and should involve a different matrix. A series should be printed on the same paper and be from the same matrix, but can be printed differently or utilize different colors. There needs to be at least one recognizable common element in addition to the paper.
• One edition of 3 identical prints from the same print matrix. These need to be virtually identical—same paper, same colors used. Same matrix.

The standard grade scale for the college will be used:

The Projects:

We may not get through all of these, but we will try.

• Monotypes and monoprints, using Akua-Kolor water-based inks and a four-color process.
• Daniel Smith water-based inks.
• Woodcut Relief-Sample Block Reduction.
• Woodcut—larger block, Multiple block, reduction, or puzzle prints.
• Collograph, combining low relief with a thinly built-up surface, using Oil-Based Etching Inks and Daniel Smith water-based inks.
• Beginning Intaglio processes—drypoint, hard ground etching, soft ground etching.
• Solarplate photographic process.

Materials Supply List:

General Supplies:

• Pencil and vinyl eraser
• Permanent marker, fine point Sharpie works well
• Nonpermanent marking pen (an Expo Vis-à-vis Wet Erase marker works fine for this)
• Paper for printing beyond that normally provided in class
• All purpose brushes—a small round-tipped soft brush and a soft, flat brush are fine
• Scissors
• Masking Tape
• Utility Knife
• 12” ruler
• Cheesecloth (buy by the yard at a fabric store or by the package)

For Monotypes and Monoprints:

• Brushes to paint with
• Objects to make marks with
• Larger plexiglas plates if you wish to work larger once you have tried this
• Images—drawings, magazines, photographs to refer to
• A scriber if you wish to work at home. (A scratchboard tool works pretty well on plexiglas.)
• If you like this process and wish to do more, or larger pieces, you will need to provide your own plexiglas. (1/16” plexiglas is available from Tripp Plastics in Reno. 1/8” from area glass shops.)
• Images—drawings, magazines, photographs. You will be placing this image under the plexiglas and using it as a guide for the image you scratch into the surface.

For Relief Printmaking:

• Small Sample blocks are provided for the introductory project, and one larger block of Shina plywood. Birch plywood, pine and fir are all good, you can also use a scrap piece of lumber or even just a piece of plywood. If you wish to do more carving.

I will sign the following out to you. Make sure when you bring them back, you give them to me directly so I can mark them as having been returned:

• Wood carving tools
• A Bench hook

For Collograph:

• Materials to collage with—string; paper with designs in it, Silk Organza, glued down, makes a beautiful dense solid color—bring a variety of interesting things to make textures and shapes—more than you can possibly use and share with each other.

Note: The buildup on the plate cannot be thick than 1/16” or at most 1/8” or it will not print well, so consider this when choosing your materials.

For Solarplate:

• A scanned image, ready to be printed out on a transparency. This can be a drawing, photograph or any other image.

Places to Purchase Supplies:

For printingmaking supplies, specifically:

All of these sources are good. Graphic Chemical and McClain’s are pretty much strictly printmaking suppliers.

Daniel Smith is the best supplier for paper by far. They have the widest range available, best quality and best prices.

Dick Blick tends to be the least expensive for tools and equipment, but you need to be careful about the quality of the merchandise. Sometimes a really good deal is no deal at all.

Special Accommodations:

If you have a disability for which you will need to request accommodations, please either meet with me or contact Susan Trist, DSS coordinator, at 445-3275 in the Disability Services office (Bristlecone Building, Room 103) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

Academic Integrity:

If a student is found cheating on an exam, paper, or project in this class, he/she will receive 0 points for that exam, paper, or project and will not be allowed to make it up. In the case of duplicate, or near duplicate papers, both papers will receive 0 points.  

My expectation is that if you are required to write a paper for more than one class, you will write a separate paper for each class. A paper turned in for credit in another class is not acceptable for credit in this class.