Advanced Printmaking I, ARTS 471 (01), EHFA Room 139Phone 349-2703, Office EHFA 126
Treelee Mac Ann – Professor, email – Office Hours: XXXX
3 credits, Prerequisites - ARTS 200 or ARTS 209 or ARTS 370 or ARTS 373
CATALOG DESCRIPTION – Advanced work on an individual basis in one or more printmaking mediums. Emphasis is placed on experimentation and development of personal imagery and direction.
COURSE RATIONALE - Students will develop more mature work in printmaking stressing both technical and conceptual advancement.
COURSE GOALS & OBJECTIVES:
•To understand thevocabulary of printmaking and demonstrate advanced techniques in one or more areas of printmaking.
• To expand upon visual concepts and skills developed at the foundation level and one other printmaking class.
•To challenge students’ conceptual thinking. Students are encouraged to try new or more complex spatial arrangements to broaden their design skills.
•To create a body of work in printmaking that indicates the student’s personal mark or vision as an artist/printmaker.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will:
•demonstrate advanced techniques involved in their chosen area(s) of printmaking.
•produce a portfolio of prints showing a cohesive body of work indicating the artist’s vision and direction of growth.
•produce a series of prints that are unified in concept and design.
•demonstrate proper operation of media specific equipment and exercise safe care of media specific tools, supplies, and the studio environment.
GRADE SCALE:
A=100-90
B+=89-87B=86-80
C+=79-77C=76-70
D+=69-67D=66-60
F=59 or lessFx=Failure due to academic misconduct/dishonesty
Special Note - If you have any learning disabilities, are alternately abled in any manner, or feel you need a special dispensation, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office in Counseling Services at 204 University Boulevard or call 349-2305.
PRINTS ARE EVALUATED ON THE FOLLOWING:
1.Design/Composition - You should effectively utilize drawing and design skills, using the elements and principles of design to organize the flat picture plane and to create illusions of space.
2.Development of specific printmaking techniques
3.Concept maturity
4.Craftsmanship and presentation of the finished works
5.Originality…Plagiarism will result in a failing grade of this course.
6.Inventive research in the form of: preliminary sketches and references from life, invention, and photos (see photo use)
7.Sensitivity to drawing or painting skills, showing sensitivity to line, shape, value and/or color, and mark-making
8.Creativity and successful risk taking
GRADES WILL ALSO REFLECT AN EVALUATION OF THE FOLLOWING:
1.Studio habits - (including cleanup and the use and care of tools and equipment). If a student is NOT cleaning up properly, tell that PERSON. Peer pressure works.
2.Class preparation - It is essential that you come to class prepared to work with preliminary drawings, designs, sketches, and supplies. Class time is used for lecture, demonstration, videos, and working on plates and printing. You must plan on making plates and printing your plates during class time. Your homework for this class is the finding the subject matter and resources to create plan sketches, creating preliminary drawing or photo positives, and plate preparation. Do not ask to leave class to find visual resources; this is an indicator that you are not doing preliminary work. The materials needed for printmaking are only found in the printmaking lab. You need to take advantage of these materials and you instructor's expertise.
3.Work ethic - A continuous and steady work effort onpreliminary and finished work should be demonstrated both in and out of class. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 3 hours per week outside of class on projects to succeed and excel. Last minute work looks rushed and unsophisticated and will not receive a grade above a "C" if the preparatory work and research was not completed. Conversation related to your projects is allowed, but it not should not interfere with work; don’t lose valuable time to casual chat.
4.Attendance - Students receive a grade for every class they attend. For example: Project “A” was worked on over 2 class sessions. The project merits a grade of 85 (B). If the student only attended 1 of 2 classes and the absence was unexcused, the student will receive 1 grades of 85 and 1 grade of 0. The two lowest grades from each half of the semester will be dropped. An excused absence will NOT receive a 0; however, it is expected that work time will be made up. Late work is graded down 5 points per day late, including weekend days. An unexcused tardiness will reduce the grade for that day by 10 points in addition to counting as a half absence. Constant tardiness points to a time management problem. Students in this situation should reassess their work habits and priorities.
