Interview with Rich Fowler of Boarding All Rows

Biography




I grew up in the Midwest (U.S.), although I spent some of my childhood in a small English town. The San Francisco Bay Area is now home and is where I first took an interest in printmaking. I come from a family with different creative interests like art, photography, and music, but it wasn’t until recent years that I seriously explored that side of my brain as an adult.


Why do you like to print?


I was first attracted to linocut printmaking because it’s an art form requiring little in the way of equipment and doesn’t involve sitting in front of a computer, which I was already doing a lot in my job. The process of carving the block and then experimenting while printing got me hooked. I like that a hand-pulled print tactilely reflects the printing process – the layers of ink, the embossing on the paper – it has clearly not come out of an inkjet printer.

What is your favorite print medium and why?




Relief printmaking, at this point, appeals to me the most, although I really enjoy producing drypoint prints because the process is a nice contrast. I’m drawn to the free-flowing graphic designs for which linocut is well suited. The challenge of making multi-color prints – both making them visually catching and registering the blocks accurately – drive me to improve and expand my work. I get a deep sense of satisfaction when I peel the paper off an inked block – revealing the good, the bad and the ugly.


How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?


I started printmaking in 2009 and my first pieces were simple linocut designs. Last year I took a couple workshops, such as at KALA Art Institute in Berkeley, that taught me how to make multi-color prints using a key block, which opened my eyes to more sophisticated compositions.


Another evolution has been to fight my natural inclination to produce images that are close representations of their subjects. I’ve tried to beat that out of me through drawing classes.

What inspires you?


Travel is a passion of mine, and maps, the outdoors, old poster art, and typography are all themes I enjoy exploring. I use a lot of my own photography from travels for brainstorming new ideas. The work of woodblock printmakers such as Tom Killion and Gustave Baumann, as well as the incredible Japanese ukiyo-e artists, were a revelation. I find the groundbreaking, graphic designs of early 20th century poster art – the typography, illustrations, colors, layouts – wonderfully inspiring.


How do you promote your work?


Promotion is not my strong suit but I recently designed a website and an artist page on Facebook. I also participate in some of the community aspects of Etsy, which make it such a unique forum for selling artwork. I’m a member of a local art association, which puts on an annual art show, too. In the future, I hope to have more face-to-face interaction with the public by selling at street fairs and art festivals.


Are you working on any particular projects now?


I keep a long list of possible projects as they come to me, often letting them ruminate for a while as I think of different ways to compose them or simply work on a technique before investing the time on a new print. A Japanese train linocut, that I shelved for months but am now finishing, is a great example. Many of my recent projects have featured airport-related themes. I have a soft spot for airports.


Tell us one random fact about yourself


In 2006, I traveled around Asia and the Pacific for four months – trekking in the Himalaya, fending off leaches and drinking rice wine with a shaman in the jungles of Borneo, and volunteering at an elementary school in the Cook Islands.

Check out Rich's Etsy Shop and Website

Interview with Stephanie of Extase

Biography

I attended the Ontario College of Art and Design for a few years. I went there to study drawing and painting and was soon introduced to printmaking. I decided to buy my own small press when I discovered it cost the same as the fees for one course. I've recently stopped using that press in favor of a traditional Japanese-style wood table-top that allows me to register multi-coloured prints. I still live in Toronto and make things and sell them on Etsy and at local shows. 

Why do you like to print?

Every print is different and you never know what the final outcome will be. Lifting the paper from the first test print of a block is still exciting! I love the craft that goes into the art form. I find this combination of craft and fine art very satisfying.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

Linocut. For the reason listed above - I love to carve. It's my favorite part of the process. I enjoy carving wood too, but am not as familiar with it as I am with lino. 

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I've been printing for about four years. At first, my prints weren't very planned out and I would draw directly onto the linoleum. Over time I've learned to develop an image before transferring it to the block - paying more attention to composition and, more recently, colour and multi-colour composition.

What inspires you?

I love learning new crafts and working at refining my craftsmanship. In terms of general inspiration or subject matter, I'm most inspired by animals and the relationships between animals and humans. Isolation, imagination, dreams and nature. There are some lovely paper and yarn shops in Toronto I love to visit that never fail to inspire me as well. Finding random things on walks like a gnarled piece of tree branch or bones or things people throw away that still have lots of life left in them.

How do your promote your work?

I haven't been actively promoting my work at all. I really have no idea how to go about it in a way I feel comfortable doing.

Are you working on any particular projects now?

I've been doing a lot of painting recently but I have a strong hankering to get back into printing. I'm thinking about a new series that focuses on the relationship between natural and manufactured objects.

