Printing and Bookmaking
Exploring the Mellon Collection: I Spy Through Edgar Degas's Eye
Donna Drozda, Painter, Author, and Educator
This workshop begins with a slide-and-poster-talk introduction to works by Edgar Degas from the VMFA Paul Mellon Collection. Students create Degas-inspired drawings that they transfer to print blocks. They make relief cuts from the transferred drawings using block printing gouges and produce hand-rubbed black ink prints on colored stock.
Audience: 3rd grade through middle school
Enrollment: 15 participants
Picasso and the Fearless Print!
Fenella Belle, Instructor of Art, Piedmont Virginia Community College
Picasso was not only a prolific artist, but also a fearless one! Throughout his long life, he was constantly trying new ideas and techniques. One of these fun techniques is the reduction print, which provides a quick introduction to relief printmaking and color layering. The print is designed in advance, and then slowly carved and printed in a succession that produces a final multi-colored print and a fully exhausted carving block. Since there is no "reverse," reduction printing rewards both careful planning and spontaneous problem solving!
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
Facilities needed: Nearby sink with hot water, tables that can be covered, no carpets.
Sketchbook: Constructing and Content
Robyn Raines, Artist
This workshop is a combination of bookbinding and idea generation. We begin with learning and preparing the basic parts of a sketchbook, as well as discussing the importance of keeping a sketchbook. Then, as we begin to bind the textblock, we will do several content-based exercises to “get those creative juices flowing.” At the end of the day, students will leave with a handmade sketchbook and new ideas to take back to their workspace and turn into masterpieces.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 10 – 15 participants
The Art of Japanese Bookbinding Part I New
Rachel Sawan White, Art and Design Faculty, Orchard Home School
Learn the art and beauty of this traditional form of book binding, which involves no glues or knots. We will learn three basic stitches and discover the importance of the process of binding as well as the product. Participants will leave with several small sketchbooks made from decorative papers with rice paper pages.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
The Art of Japanese Bookbinding Part II New
Rachel Sawan White, Art and Design Faculty, Orchard Home School
For those who took Japanese Bookbinding Part I, or those who simply like to jump right into things, this workshop takes the basic stitches of Japanese Bookbinding and combines them into new, more complex methods of stitching. The creation of these books is an exercise in meditation as the students learn the techniques of binding using no adhesives or knots. The final book will comprise beautiful, decorative covers, filled with traditional rice paper pages.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
The Art of Chine-collé New
Rachel Sawan White, Art and Design Faculty, Orchard Home School
Chine-collé is the technique of applying delicate papers under a print on a heavier paper. This technique allows the artist to add depth, color, and uniqueness to a print. Join us as we explore this technique and how to use it with block printing. Each participant will carve a plate and learn how to incorporate decorative papers and texts into their prints.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
What a Relief: How Prints Are Made New
Mary Holland, Thomas C. Gordon Jr. Director of the VMFA Studio School
Join Mary Holland as she shares examples of original relief prints from her extensive print collection. She will also show the step-by-step process of image design, transfer, carving the plate, inking the plate, and printing. The history of relief prints, the oldest method of the printmaking processes, will be covered. This is a great lecture/demonstration for students, artists, and people who want to learn more about how art is created.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 20 participants