Research Point: Contemporary printmakers who use experimental methods in their printmaking

Research point

Take a look at some contemporary printmakers who use experimental methods to make their prints. You could start by exploring the printmakerscouncil.com website, where you will find links to some interesting practitioners. What have you found of interest? What new techniques and ideas have arisen in this investigation? Make notes in your learning log.

First a disclaimer because found this research point quite difficult. The reason for this is that I am relatively new to printmaking so all printmaking techniques are new to me. This means that I found it quite difficult to identify which printmakers were using experimental techniques. However, I have become very interested in lino etching after the course which I attended, so I decided to look mainly at artists who employed this technique. To me this seems like and experimental technique but it may now be accepted as mainstream.  

Fabian Matthias Osborne

Click here to view examples of the artist's work on his website

Fabian was one of the tutors on the lino etching weekend course which I attended at West Yorkshire Print Workshop. 

Originally a ceramicist, his printmaking has developed from the same thread of subject matter which came through in his ceramics. He explores the surface textures and patterns that he finds in the landscape, both in the urban environment and in nature. 

His current work uses lino etching entirely and he generally works on large circular plates which he cuts by hand with a craft knife (quite a feat in itself in my opinion!). This must also make registration when printing in multiple layers a real challenge. On the course, he seemed to be able to do it using a simple registration sheet by eye - but as I said not having a corner to register to may make this more difficult than he made it appear. 

He creates patterns and textures using a variety of techniques with the etching. For example his 'Emerald Moon' employs marbling with stop out varnish and repeated etching. 'Spacers' employs letterpress spacers dipped in stout varnish and applied to the plate in a pattern and 'Pool' and 'pools' employ the technique which I tried out on the course which involves repeated etching in ever decreasing areas concentrically. 

He prints in multiple layers and will rotate the plate slightly on each subsequent layer to enhance the irregularity of the patterns created (although again, it must be a challenge to know whether he has rotated it because of the lack of points of reference on the circumference of a circle. 

I found his work inspiring and it made me want to experiment further with lino etching. 

Jenny Thomas

Jenny also tutored on the lino etching weekend but she allowed Fabian to take the lead in the demonstrations. During the weekend she carried out many experiments with different ways of creating a resist. Her willingness to experiment and 'play' was contagious and I found her approach liberating. 

Click here to view and example of her lino etching on the Water Street Gallery Website

The image in the link above "Flower 7 - stripey" is created using lino etching. It is on a square format and I suspect it has been etched more than once. It is printed in two colours read and black. The gestural nature of the abstract flower petals give it a dynamic feeling. The texture is very interesting. Brush marks are exploited from where the etch has been applied and the parallel stripes have been made by dragging a metal decorators' comb across the lino during the etch to manipulate the placement of the paste and to scratch the softened surface of the lino. 

Steve Edwards 

Click here to see examples of the artist's work on his website

This artist is probably best known for his large scale cityscapes and landscapes. In particular he manages to evoke the atmosphere of the urban landscape of London and light reflections from the surface of the Thames. exploits the lino to its full potential using a combination of etching and cutting. He sometimes also combines this with monotype. As well as the landscapes he does look at other subjects including figurative (human) subjects. 

Looking at some of his London cityscapes from a distance, they look almost photographic in their realism. He captures the quality of light and the shapes of the London skyline beautifully. Looking in more detail however, you can see the complexity of the textures that he has managed to create on the surface of the Lino. 

He uses the textural elements from the etched Lino to represent the more natural parts of the urban environment such as the water and clouds. The cut elements are more controlled and therefore more suitable for the silhouettes of buildings. I think he uses a variety of techniques to ink his plates too such as rainbow rolling and selective inking of certain areas such that he may in some cases be creating variable editions. 

I would love to see this work in person as many of his prints are large (for example 70x90cm) and so it is no possible to perceive the full impact of the pieces from small photographs - I'd like to get right up close and try to work out exactly how he has achieved such textures and light effects. Maybe he is using a combination of relief and intaglio printing techniques which would add an additional layer of technical difficulty with having to dampen the paper and deal with expansion and shrinkage in multiple layered printing. I don't know. 

Alison Pilkington

Click here to view examples of the artist's work on the SO Fine Art Editions website

Pilkington is an Irish artist and is both a painter and a printmaker. she has really made Lino etching her own. Her works are abstract and are all about texture and colour. I again would like to see her work in person to try to work out how she has gone about creating these because the although they appear simple I suspect they are actually quite difficult to create. She manages to leave areas of crisp bright colours as well as the more granular textured areas of the etching - is she using cutting as well as etching? Does she use multiple plates or multiple layers of etching on one plate like a reduction? 

However she manages to achieve these exuberant prints, her work is very different in character from the other artists I have mentioned in this context - this shows that Lino etching is a versatile technique that can be used to achieve a variety of effects on the final print. 

Anthony Broad

Does not use Lino etching but I have never seen the technique he uses before so I have included him here under experimental techniques. 

Click here to view examples of graphite prints on the artist's website

Although the theme of this artist's work doesn't particularly chime with my own concerns, being about masculinity and concepts of manliness in society I was intrigued by the metallic surface he manages to create on his prints. 

On his website, Broad states that this is his own technique which he has recently developed. He applies graphite powder to the paper which he burnishes to a smooth finish. He then uses blind embossing with a woodcut block. This makes his final works almost sculptural although they are created on a flat sheet of paper. The paper appears transformed into something more substantial and perhaps more valuable - sheet metal, armour or coins.