Woodcut-Woodblock+(Relief)

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Printmaking (104)


 * Woodcut/Woodblock Print Composition - ENVIRONMENT**

Your assignment is to design and create a woodblock print based on the concept of something specific in an environment.

Research woodblock print artists and bring black & white copies of the styles you would like to utilize for your woodblock print to the next class. Take a series of digital photographs of something from life (or draw something from life) and design a series of 5 similar and/or different thumbnail sketches that show good composition (ie. gestalt, cropping, overlapping, positive and negative space, extreme viewpoint, juxtaposition, etc.). Think about how your ideas would work in a woodblock print. The one chosen will be transferred to the woodblock for cutting or drawn directly on it. YOUR WOODBLOCK RESEARCH, PHOTOGRAPHS and/or DRAWINGS and THUMBNAILS are DUE NEXT CLASS. Come prepared for a CRITIQUE and TO WORK IN CLASS WITH HOMEWORK AND SUPPLIES.
 * Requirements**

Your edition will include 3 woodcuts printed exactly the same on MASA paper (1 will be included in the permanent Mercyhurst Print Archive) that are signed, titled and numbered.

Your project and designs will be assessed on the following:

1. Composition (Based on the rules of composition and developing the positive and space on the entire surface of the wood). 2. Application of Notan concept – Balance of positive and negative shapes, textures and line. 3. Actual/ImpliedTexture – Uses at least 3 different textures. Ask yourself these questions: How would texture lend itself to the idea? What direction are the textures are going in? Does the texture start out large and get progressively smaller? Does one texture become another texture through a metamorphosis? Consider wire brushing/stamping the wood? 4. Originality – No copying trademark symbols or other artist’s work. 5. Craftmanship – Cutting (of a variety of quality lines, texture Marks) and printing (no fingerprint smudges and even registered prints with margins).

Things to avoid: 1. Anything kitschy (stereotypical trees/flowers/etc., unicorns, tear drops, eyeballs, mushrooms, hearts, moons, fairies, smiley faces, rainbows, sunsets, shamrocks) or other overused cliché symbols or something that is more developmentally appropriate for a child or high school student.

Transferring The Design To The Block Once your design has been finalized, you are ready to transfer it to your woodblock. Make a carbon paper (shading the back side of tracing paper). Put the carbon paper face down on the block and tape it on 3 corners. Place your sketch on top of the carbon and trace the lines of the drawing so that it transfers to the block. Be careful not to press too hard since the pencil lines will show. Remember that your design will be backwards when you print it. Lift the tracing paper to check that the drawing has been lightly transferred. Trace over the lines with a black marker so that you will know what will be cut and what will be printed (black raised sections will print, cut away sections will be white). This will help in seeing the details, textures, shapes and lines that you cut away. Later you will cut away the negative space and textures in the block and print it.

Cutting The Block Using a woodcut gouge, x-acto knife or liner outline the shapes you wish to cut around on the block. Keep your hands out of the cutting area. If you a right-handed, hold the tool in your right hand and put your left hand on top of the right. The purpose of the right is to push (cut) and the left is to pull towards you (this is for resistance so the tool doesn’t slip). No one cuts until they have seen the safety demonstration. Begin cutting/gouging away the “white areas” that will be in your print. The higher places will be printed in black so be careful not to cut sections you wish to print.

Printing The Block Once you have done a significant amount of cutting you should proof your woodcut block to see how the image looks. You will need to roll out the black ink on an inking slab with a brayer. Once you have rolled out the ink in 4 directions on the center of the inking slab (it should make a slight hissing sound) the ink is even and can be rolled onto the block. Once you have inked the block, place a sheet of newsprint over it. Using a baren, wooden spoon or brayer rub/roll the backside of the paper in a circular and/or up and down motion. Pull up the print starting on a corner. Wash off the block and continue cutting. If you need to create more proofs (one-of-a-kind prints) just repeat the process. You will hang your prints on the clothes line. You will print a final edition of 2 and several proof images.

Editioning The Woodcut Prints An edition is a series of like images. Editioning your print means that you will write an edition # (1/3, 2/3) on the lower left corner directly below the image. 1/5 means that it was the 1st print out of 5 that was printed. Your signature should appear on the lower right directly below the image. Unless you are famous your signature should be clear and include your first and last name. Your title should be in quotations between the edition # and your signature. One of your final prints will be included in my collection of student prints.

Critique of Prints

Vocabulary

1. brayer – tool used to roll out ink onto a slab and onto the block of wood.

2. gouges – tool used to cut away negative space in the block of wood.

3. relief print - A relief print is one whose image is printed from a design raised on the surface of a block. In this type of print the ink lies on the top of the block and is transferred to the paper under light pressure.

4. woodcut – Woodcut printmaking is a relief process, achieved by carving into a block of wood. Pine or poplar wood are easily obtained and good to gouge. The tools include, knives, chisels and gouges. Since this is a relief process the tools that cut into the block define the non printed areas. The uncut areas receive the ink. a perfect printmaking technique as no press is needed, only your wood, knives, ink and a baren or a spoon. The paper is placed on the block and rubbed with the baren or spoon.

5. Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints - Japanese prints were originally created as posters for the Edo (now called Tokyo) restaurants, theaters, and teahouses (see Woodblock History) below.

6. proof – a one-of-a-kind print that shows the inked image in progress.

7. edition- a collection of prints inked and printed in the exactly the same way. These are signed, titled and given an edition number.

8. baren- these are traditionally made out of bamboo in Japan. With the use of friction, barens help transfer ink from the woodblock to the paper surface.

Woodcut Artists: Kathe Kollwitz Hiroshige Hokasai Rockwell Kent Dan Miller Jim Mundie

Name _ Printmaking (104 01)

Woodcut/Woodblock Print Composition – ENVIRONMENT (200 points)
 * GRADING RUBRIC**

1. Composition (40 points total) (ie. gestalt, cropping, overlapping, positive and negative space, extreme viewpoint, juxtaposition, etc.) (20) Use of positive and negative space (20)

2. Actual/Implied Texture(40 points total) Use of at least 3 textures (20) Textures lend themselves to the idea (20)

3. Balance (40 points total) ¬¬¬¬ Uses a balance of white and dark areas/shapes (40)

4. Originality (40 points) Use of individual idea (no kitsch or cliché symbols) (20 points total) No copying trademark symbols or other artist’s work (20 points total)

5. Craftmanship (40 points total) Cutting a variety of quality lines, texture, marks (20 points total) Printing quality (no fingerprint smudges)/ Printing quality (even registration with margins)` (20 points total)

TOTAL _/200 Points

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