Courses

This course will focus on book binding methods including, but not limited to stab binding, Coptic stitch, variations on the pamphlet stitch, drum leaf, and books sewn through the fold. Through weekly demonstrations and assignments, students will acquire skills in both adhesive and non-adhesive binding as well as basic box making techniques. The course places a fucus on facilitating individual practice in the form of books, and the integration of binding methods learned in class into one's personal artistic process. At the end of the semester, students will have thorough understanding of the anatomy of books, how to make them, how to plan and execute their own design, and where to acquire materials and tools. There will be opportunities to view books from the RISD Special Collections and critical discussions surrounding the functions of book making in contemporary practice. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

Experimental Print Media: Alternative Intaglio Practices focuses on the experimental possibilities of etching processes and intaglio-based printing methodologies. The coursework builds bridges from experience in the process of etching and the medium of intaglio by presenting advanced and innovative approaches to platemaking and printing using copper, plexiglass, and polymer plate types. Coursework will cover topics such as: custom stop-outs, extended etches, ink interfacing, toner transfers, and extensions into the digital realm utilizing the Benson Hall "Tech Lab" resources. Demonstrations and assignments will focus on the virtues of plating material, not solely as printable matrices, or carriers of transferrable visual information, but also as finished objects. The semester will be driven by demonstration, guided in-class work, independent work focused on experimentation, and conversation geared toward alternatives to substrate (paper), matrix (copper, polymer, plexi), and medium (ink). The semester will culminate in a self-directed final project that requires students to generate a grouping of works that successfully combine a selection of the processes covered which includes a substantial set of proofs, studies, plating tests, and pertinent supplementary visual/technical research. Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Elective Open to Printmaking majors only; juniors and above.

Grad Print I will focus on the notion that Printmaking (and its constituent processes/techniques) are a "hub" within the visual arts. Students will experiment with a multitude of print processes that branch from drawing (a logical creative starting-point between Printmaking and Painting), and form extensions into the mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, and even video. Processes covered will include; drawing fluid/screen filler, screen monotype, image transfer, drypoint intaglio, and various other forms of monoprint. Assignments will require experimentation with each new technique and projects will require the individual exploration of these techniques and application to each students' personal studio practice. Demonstrations, presentations, and group/individual critiques will supplement all work time. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Open to all graduate-level students.

Students in the graduate printmaking program will utilize graduate level research and scholarship as an impetus for growth within studio practice. Investigation into historical cycles of printmaking will be fostered through assigned texts and exploration of primary resources available at RISD, especially The RISD Museum. A dialogue stemming from intensive studio work will be developed in varied formats by faculty, visiting artists and peers throughout the semester. Graduate major requirement; Printmaking majors onlyRegistration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

Students in the graduate printmaking program will utilize graduate level research and scholarship as an impetus for growth within studio practice. Investigation into historical cycles of printmaking will be fostered through assigned texts and exploration of primary resources available at RISD, especially The RISD Museum. A dialogue stemming from intensive studio work will be developed in varied formats by faculty, visiting artists and peers throughout the semester. Graduate major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

Technical fundamentals related to each of the basic intaglio processes will be demonstrated throughout the semester. Traditional and contemporary intaglio applications will also be presented and experimentation will be encouraged. A series of monotypes, small editions in each process and a larger technical combination plate will comprise the final portfolio assignment. Imagery, concept and content will represent a primary course element as technical facility is mastered. Individual critiques will be the standard throughout and two group critiques at the midpoint and end of the semester will also be scheduled. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department; course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors as elective by permission of Instructor.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. An Independent Study may be taken either for credit within the Printmaking major or as a nonmajor studio elective, depending upon the subject matter under study and the major of the student. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

This course primarily involves the search for a personal, idiosyncratic visual statement. Juniors will refine technical application, engage in experimentation and study historical/contemporary artists and movements as the course progresses from scheduled project orientation to more independent bodies of work involving printmaking and its combinations with other mediums. Installation and presentation of work created will be analyzed as a critical component. This course will encompass oral discussion and presentations. Critiques will be frequent, in individual and group format including a group mid-term critique and end of semester critique that includes an invited, guest critic. In addition to the visual component of the course, instruction in seminar form will comprise visual artist professional practice methods that involve resume, cover letter, and employment application. Presentation of work in gallery, museum and professional interaction formats will also be part of the course. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

