Article Date: 08 December 2014
Article Date: 08 December 2014
In October Year 12 A level and IB students had the opportunity to visit the Curwen Print Study Centre near Cambridge. They were able to work with artist printmakers and use professional printmaking equipment.
Extending their use of media and techniques, they returned with a variety of finished linocuts and etchings. These finished pieces have provided material for further sketchbook developments all contributing to the first unit of the course. Students were pleased to be able to display some of their work during our recent Open Evening and will be holding a full exhibition during the Arts Festival in June.
Sophie Vaughan, AS Level Art student writes:
Our trip to the Curwen Print Studio was an educational, fun and messy experience.
When taking on the first task of lino printing we all had a huge challenge to conquer which was being able to pull the beautiful old press all the way down without any assistance, (many of us, including myself, not succeeding). Excluding the strength challenge, using the lino press was fun and gave us all some amazing results. Everyone had a go at layering colours and using the rollers to apply the sticky, bright, printing ink. We also blocked out certain sections of our lino blocks using paper shapes, creating some very colourful, interesting prints.
We got a rest from the physical challenge when we experimented with the drypoint printing method. We all took a picture or drawing from our own work in our sketch books and scratched them into acetate with very sharp needles. We then rubbed ink on top of the engravings allowing the ink to sink into the tiny lines. We removed all the rest of the ink with cloth and then placed the acetate on a roller press with our paper.
After turning the huge wheel and removing our prints, we all got some amazing results once again. Everyone experimented with different colours and different compositions with their prints, creating some fantastically professional prints.
The techniques we learnt at the studio are ones we will all never forget. With the help from the lovely ladies at Curwen we all were able to have a great day out, having fun and experimenting, while also producing some amazingly professional looking outcomes.
