Friday, September 4, 2009

The Reduction Woodcut Workshop is Filled!

My reduction woodcut workshop quickly filled since last week at the Art Students League in Denver. Last night I had eleven students interested in learning this printmaking technique. A few people said they had wanted to take a class from me for years, and were finally able to. It feels good to have people interested in what I do, and want to learn from me.

The first class is a lot of lecture and demonstration, and not much hands on. There is so much information to cover. Reduction woodcut is a printmaking technique that utilizes one woodblock which is carved, and printed repeatedly to print multiple colors. It requires careful planning since previous steps cannot be repeated.

My demo for class

This was a quick demo I put together for the class to demonstrate the steps in a reduction print. From left to right are the stages of this print. First the block was carved to reveal the white of the paper, and printed a light blue. Second, the same block was carved again to preserve the blue areas, and inked a tan color. The tan print by itself is above the two color, blue and tan print. Next, the block is carved a third time, preserving the tan areas, and printed a darker brown. Lastly, the block is carved again, and inked on the inside a dark green, and on the outside edge, a red color. On the right is the block, and the reference photograph.

Next Thursday I will post what the students are working on, and what they've learned so far.

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