The Black and White Linocut WIth Karen Whitman

In this 3-day workshop, students will transfer their designs to a block, carve, and print, while making aesthetic judgments involving compositional principles of design, balance, value and form to create strong, impactful works of art. Block print is the oldest form of printmaking that is still being used today. Beginning one thousand years ago, block prints have made a visual record of civilizations from the Far East to the Americas. From the East we have come to appreciate great Ukiyo-e printmakers such as Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige. In the West, most of the images were used for illustrations, reproductions, and maps in books and periodicals ranging from Renaissance bibles and religious books, adorned by great woodcut artists such as Albrecht Durer, to newspapers such as Harper’s Weekly, filled with amazing images, two page spreads, and political cartoons by the legendary Thomas Nast. By the end of the nineteenth century pioneering artists such as Paul Gauguin and Edward Munch explored new possibilities in block prints. In the twentieth century, when traditional printmaking was no longer needed for reproductive and commercial purposes, block prints fully became a fine art medium, adopted by such artists as Picasso, Kirchner, Kollwitz, Escher, and Feininger. While linoleum had been used for flooring since the 1860s, its earliest known use as a printmaking medium was in Germany, around 1905, by members of the artist group known as Die Brucke (The Bridge) which included Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Pechstein, and Emil Nolde. Since then, its popularity has grown due its ease of carving, its durability, and strength. Students of this workshop will learn design and composition considerations, how to adapt an image to be suitable for the medium, carving strategies and techniques, how to transfer a design to a block and print… and the value of patience and perseverance. Suitable for all levels, no experience necessary! Ages 15 and up.