Printmaking at Marywood
I’ve been teaching graphic design since the 1990s. I’ve been a printmaker since the 1980s. Recently I took over the printmaking area (much to my delight) at Marywood University and taught my first intaglio class in the fall 2018 semester. I’ve been a student of intaglio for many years and had the privilege of learning from many different professors and artists, so I felt very prepared and excited for this new challenge.
My students were a talented mix of illustration and art therapy majors and even an art history major, who was a bit hesitant to take the class because she wasn’t an “artist.” We started off with drypoint which was a simple process of drawing into a piece of Plexiglas with a sharp stylus to create lines that will hold ink. Intaglio refers to a process where the line is created below the surface of the plate. The ink is wiped into the lines and the excess carefully wiped off the surface of the plate. Paper is soaked in water, then plate and paper are run through an etching press. That’s the short version. The gallery above features some of the drypoint work.
Other projects included etching with acid on a zinc plate, spray paint aquatint (tone), creating masking tape plates, photographic solar plates (the least favorite project), and some collagraphs which were inked up intaglio style and in relief, using a brayer. Relief printing refers to inking up the surface like a woodcut or linoleum cut. We even experimented with sandblasting plexi to get an aquatint effect.
Student artists: Brooke Lamberti, Kira Karboski, Annachiara Chacchia, Raeann Seliga, Krishna Yuknavage, Krystal Kolasa, Matthew Collier, Joey Gerace, Juliette Myers, Nicole Sofie
