Printmaking Camp, Day 2

Day 1
Days 3, 4
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The Participants
Tim McDowell, master printmaker and painter
Marcia Wood, gallerist and all around muse and support
Kim Anno, Kate Javens, Don Pollack, Katherine Taylor and me, the artists making prints
Brown Sanders and Clara Euam, technical assistance
Ellen Barnard and Lucas McDowell, producer and cameraman, respectively
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"Printmaking Camp" doesn’t do justice to the intent of our project, which is to create a limited edition of six images in a portfolio of 30. But it is fun. So the name stays for now. I’ll tell you the actual name on the day we decide it, which is Day 5.
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To give you a sense of the chronology, our week of printmaking is taking place this week, June 21-26. Since I’m working on my print and helping out in the studio, my reporting must take a back seat. Today (Friday), I’m showing you Day 2, which was actually Tuesday, the 22nd.
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Tim setting out prints for study

Viewing the Print Collection

We started the morning looking at master prints. Connecticut College has an extraordinary collection of works by masters from the 17th century on. Today we looked at etchings by Rembrandt, Goya, Cassatt and others. You can see a few below. My favorite is the reclining figure by Rembrandt, with its dark tones against dark tones and an exquisitely simplified silhouette.

Rembrandt etchings above

and below . . .

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. . . with a closeup of one


Mary Cassat above
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Albrecht Durer below

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Viewing the prints: Tim (green shirt); Ellen (light blue shirt, with back to camera), Kate, Marcia, Katherine, Clara
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Back in the Print Studio

After our visit to the print collection, we walked back across the hall into the present. Almost everyone had had their plates ready for proofing. Some of us were happy with the result, others (that would be me) were not. I was still thinking like a painter. Ink needs to sink into the paper, not sit in an impastoed film on top of it. And with my lightly striated image, my print will live or die by the color. After a number of proofs, I took a little break to think about what I’d do next--the results of which you'll see in the next post.

Meanwhile we produced Kim Anno’s edition, and Katherine Taylor got a good proof. Sounds simple, right? It was a very full day. Here are some pics.

Tim inking the plate for Kim's print
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About midway through the edition: Tim inking and Kim racking; Clara has just pulled a print
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Marcia, Tim and Kim in a groove on Kim's edition
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Kim 's print, and Kim, below, with the completed edition
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Tim and Katherine discussing her proof. We'll print Katherine's edition tomorrow (and I'll proof mine)
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Apparently tie dye is back
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Kate Javens, working on her image, talks with Jule Sanders McDowell, a sculptor (I'll have pics of her work later in this series)
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Above, Ellen Barnard, who's producing the video of the making of the portfolio
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Below, Lucas McDowell, cameraman

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