Printmaking
Printmaking is a medium with a long history that has developed alongside cultural needs and advances in technology. Printmakers employ a variety of techniques and processes to produce an image, and often utilize physical, chemical, and digital transformations to produce the printable surface known as a matrix. Matrices can be made from a variety of materials and once created, a matrix is inked and the image is transferred to another surface, usually paper, to create an original print. This printing process can then be repeated, allowing an artist to create multiple impressions of an original work of art. As digital technology continues to develop and redefine the possibilities for artistic output, printmakers incorporate both historical tradition and technological innovation into dynamic and constantly evolving works of art that break new aesthetic ground and drive the future of the medium.
Course Descriptions
Printmaking I (ARTS 2333) is a studio art survey course that serves as an introduction to the materials, processes, concepts, and aesthetics of traditional and contemporary printmaking. The course explores tools and techniques alongside formal and conceptual principles to provide students with a firm grounding in the process of creating unique works in multiple. The processes of relief, intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting are introduced and explored, and students gain extensive experience with the applications and techniques each process employs. The course is often repeated for continued access to the extensive studio facilities and technical expertise provided, and to allow focus on a more significant exploration of the processes that motivate and inspire unique creative expression.
Course Resources
Printmaking Facilities at ACC Highland
The Printmaking Studio consists of a highly organized, functional, and expansive suite of specialized workrooms providing a substantial amount of storage and work surfaces. Each of the four primary printmaking mediums has a dedicated and separate area containing the necessary equipment, presses, and working space particular to the process, and these are oriented around centralized and communal areas for flat-file storage, clean preparatory work, and chemical processes that require ventilation and sequestration. The studio is well equipped with two American French Tool Presses for intaglio, a Whelan Press for large-scale relief, a Takach Press and a Griffin Press for lithography, and an Accu-Glide Press for screenprinting. Additionally, the studio houses a darkroom and Nu-Arc exposure unit for photographic processes, a water room for screen processing, an area for graining lithographic stones, and an acid room for chemical and ventilated processes. Each student is provided with an individual butcher-block workstation and flat-file storage.
Student Artwork in Printmaking
Title: Lilly Anne Artist: Katherine Talley Date: 2014 Medium: Intaglio Dimensions: 14.25 x 18.25" Instructor: Terri Goodhue Awards: Honorable Mention in Printmaking - 38th Annual Student Art Exhibition, 2014 President's Award Status: On Display Location: Art & Digital Media Office Suite Highland Campus HLC4 Bldg 4000, Room 2110