This course will introduce students to contemporary letterpress printing. While keeping the broad historical role of letterpress printing in mind, the course will allow students to use the various incarnations of letterpress printing to further their own work. The focus of the course will be learning to print, and print well, how to troubleshoot on the Vandercook proof press, and exploring how the different approaches, processes, papers, and techniques effect and direct the finished work. The course will begin with an overview of letterpress printing history and its relation to the evolution of typography, and its major impact on, and reaction to, societal change. We will first focus on setting and printing from handset type, and more traditional image making techniques (read: Linocuts!), and then introduce digital images through the use of polymer plates. Once the basics of the process have been covered, the focus will be on students using the techniques and processes to further their own work, and the creation of a final project using any of the techniques as appropriate to the piece. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

This course offers basic black and white lithographic technical applications on lithostone and lithoplate to those students who are at the beginning level. Contemporary techniques, and technical short-cuts will elaborate on traditional processing. Experimentation is encouraged throughout the semester while emphasis is placed on the development of personally innovative imagery and concept. Informal group and individual critiques are conducted in conjunction with group mid-semester and final critiques. A professionally portfolio of assigned prints is due at the end of the course. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement, Prinmatking majors only. Registration by Printmaking Department; course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.

Make you own paper for printing or three-dimensional constructions in this hand on experimental studio course in making paper. Curriculum will include: paper specifications, basic sheet formation, Japanese Plant fibers, recycled materials, paper modules and screens, along with paper structures for installation based work. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00 Elective Open all students.

Printmaking's inclusive nature allows for many different approaches and opportunities. Motivated by historic, sociological, political and media driven revolutions, printmaking has undergone significant shifts throughout history. The current world of image proliferation and rapid technological innovations have pushed the traditional boundaries of printmaking even further in the contemporary art world. Many of today's artists are creating large-scale installations utilizing the printed multiple in many distinctive ways. Through process and scale, students will examine the interrelated nature of form, multiples, expression, and meaning. The course will explore permanent, temporary and site-specific installation based art. Major elective, available to non-majors on a space available basis.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.

This class will utilize relief as a means of developing personal imagery. Wood engraving, reduction and multi-block techniques shown. The responsibility of direction, and problem solving will shift to the student as initial assignments proceed into more independent projects. Individual critiques will occur throughout the term, at mid-term and final week. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors as an elective by permission of Instructor.

this course provides the printmaking major the opportunity to work closely with Printmaking faculty on a concentrated and advanced basis beyond study in a print elective course. Focus on the development of printmaking related work prior to the Degree Project, relying primarily on individual and group critiques, will culminate in the Degree Project Proposal-foundation for both the Written Thesis and Degree Project body of work that is the focus of Spring Semester for senior printmakers. Estimated Materials Cost: $200.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

This course offers a glimpse into the realities of pursuing a professional career in printmaking (and the fine arts). Various aspects of developing and maintaining a studio career will be covered including: CV, artist statements, and the effective preparation of competitive applications of all forms. Career Services serves as an important resource. Students will be expected to produce new work and related scholarship consistently, and frequently during the course of the term, with the goal of submitting the following prior to receipt of final grades: full and distributable CV, artist statement, short-form artist statement abstract, presentation of past/present/future work, a business card design ready for print, completed artist interview (with colleague from class), a WELL documented, hi-resolution, and fully-edited for submission, portfolio of AT LEAST 15, and up to 20 images of RECENT work, which includes detail and installation views, and a fully-detailed image list/inventory. During the course of the class students will also prep mock applications to at least 2 of the following (graduate school, artist residency, grant funding, etc.), and AT LEAST 1 of these applications will be brought to finalization and submitted to the institution of choice. Course will include in-progress critiques of recent work, group discussions, lectures, and presentations. Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

This course is designed to present various printmaking processes to students new and more experienced; majors and non-majors. In group or individually, beginners will learn and advanced students will review print techniques that span silkscreen, intaglio, photo/digital, and/or their printed combinations, e.g., students choose the print technique(s) they wish to be the focus of their final, printed edition. The course objective concentrates on visualizing a distinct, image, while respecting each printmaking discipline(s), as it melds medium, process and concept. Drawings, studies and printed proofs will be initially created to learn, explore and plan strategies for the edition. The editioned print can be either experimental or more traditional. The course will culminate in a professionally presented printed edition that will be kept by the artist numbering enough prints to accommodate a class print exchange. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Elective; advanced students only This course may be repeated for credit.

