Hey Guys! I'm really really happy with the way crit went today. I look forward to finishing it up on Tuesday. This weekend I want you guys to come up with two to three sketches for your relief prints. Also, don't forget to be working on your print exchange print...

Here are some prints to get you guys excited for relief. For some reason my blogger thing is messing up and I can't see the pics in the editing section so I'll just have to tell you who is who in the order they appear. Click on their names to check out their websites. They are all really cool.

The first print is by Paul Bonelli.
The next two prints are by John Fronza.
The forth and fifth prints are by Cannonball Press. Those are the same guys that made the massive print in the shop.
The print after that is Tom Huck.
The last prints are all by Dennis Mcnett. Dennis has been very active about moving printmaking into the mainstream while also sticking to the traditional roots.

I'll see you guys Tuesday ready to go on crit and art making!

Hey guys! Ryan found a great video on youtube about intaglio. I suggest you all watch. This may help make things a lot more clear. Thanks, Ryan!

I pulled the best of the best prints and put them on display out in the hallway. Tell all you friends, tell all your family.

Funny Prints that make ya think

Today I was talking to Caleb about making work that was humorous but also had more elements that really beefed up the content. This post is examples of ways to make art that is funny but still provocative. I think what makes most of these pieces successful is that they have something that is a little unsettling. Sometimes a lot unsettling. But it's a way to get beyond just making a funny image. What is the narrative? What is happening in these pieces? What makes you think as well as make you laugh.

Click on links to see the rest of the artist's website.

Sean Star Wars' work is relief but is imagery is great to look at for this kind of example. They are funny and silly but also creepy and weird. When you look at his website notice how the titles add to the content.

Marcel Dzama Marcel is represented by the Richard Heller Gallery. When you click the link you will see other artists represented by that gallery that are worth looking at.

Travis Millard is someone I really love because he combines those creepy and funny elements so well. His website is great, too! These are all drawings.




Mark Hosford is amazing. These are drawings but there are great prints on his website also. He's great at really setting up an interesting narrative.

Laylah Ali works with pretty serious content that reads in her work even though her characters are usually pretty playful looking.


I've shown Michael Krueger's work here before but I'm going to show it again.
Karl Wirsum is a very well known pop artist from Chicago.
And I showed an example of Nick Alley's work in class today. His prints are funny, sad, sweet, creepy, bizarre, beautiful.... the list goes on and on. Nick has really succeeded in combining so many great elements in a print to tell an amazing story. Check out his full website. You should be able to see the prints larger on the website. Look at all the elements, detail and mark-making that is going on in Nick's prints.

Dry Pointers in Action

This is what you guys look like when you do drypoints, wearing fancy pants. The camera doesn't lie.

For Fun

Here is the cake wrecks blog I was telling you guys about. It's fun. Maybe we can pick out a cake for our end of the year cake and ice cream party/justin's retirement from art party. Click on the work blog.

Art With Text

I've compiled some images of different artists who all use texts in their work just to show you guys different ways it can be done successfully.

First is Kime Buzzelli. She places text within the image in a way that can read as texture and shape from a distance. When you look closely at it she its usually a sentence that is a bit provocative and adds to the narrative of the piece.

Lisa Bulawsky uses text in different ways in her prints. The next three images are hers. What's interesting about the text she chooses is how it's not obvious text and it doesn't give away the whole piece of art work. It's just one more piece of the image puzzle.


Tracey Emin uses text in her trace monotypes. Her text can be mysterious and provocative and goes well with the image and like Bulawsky's doesn't give away too much.
John Hancock uses text as a humorous and sarcastic element. By placing it into a banner it incorporates the text in a way that works well with the image.
This etching was made by my undergrad printmaking teacher Nicole Hand. The text she chooses is meaningful because it comes from private letters but she treats the text as a background texture. She chooses to let certain words be more visible and because of that it impacts the content.
The Royal Art Lodge uses text in a humorous way that straddles the line of being obvious and clever. I think they find the right balance.

Squeak Carnwath incorporates text as a sort of collage element. She also re-uses certain phrases in different pieces making it more meaningful in her overall body of work.

I hope these examples help you guys think about how to incorporate text in your work.