The Importance of Printmaking
I am a printmaker. It's one of the things I'm proud to say about myself. Printmaking is not just a craft, but a way of looking at the world. And one of my life's greatest delights is when I can share this craft and lens with others. Today I was fortunate to have the opportunity to share it with a bunch of kids. How to make a simple dry-point intaglio print: First scrape down and round off the edges of your plate. Then plan your work with a permanent marker on the plate. Then use an etching scribe to scratch the design into the plate. We used acrylic plates first. Then we used zinc for the second round of prints. The scribe cuts a groove into the surface that has a burr on one side (and sometimes on both sides). This groove will hold the ink during printing. When the plate is run through the press, the wet paper is pressed into all the grooves, and around the plate, giving a noticeable relief to the print. We can take advantage of this by carv...