What does it mean to think through making work, to interrogate ideas as you investigate form? How do you iterate and generate, testing constants and variables, seeing the universal against the unique? By what means do you both initiate-and creatively sustain-a dialogue with yourself in the studio, actively engaging with both the ideas and the work you are producing? And finally: how does the very act of production help to illuminate alternative, provocative, even radical new forms of inquiry? This class will focus on framing practice as a function of the principles and processes you bring to your work. We'll investigate mark-making and note-taking; consider what it means to mine resources and assemble research; and examine how collecting and documenting expands your capacity to see, and by conjecture, to produce new things. We'll look at binary systems (the tension between fragility and permanence, for example) and at mediated systems (how, why, and where your work manifests); and at the critical role-and resonance-of personal narrative in the context of materiality, multiplicity, and medium. Combining critique, selected studio/museum visits, occasional readings and regular hands-on reviews, this weekly class for first-year graduate printmakers introduces both practical and philosophical approaches to making work in the studio. Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Major elective Open to Printmaking graduate-level students only. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of department.

Students will stretch their own screens and will be introduced to a wide range of stencil techniques (cut film, paper stencil, crayon and glue, tusche and glue, and photo). Students are urged to experiment with stencil and printing techniques to produce a portfolio of editioned prints. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00 Major requirement Open to non-majors as elective by permission of Instructor.

The use of light-based print processes is ubiquitous in contemporary printmaking. Light to Ink will lay a foundation of knowledge within the printmaking medium for using light as a part of the image-making process. The class is designed to introduce students to the basics of Printmaking using either hand made, digital or photo-made matrixes. The class will learn to make prints using the traditional print methods of intaglio, lithography and screenprint and build a base of information about the production of the film transparencies from which the matrix is made. Students will be taught the skills necessary to take the photo, computer, or handmade image from a one or a series of positive transparencies to a finished print. "From Light to Ink" is a starting point for growth and exploration in photo printmaking and an introduction to printing in intaglio, lithography and screenprint. No prior knowledge of printmaking is required. This class is most appropriate for sophomores, juniors and 1st semester seniors. Major requirement; Printmaking majors only. Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and department permission.

A Professional internship is one of the central experiences of a RISD Printmaking education. Students can participate in the collaborative process between artist and printer in a fine arts publishing shop, work with artist/printmakers in a community-based print facility, learn the newest photographic and digital print techniques in a state-of-the-art shop, assist an individual printmaker in a private studio or choose from many other educational opportunities. The department maintains relationships with many printshops including, Solo Impression, Renaissance Press, Pyramid Atlantic, Kala Institute and many more. Internship lists will be distributed and some printers will come to campus to conduct interviews.

