Florence, Italy - Course Descriptions - Printmaking I

Course Information

Contact Hours and Credits

Availability

Summary

Students explore the expressive forms and history of printmaking while learning various printmaking techniques. Projects will start with simple one-color relief prints and graduate to multi-color relief, intaglio, monotype and photomechanical processes. The inter-relationships of these media to other art disciplines and ideas are stressed.

Full Description

This intensive workshop will explore all aspects of intaglio and monotype printmaking. The course will begin with demonstrations of drypoint, line etching, sugarlift, and white ground. Various methods of inking, plate wiping and registration will be discussed, as will the properties of various papers (for which Florence is an excellent source.) Chine-colle, the process of printing on delicate Japanese paper while simultaneously adhering it to printmaking paper, will also be discussed and demonstrated. The focus of the course will then move on to an exploration of mixed media monoprints using various matrices and mediums (both oil and water based.) The monotype, with its spontaneity and ephemeral surfaces alternated with the labored surface and fixed matrix of the intaglio or relief print will provide an opportunity for you to explore the possibilities and limitations that lie within the poles of the two medium.

Students who have had previous printmaking experience will register for Printmaking II and will be assigned more advanced projects within the framework described above, and will be expected to develop a cohesive body of work using a variety of technical means.

Prerequisites

Drawing I for Printmaking I, and Printmaking I or equivalent experience for Printmaking II.

Instructor

David Curcio received his MFA in printmaking from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He has lived in Italy where he has worked at La Scuola Internazional della Grafica in Venice and Il Bisonte Scuola Internazionale della Grafica. He teaches printmaking and drawing regularly at Santa Reparata. During the year he divides his time between Italy and Burlington, Vermont, where he teaches at Champlain College and is the Director of Print Studio 250.

Schedule

Student Work

Studio courses meet for a total of 80 contact hours for 3 optional credits. Studio, Art History, and Italian classes meet 4 days per week. On Fridays instructors may schedule field trips to surrounding cities and museums. Studio classes meet 4 hours per day alternating mornings and afternoons.

Note: Final schedule of class times will be available when students arrive in Florence.

Week One:
Course introduction
Tour of facilities
Discussion of supplies and materials
Trip to art supply stores
Guided walking tour of Florence
Demonstration of relief printmaking processes
Demonstration: Drypoint and line etching
Demonstration: soft ground, aquatint and sugar-lift.
Studio time
On-site work (Fiesole)

Week Two:
Demonstration of chine-colle for both relief and intaglio prints
Studio time
Visit to “La Specola”
Mixed media monoprint demonstration

Week Three:
Intensive Studio time
Individual meetings with instructor; discussion of final project
Mid-term critique
Field trip (Venice)

Week Four:
Studio time
Final critique

This syllabus may be amended as the course proceeds. You will be given ample notification of any changes.

Facilities

Printmaking at the Santa Reparata

Printmaking and Book Arts areas have two Bendini presses, a Takach combination litho-etching press, and one small Conrad etching press. The large Bendini (shown here) is motorized, with a pressbed of 105cm width. In two large rooms there are four separate inking counters, hotplates, professional exposure unit, drying racks, 30 flat files, soaking sink, large work tables, and two letterpresses with extensive type for book arts. Printmaking classes may enroll up to 14 persons. Beyond the press in the adjacent room is a critique area that also serves as a gallery. Visitors to the school agree that Santa Reparata has one of the best equipped print rooms in Italy.

In the summer of 2003 the school acquired a combination litho/etching press built by the Takach corporation in Albuquerque, NM. Shown above this press complements the large stock of Bavarian litho stones and top quality litho rollers. The litho area, with its luminous space and large tables, is a great place to make art. Woodcut classes also meet in this area, where students print on the etching presses as well as the letterpresses. The school has a supply of very high quality woodcut tools and sharpening stones.

Required Supplies and Tools

Materials may be purchased locally. The class will make a group trip to Zecchi and Rigacci art supply stores the first day of class, and students will always be able to purchase more supplies as necessary. Some basic supplies will be:

• Zinc and/or copper plates of varying sizes
• Wire brushes *
• Etching needle
• Scraper
• Burnisher
• Roulettes *
• Inks *
• Brayers *
• Tarletan *
• Sketch pad
• Various printing papers
• Drawing materials (pencils, brushes, India/sumi ink)
• Paints for monotype (oil and watercolor are good, acrylic is not.)

Supplies marked with an asterisk (*) are supplied by the school.