Printmaking

Develop a unique knowledge of various print processes designed to push your concepts to the next level.

Session 2: July 9–21, 2023

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A group of various shaped and colored ceramic vessels.

Various prints created in the Print and Ceramics class, on display for the Pre-College exhibition.

A student carefully laying out their ceramic pieces for the Pre-College exhibition.

Examples of printmaking work installed for the Pre-College exhibition.

A kiln full of ceramic pieces just after firing.

A student and instructor pull a print off the press.

Students working together in the ceramics studio during Pre-College.

An example of a print created by a Pre-College student.

Installed print work and ceramics at the Pre-College exhibition.

An abstract print in gold ink created by a student.

A ceramic vessel with glazed drawings created by a Pre-College student.

A textured earthy ceramic piece on display during the Pre-College exhibition.

This intensive studio course will allow you to take your drawn, painted, and digitally printed or photographic based images and transform them into original work through printmaking processes. Printmaking provides a balanced experience of technical skill building and conceptual development, with some risks and adventure as you learn the advantages of print as a medium within and beyond the field.

Hard work, passion, adventure, play, discovery, and innovation will all be pursued in two weeks. As you engage in the production of a body of work, you will learn a variety of processes, such as relief printing, screenprinting, papermaking, and alternative photographic processes. The combination of these materials and techniques will produce exciting and innovative images unique to each student’s artistic vision and voice. Studio work will consist of the practical exploration of the relationship between formal, technical, aesthetic, and stylistic issues relative to the personal and thematic subjects of your choosing.

This course is excellent for students interested in illustration, drawing, or painting, and ideal for students looking to learn the limitless possibilities of printmaking to add additional breadth to their portfolio.

Projects

Through a variety of projects in this course, you will explore a range of techniques to add to your repertoire and enhance your studio practice. Students should bring image-based work (drawings, illustrations, paintings, photography) to start from. We’ll take these initial works and explore hybrid approaches that incorporate the use of new media and processes by investigating surface, mark, and materiality from both a technical and conceptual point of view.

In addition to work produced in the CIA print studios, throughout the first and second, specialized workshops to local creative intuitions will allow you to learn techniques to enrich your work, from screenprinting at Praxis Fiber Workshop; papermaking and pulp painting at The Morgan Conservatory; and relief printing at Case Western Reserve University’s Sears think[box]. Back at CIA’s 4,000-square-foot fully-equipped Printmaking studio, students are encouraged to draw from many disciplines to experiment with how the visual and the verbal, images, and ideas play out in their work.