Avant Garden has zero activity for over 3 months, unless you count the faesce plaesce (which I don't). So to (somewhat) validate having this forum I thought it might be interesting to document the art work I do in my Intaglio Printmaking class. I took Intro to Printmaking three or four years and in that class we did both intaglio and lithography (printing with stones). I haven't taken an art class in over two years, so my art skillz are a little rusty.

In case you're wondering, intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques that involve etching an image into a plate (we're using copper and zinc plates), applying ink to the plate, and then transferring the image to a piece of paper using a printing press. There are many different techniques and processes that go into intaglio printmaking, but I won't bore you with the details (yet).
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intaglio_(printmaking)



Today was my first day and the instructor decided we should start off with some really basic stuff to refresh everyone. (Intro to Printmaking is a prereq.) Our first assignment was to do sort of a self portrait using our driver's license photo as a reference. The technique we are using is called drypoint. Basically we use what is called a needle or scribe and draw/etch directly on the plate.

This is just my first proof. I'm not sure how long we'll be working on this assignment, but probably at least two more classes. (This plate is 2.5"x3")



(btw, comments and critiques are welcome, even though most of you fuckers who respond will deride anything/everything I post)