ATTENDANCE/BEHAVIOR POLICY FOR CLASSES MEETING 2 TIMES PER WEEK
This is the most current policy for ALL courses in the Department of Visual Arts: Students are required to attend each studio session for the entire class period. Three unexcused absences are the maximum without penalty. After the 4th absence the student's final grade will be reduced by a full letter grade. After the 5th unexcused absence the student’s final grade will be reduced another full letter grade. After the 6th unexcused absence the student will automatically fail the course. Any tardiness: arriving late, leaving class early, or excessive break time will count as a ½ unexcused absence. Tardiness impacts the quality of work; less time spent creates a rushed or awkward visual product, and this will impact the grade regardless of any excuse. Excused absences are defined by the University as requiring documentation and are only for the following: incapacitating illness, death of a close relative, official representation of the University (excuses for official representation of the University should be obtained from the official supervising the activity), and religious holidays. Use absences wisely; you may find that you need one or two in the event of an undocumented sickness or disaster; this is the purpose of the absence allowance policy. The attendance policy is not intended as allowing “free cuts”.
Make job interviews, routine appointments with doctors, lawyers, advisors, and conduct other business outside of class. These are not emergencies; they are the result of poor time management. Absence for reasons other than illness is generally unacceptable.
The class takes a 15 min. break approximately halfway through the class and you are expected to return to class promptly.
Emergency absences/tardiness are evaluated individually; please discuss the emergency as soon as you return or if you know of an impending absence. You must initiate the discussion; I will not ask why you were absent or late. If the emergency requires more than allowed absences you may be asked to drop the course and enroll when you can give the class proper attention. Do not wait until the last minute. It is most important for you to communicate. You may have problems with your work, perhaps you don't understand the information, a grade, or you have personal problems. Make an appointment to talk to me during my office hours. I am an approachable person and we may find a solution to a problem if we catch it early enough. I am compassionate and I try to work with students.
Coming to class for the entire session and being on time and prepared with supplies is part of your class work and your responsibility as a college student. There are lectures and demonstrations that may occur at any time within the class period; valuable information is missed if you are out of the classroom. Generally, slide presentations and lectures start promptly at the start of class, but impromptu demonstrations may occur as needed at any point in class.
There is an incredible amount of information given in lectures, demonstrations, and within the context of the classroom that cannot be replaced by the text. It is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor regarding information missed. The instructor will try to help the student, but entire lectures and demonstrations cannot be repeated. If you have questions, ask the INSTRUCTOR. Don’t ask peers; wrong or incomplete information is often given out from student to student. I have office hours, voice mail, and email
Incomplete grades are only given to students in good standing with a documented medical excuse.
HEALTH AND SAFETY:
1.Safety glasses and closed-toed shoes must be worn while operating power tools.
2.Rubber or plastic gloves should be worn when using chemicals & inks.
3.Wear comfortable clothing that can get messed up and/or wear an apron or lab jacket to keep your clothing neat and clean.
4.Tie long hair back to keep it away from the press and inks/solutions involved in printmaking.
5.No food is allowed in class and only drinks with closed tops are allowed in class. It is not a safe practice to ingest food around art materials. It is also a violation of OSHA codes.
6.Do not open the darkened doors entering the courtyard. Photopolymer film is expensive and is ruined by UV light.
CRITIQUES
There are mandatory scheduled critiques; failure to fully participate will result in a lower project grade. Full participation means that the student is on time, the print is finished, and that the student participates in the discussion of all work; anything short of this is not full participation. You are required to talk about your own work and the work of your fellow students in terms of subject matter, form, and content. All criticism is intended to help students and is given in a positive light. Short unannounced critiques of work in progress may occur as needed. If you do not get the discussion you need within the context of the class time, please meet with me outside of class. I welcome talks about your work, ideas, or any problems you may be having with printmaking.
OPEN LAB
Students may come in to the studio during non-class hours to prepare plates and paper, draw, and print. Names are posted and security can allow you into the lab if the main door is locked. Unacceptable behavior in lab or class will restrict that student from working during open lab. Sloppy lab habits will not be tolerated. Remember, never ever force any tools or equipment and put supplies away!!!
The exposure unit is shut down during non-class hours. The room housing the digital printer and computer will also be locked to protect this valuable equipment. This is also the room use to adhere photopolymer film. I may be able to turn the machine on if you are working during my office hours or during times I am teaching other classes. I must monitor who is using these machines. CCU was fortunate to obtain this expensive, high-tech, and delicate piece of equipment. These digital machines are essential for ALL students. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the equipment is operated properly.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS (work and grades)
•Each student will develop a body of related works. A professional attitude is expected in terms of meeting deadlines, developing greater technical proficiency, and craftsmanship. The number of pieces required will be determined by the medium(s), scale, difficulty, and ambition of projects.