Check out Stephanie's Etsy Shop

Zoe Badger of Zebedee Print

Biography

I am a graduate Textile Designer who studied in Manchester (UK) and worked as a fashion knitwear designer for 10 years, prior to becoming a printmaker. My background in design has helped me appreciate the interplay of pattern and colour.  I am based in Buxton, a small Victorian spa town in Derbyshire, England.

Why printing? 

I spent a lot of time in the print department when I was at Art College and loved the smell of the ink, the sound it makes when it is rolled to the correct consistency and the results of the print process. The variations are limitless and it is only the restrictions you inflict on yourself that rein you in.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

I have explored many different types of print techniques, but always return to linocut, it is my favorite! There are many aspects of it I love, like the carving process – which is very therapeutic – the excitement as each colour is printed and the print image comes together.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved? 

I have produced prints for years, but in terms of selling my work to the general public it has been about two years. My work has evolved from small scale single colour prints for cards, to larger more elaborate multicolour designs. I have recently inherited an old flat bed roller print press that came over from Holland. This has enabled me to create up to A3 size work. Though using this press is a huge learning curve as it has a will of its own.

What or Who influences your work?  

Nature and architecture are my biggest influences. I like to use artistic license in order to create my compositions, which often involves mixing up the scale and juxtaposition of elements within it.

Other printmakers always fascinate me too, past and present.  

 

How do your promote your work?  

I have two online shops that I constantly update and add to. I am active at contemporary craft fairs in my local area and sometimes further afield if I get invited to exhibit elsewhere. I also sell through galleries across the UK.

Any good printing tips or funny printing stories (or both??) 

Basically lose yourself to the print medium and see what happens!   

Check out Zoe's Etsy Site.

Step - by - Step Reduction Linoleum Block Printing

Hi. My name is Diane Podolsky (Anniepod) and it was suggested that this information may be of use to some of the members of Printsy, so I was given permission to post it here.

This post will show step by step photographs and give instructions on creating a four color reduction linoleum block print. First, you must decide how big your edition will be (how many prints you want to end up with) and cut your paper in advance. You should always cut a few more pieces of paper, as you may loose prints due to mis-registration (lining up print with paper) during the printing process. As you get more experienced, you will become better at registration.

Image #1 - shows a plain piece of linoleum, which, in this case, is a gold color (linoleum also comes in a gray color). My preference is for unmounted linoleum, which mean there is no wood block attached to the back of the piece of linoleum.

Image #2 -shows a mixture of the the first color (an orange/gold) that was applied to the block via a rubber brayer. Also photographed is what this looks like when it is printed. You need to repeat the printing process for as many prints as you would like because once you reduce your block (see below), you cannot go back (you will see what I mean as you read on)

Linoleum block prints can be done by hand, but I have a small etching press and prefer to print the inked blocks via my press because it gives a more even distribution of the ink. This is also why I tend to use unmounted linoleum, since a piece of mounted linoleum would be difficult to print on my etching press. This is totally a personal aesthetic preference. Hand printing adds its own unique quality to a print and may be the preference of the printer.

After printing the first flat color, I draw my image onto the block. In this case, I drew my image directly on the block, keeping in mind that the image will print in reverse. In a future post, I will discuss drawing transfer methods.

Image #3 - shows the first cut made into the block; thereby "reducing" the block. The areas I cut away are the areas I want to remain orange, which is part of the sky, some outlining of the houses and the windows of the houses.

Image #4 - shows mixing the second color, which will be a bright blue. After the color is mixed, I will roll out the ink with the brayer and apply the ink to the block. The ink will not go where the block has been reduced because those areas of the block are recessed. The ink sits on the top of the block. Another term for this is "relief printing". Image #4a (to the right) shows the block with the blue ink applied.

Image #5 - shows how the block prints after the blue has been printed over the orange. (This print is hanging on my drying line but I didn't rotate the image so you could see a logical view of the piece). Again, notice that where the block was reduced before applying the blue ink, the paper remains orange. I use an "eyeball" registration method, meaning I just sort of line it up by eye. Very low tech. There are more precise mathematical ways to do this, but this is what works for me and how I have always registered my prints. (which means I will never be hired to work in a print shop!!)

Image #6 - This shows another reduction of the block. I am taking away all of the area in the "sky" as I want it to remain blue and orange. What remains is the linoleum where the houses, hill and border of the print will be.

Image #7 - I applied a green color to the area of the hill. Some of the houses got covered as well but that is ok because the final color of the houses will be black (and the green will get covered up).

Image #8 - I reduce the block in the area of the hill so the green shows through, and apply black ink to all the linoleum that remains on the block.

The print must hang and dry for several days (I use oil based inks). Note - before each printing, the paper must soak in water for at least 5 minutes. The previous layer of ink should dry completely first, not because it will run, but because it will make for better adhesion and eliminate the possibility of smudges.

Below - The finished print. I printed 20 of these (Started with 21, I lost one...oh well! )