Printmaking

It's been quite a while since I made a post here and it's mostly because there are many other folks doing a better job. I recently attended two printmaking workshops and found that I had forgotten most of what I had learned earlier. These 3 fairly basic articles defining printmaking, the various types and sub-types might come in handy in case you are interested in this very interesting branch of fine art. They certainly will come in handy before the next printmaking workshop for me! :D

MOMA on What is a Print? - It is animated and highly recommended

American Artists with an Introduction to Printmaking for fine art and

Printmaking on Wikipedia has more details on the various types and sub types

The work above has been drawn and painted on a prepared limestone for a Lithograph, with a glass pencil and some diluted tusche. You can see the outcome here.

Related Posts on my blogs
Finding Beauty in Print
Finding Beauty in Print 2
Printmaking set on Flickr

Build your own easel

Came across this resource again recently. I had saved it in the hopes that I'd try it out one of these days. In the meantime, this goes out to all those who would like to build a well designed, inexpensive easel, now instead of spending big bucks on buying one. Ben Grosser has generously made these plans available for free. He is an artist and you can see his work here. If you do use these plans dont forget to send him photographs for his easel gallery.

Figure Drawing Resource 6 - Posemaniacs

I found the link to Posemaniacs on Kathy Johnsons blog, The Quicksilver Workaholic. It is an absolutely fantastic resource. You can jump right into using the poses or use Google translate to figure out what the japanese text is about.

I have a copy of Virtual Poses that I have yet to use. Since I spend long hours on the net/computer I am likely to use this resource more often.

A few quick links on the site
A variety of poses which you can rotate 360deg on both axis.

Short poses and gesture drawings - 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90sec poses

Negative spaces
and

Google Translate

Update: September 13, 2007: I've just received a comment from the site owner for Pose maniacs

Today I added English instruction to 30 seconds drawing and random pose viewer pages.

Monotypes : Printmaking

We were exposed to a bit of printmaking in Art college in order for the students to decide on their 3rd year specializations. I managed to try Etching, Intaglio and Lithography and missed out on Silk Screen printing.

Soon after I got myself a copy of Judy Martin's The Encyclopedia of Printmaking Techniques with plans of exploring further. But until I stumbled across Belinda del Pesco's site and write-up on monotypes, printmaking had got shelved for other art priorities. Printing supplies did not seem to be available and so I put in a request for Lino boards assuming that these would be to easier to locate. Well, I havent been successful as yet!

The last couple of weeks I've been surfing furiously and through a post on wetcanvas (i think!) came to this Smithsonian's resource on Monotypes. There are 12 short video clips explaining what they are, how they are made, the difference between these and monoprints and there is a gallery of work on display. I'm putting both these up here in case any of you are also feeling adventurous. Julia Ayers book on Monotype: Mediums and Methods for Painterly Printmaking is on its way to me.

I'm impatient as usual। Waiting for months is just not my scene and I think I'm going to experiment. Results will be up on my blog soon. If any of you do try making monoprints do leave me a link back to your work and if you have any other resources / recommendations do let me know.

Update: July 9, 2007: Robin of Rednews has left a comment with a very useful link - Monotypien - Martin Stankewitz's blog with beautiful Monotypes and Pen & Ink Illustrations. Once you've finished looking and if you havent done so already :D you can read a translation here. He also has a book published on the subject for sale "Creative Monotypes - my way of printing without a press"

Figure Drawing Resource 5 - Glenn Vilppu

Links to the renowned Glenn Vilppu's bi-monthly online column which appeared in Animation World Magazine have been put below for your easy reference. First an introduction "Never Underestimate the Power of Life Drawing" and 11 lessons in the figure drawing course followed by 12 in the "sketching on location" set. Though the series finished a few years ago, Animation World Magazine continues to generously host these online. Glenn Vilppu advises going through the first set before trying the ones on sketching. Dont miss out on them.