•Each student will write and submit an action plan by the end of the second week of classes.The plan should state the medium(s) the student plans to investigate, the physical scale of images, and the number of editions and/or monoprints the student intends to create over the course of the semester. If the student plans to work with multiple layers (blocks or plates) and/or the scale is particularly ambitious, the number of projects may be reduced. If the student plans to work small, using only a single color, the number of projects may be increased. As a point of departure, each student should consider producing at least 5 editions over the course of the semester. It is wise to review and assess your plan with the instructor on a quarterly basis so that any changes in the action plan can be approved.
•Students have some familiarity with printmaking and the planning necessary to produce a print by this course level. Having a master plan helps onewith time management.
•Each project requires the printing of an edition of prints or a series of unique prints from a common matrix; an edition is a number of consistent identical images, as many as the artist determines given the limitations of aplate or block. Editioning gives students experience with the problems and solutions involved in printing uniformly. Each print within an edition must have the same margins and must be printed using the same type ink and paper. All impressions must match and be clean.
An edition in this class is at least 4 prints per edition with one additional artist proof; students may print more if they desire. An artist proof is the print to which all other prints in the edition are compared, and is the print that the artist generally keeps for their own collection. This small edition size will enable students to produce MORE imagery and a LARGER body of work and will keep the cost of paper to the bare minimum. You may, of course, always print a larger edition if you desire. An edition and artist proof equals 5 identical prints. Editions may be printed in the hundreds, but most students print smaller limited editions.
There are working proofs and trial proofs that the artist makes in the process of resolving an image; these are NOT part of the edition. All of this labeling and documentation is more of a late 19th century convention, which did not exist prior.
Editions should be consistent (all prints match) and well printed with clean and even paper margins surrounding the image. Labeling is done neatly using graphite pencil under the bottom image margin indicating: the artist's name, image title (if desired), and edition number (for example, 2/12 or 2-12, either marking designates this is the second print in an edition of twelve). Prints are always signed in graphite pencil, NEVER INK, NEVER CHARCOAL! Some artists put quotes around the title, but it seems to be a habit that has gone out of fashion. The quotes represent a writing convention. Additionally, quote marks can be visually distracting. However, consistency is the most important factor. Either put quotes around all titles or use none.
•The instructor may choose a print from an edition to keep for teaching purposes.
•In an appropriately sized portfolio, to be handed in on due dates, work should be signed, ordered, flattened, and cleanly presented. Prints must be dry; wet work will receive a failing grade. Organize the work neatly within the portfolio. Place slip-sheets, cut to the exact size of the print, between prints to keep ink from offsetting on to the back of other prints. Ink may appear to be dry, yet will still offset unless fully cured. The portfolio should be clean, firm, and an appropriate size for the work. Work will NOT be accepted in garbage bags, oversize containers, or tape wrapped in newsprint. The portfolio may be made of clean neatly constructed cardboard or foam-core.
The portfolios will always contain: the required print assignment(s) and the sketchbook with preliminary sketches and resources. Prints must be dry, flattened, and have slip-sheets of clean paper cut to the same size as the print layered between prints. A disordered and sloppy presentation can be as unsatisfactory as weak imagery and poor technique in the work. Presentation and craftsmanship is important.
•The sketchbook must include thumbnail sketches, reference photos or copies of the photos, notes on demonstrations/lectures. The sketchbook will be graded on depth of note taking, the clarity and accuracy of the information, and effort on preliminary design sketches. 5 thumbnail design sketches must be produced for each edition image. In the case of purely photo generated work the student may have 5 different related photocompositions to choose from, much like a contact sheet.
Sketches should reflect the subject matter (if working representationally or abstractly), format (rectangle, square, circle, multiple plates, organic shapes?), and design/composition (the arrangement of lines, shapes, colors, values, and/or textures within the picture frame). These should not be labored polished drawings that look like the final artworks; they should be complex enough to act as a "blueprint". A map or plan keeps one from getting lost, especially when one is embarking on a new journey. You may work from life, invention, your own photo resources, or a combination of sources.
•The student will determine the subject matter and content of each print.Eachstudent will investigateabroad concept over the course of the semester through his or her choice of subject matter and form (design/composition). Students should investigate subjects, themes, ideas in which they have a personal interest. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. Look at your past work or even parts of previous projects to find direction. Developing a central theme that is worked out through a series of related images can help one produce work that is mature and unified in concept, technique, and design. Each image should have some tie to the previous print. The fifth print may look nothing like the first, but the viewer should be able to find a connecting thread relating the images.Become familiar with printmakers from the past and present. Your work should be a reflection of your place and time. Learn what you can from past artists and make imagery relevant to today in design, subject, and concept.