I'm so excited to be attending a 3 day course in hybrid printmaking with Chris Orr. I don't think he teaches very often any more so this seemed like far too amazing an opportunity to pass up!
Chris started off by giving us a few of his musings. He started by saying that although the course was called 'hybrid' he'd realised that his hybrid car is only using either petrol or electric, not both at once so he's decided to rename this as serendipitous printmaking. Celebrating the serendipity in the combination of technique.
He advised us to start afresh every time we print - forget what we already know and play with the techniques anew. Making mistakes is when the best learning happens and that artists make original prints. They are not second rate artworks, they are not copies, they are a true expression of an artist which is vital to our culture and society.
Apparently Michelangelo stated that there is a sculpture inside the block and it was his job to release it. Chris sees the materials and processes as having potential that the artist releases.
Next Chris explained why he now engraves on plastic rather than copper, there are two reasons - cost and practicality. He can take the plastic out with him and engrave anywhere since it is light and portable.
He spoke of the collaborative nature of working in a print studio, how people bounce off each other and critique each other's work. He raised the interesting question of whether you are making a print or a plate suggesting that although you are working directly onto the plate you need to remember the final outcome will be the print.
Chris advised us to proof our plates regularly to see how it's developing and to help think through the development of the print since the proofs can be coloured, cut, drawn onto and manipulated in many ways to aid the development of the overall print.
Over the three days we are going to produce an engraving with a lithograph. Today we started on our engraving bearing in mind the lithograph that will be added.
I started using my GROTTO print and the sketches I used to create that as my source materials. I roughly sketched out my idea on the plastic plate using a water based crayon so it would wipe off easily.
I made the first marks an proofed the plate:
I'd wiped it pretty clean so was amazed how much ink was transferred - an awful lot more than at the previous studio I've done drypoint in. I don't know whether this ink is runnier or there's a lot more pressure in the press but I realised you have to completely clean the plate as everything seems to transfer!
I played with Chris's roulette wheels and added a lot more tones then proofed again:
I was amazed how much of the subtle marks tranferrered. I wonder whether they will on my press at home? I liked this and thought it needed more by way of the tones so I worked on it until the end of the day and re-proofed it.
I think there are some really interesting marks here. There's a big spiky ball thing that looks like a mini version of some ancient form of torture, it makes the big dotty marks and I was struck by how it seems to replicate some of the marks on the tree trunks made by the machines that fell the trees.
I'm debating whether to add something to darken the area around the circular log pile shapes, I think I need to wait until tomorrow for the litho lesson so that I have a better understanding how that works and therefore what marks might be possible there. I think I may need to add at least two layers in litho as I think at least two colours will be needed.
Over the course of the day I had many fascinating conversations. There is one student on the course who knows Jonathan having been studying MA Print at Camberwell when Jonathan was based there. He took over the technicians role for a while at the studio there having become hooked on stone lithography. The drawing he has to transfer to litho tomorrow looks fantastic.
Chris and I had several conversations and he recommended I look at the landscape prints of Edvard Munch I found these resources:
Having had a cursory glance around the internet there are several things that jump out at me:
Colour - the colours vary greatly, the palette doesn't look natural but hints at some combination of nature plus emotion? Sometimes lots of colour is employed, sometime barely any but colour seems to have meaning.
Line & texture - he seems to imply the use of lines and the textures of what he's making to amazing effect. You can see the cuts in the wood, see how the plat was made but this enhances the image. Where blocks of colour are used they don't seem to be smooth, they should they layers below and the texture of the plate, they're very tangible, you can almost see what the plate looks like in the print.