Drawing
Never Underestimate the Power of Life Drawing
Vilppu Drawing Online: Gesture
Vilppu Drawing Online: Spherical Forms
Vilppu Drawing Online: The Box
Vilppu Drawing Online: Introducing Material and Proportion
Vilppu Drawing Online: Drawing Ellipses
Vilppu Drawing Online: From the General to the Specific
Vilppu Drawing Online: The Landmarks of Anatomy
Vilppu Drawing Online: Seeing Anatomical Masses
Seeing The Figure As A 2D Object
Using Tone To Draw
Getting a Handle on Direct Lighting

Sketching
Let's Sketch on Location
Let's Sketch on Location: The Thumbnail Sketch
Let's Sketch on Location: Organizing and Creating Space
Sketching on Location: Light and Dark Patterns
Sketching on Location: Texture as Planes in Space
Sketching on Location: Pencil Technique
Sketching on Location: Drawing Groups of Figures
Sketching on Location: The Quick Sketch
Sketching on Location: The Silhouette -- Positive and Negative Shape
Sketching on Location: Three Dimensional Figures
Sketching on Location: Atmosphere
Sketching on Location: Using Photographs

Figure Drawing Resource 4 - Gray's Anatomy

A knowlege of anatomy is a must if you are interested in learning to paint, draw, or sculpt the human form. I first saw a copy of Gray's Anatomy in my sisters hand. She was in medical college and every student world over has had a copy to study.

Much later, when I saw a reference to it on Bartleby.com off I went to investigate. There I found an incredible figure drawing resource - 1247 engravings from Henry Gray's "Anatomy of the Human Body" for you to access online. Use it to study, draw or sculpt the skeleton, the muscles that cover them and how our joints move. At least those are my plans :D Here's a link to an index of these engravings.

Happy Figure Drawing!

Drawing - Begin from the beginning

More learning to draw links. This time from one of my favourite sites WetCanvas. They now have a separate sub-forum, The Classroom, devoted to teaching people to draw step-by-step with lots of attention and instruction thrown in. There are now two levels, the Basic 101's for beginners and the 102's for those who have graduated. Have a look and join in, you wont regret it. Happy Drawing!

The Classroom
Basic 101
Pre-Class assignments and Faq's
Class1 Basic Structure of Objects—Straight Lines
Class 2 Eye Level: Foundation of Perspective
Class 3 Drawing Cubic Objects
Class 4 Drawing Cylindrical Objects
Class 5 Drawing Spherical Objects
Class 6 Drawing Conical Objects
Class 7 EXAM: Putting it all together
Class 8 Light and Shade
Class 9 Book Report and Project Assignment 2 week class
Class 10 Still Life
Class 11 That Ol’ Black Charcoal
Class 12 Swabs: Not Just for Ears Anymore!
Class 13 Outdoor Still Life
Class 14 The Human Figure—GO FIGURE! warning, NUDITY!
Class 15 Fantasy and Imagination
Class 16 Material Folds - clothing, drapery etc.
Class 17 Hands and Feet
Class 18 Drawing Heads Portraits
Class 19 Drawing Children
Class 20 Caricature dedicated to the Late Walt Kelly
Class 21 Sketching
Class 22 Drawing Animals
Class 23 The Glass Class
Class 24 Drawing Water
Class 25 Drawing Fur
Class 26 Deja Vu getting to know you/art ideas
Class 27 Drawing Metal
Class 28 Combining glass, metal and water in a convincing composition
Class 29 Intro to Pen & Ink drawing
Class 30 Pen & Ink Stipple technique
Class 31 Compositional Chaos
Class 32 Colored Pencil
Class 33 Male Portrait Drawing
Class 34 Advanced Realistic Portraiture II female portrait drawing.


Start of the 102 Classes:
Class 1 Intermediate Perspective
Class 2 Creativity
Class 3 Sketching for Real
Class 4Wildlife in Charcoal
Class 5 Composition in One Easy Lesson
Class 6 Portraits in three-part harmony
Class 7 Negative Drawing with Mike Sibley
Class 8 Drawing on the Dark Side
Class 9 Clouds and Skies
Class 10 Rocks
Class 11 Water



( i'm still learning :D this is a pen & ink that i made yesterday. i too need to start these lessons soon. Vishal : Pen & Ink on a 8" by 11" drawing paper)