The invasion of Ukraine has re-centered the world's attention to the central roles that Europe has and continues to play on the world stage in terms of its economy, its security and its cultural contributions. Cities we never heard of are now on all of our lips - Mariupol for example. With images of a new brutal war raging in Europe's largest country outside of Russia dredging up last century's 2 catastrophic European hot wars as well as the global tensions of the cold war and its misunderstood "end," the influence of what happens in Europe is again undeniable. What is Europe now? Why is it still important to visit and study there? There lessons to be learned in cities like Utrecht and even more so in Berlin about the devastation of war, the fragile promise of peace and the role of visual culture in both building and tearing down societies that cannot be learned in so viscerally in Providence. Leipzig now firmly "in the west" has produced some of the most interesting and influential contemporary artists of the last 40 years. Why? Perhaps due to its history "behind the iron curtain." What can we learn by visiting these places and studying art? This class concentrates on the role of the artist using traditional tools - ink drawings, paper formation and printmaking - through which students will record their observations and begin to think about global issues in visual terms. Through participation in 3 independent intensive workshops, students will make sumi ink drawings in Utrecht (3 days) in preparation for two workshops in Berlin making paper, and then making prints on that paper using the sumi drawings as the start of their design. Students will visit museums in Amsterdam, Leipzig and Berlin pertaining to both art and war, as well as 3 of the world's pre-eminent contemporary woodblock artists, Christiane Baumgartner, in Leipzig and Thomas Kilpper and Eva Pietzcker in Berlin if possible. In addition by traveling to The Netherlands and Germany, students will gain important perspectives on the international art world by visiting local and unique historic and contemporary collections, galleries and artist studios. The workshops give RISD students direct experience working in one of the world's historic fulcrums for both art and conflict where they will gain perspectives on both experiences not available on campus. Applications open in September. Registration begins in October at a time to be announced. All students are required to remain in good academic standing in order to participate in the WS travel course/studio. A minimum GPA of 2.50 is required. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Also in cases where WS travel courses and studios do not reach student capacity, the course may be cancelled after the last day of Wintersession travel course registration. As such, all students are advised not to purchase flights for participation in Wintersession travel courses until the course is confirmed to run, which happens within the week after the final Wintersession travel course registration period. Permission of Instructor required. Open to first year students with approval from the Dean of Experimental & Foundation Studies. 2023WS Estimated Travel Cost: TBD ***Off-Campus Study***

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

Contemporary Adaptations of Papermaking. The tradition of papermaking dates as far back as 200 BC. Humankind has used paper to archive and disseminate integral cultural knowledge, as well as to fabricate utilitarian items from clothing to furniture and beyond. In this beginner's course, we will be exploring the possibilities of paper starting from basic sheet formation all the way to sculptural applications, all the while keeping in mind the fascinating but oft neglected history of paper with an emphasis on traditional Japanese papermaking and fibers. We will take a deep dive into the sacred Japanese tradition of Washi paper production. To start, we will transform Kozo (mulberry) branches into the messy business of fiber, which becomes our pulp. Once familiarity with pulp has been achieved, we will begin with sheet formation in the traditional Japanese style, followed by pressing and drying our sheets. Additionally, we will dabble in paper pulp dying with both artificial and natural indigo dye, as well as casting and dipping methods for pulp sculpture. Studying the various fiber properties of differing materials used to make paper will be integral in gaining a better understanding of material possibilities. We will touch on materials outside of fiber in the course, including but not limited to recycled materials, natural and artificial inclusions, and ingredients found in the kitchen. Our papermaking begins with a humble mulberry plant but has the capability to transform beyond its initial form entirely.

This course will utilize both traditional and contemporary intaglio printmaking methods with the goal of exploring the transformation of images via re-working, experimenting, and re-imagining in response to experiment results. Taking inspiration from artisanal innovators throughout history, from Modernist printmakers to Medieval alchemists, students will be encouraged to form their own "recipes" and methods to inform their artistic process and aesthetic. This class will introduce the intaglio process as a form of image making that is fruitful for artist's who desire to be technically responsive, as well as artists who have a willingness to allow an image to greatly transform when going from mind to medium. Differing from a typical introductory course, Intaglio Laboratory is not about the edition, but the transformation and reconfiguration of an image, as well as material explorations. As we move through traditional copper plate making methods such as dry point, ground etching, and rosin aquatint, as well as traditional inking, wiping, and printing into contemporary methods of plate making and printing, students are encouraged to look at both prints and copper plates as pieces worth presenting, as well as are welcomed to work sculpturally in response to their image's transformation. Each week students will be guided through a series of plate making techniques that they will utilize one after the other, using one modest size plate of copper for each week's handful of techniques. As we move from week to week, students will be asked to bring their favorite technique from the previous week into the present weeks plate. Students will be required to keep a logbook, akin to a laboratory book, to record results and reflections, as well as a small suite of prints at the end of each week to present each phase of their image transformation & plate experimentation. These small suites of prints are to be thought of as a part of student's laboratory logging. As contemporary printmakers, students will be supported in their innovative explorations as they follow in the footsteps of inventive printmaking & artisan predecessors. Along with studio work, field trips to the RISD museum's Print collection and Fleet Library's Materials Collection will be incorporated, as well as reading discussions and group critiques. Each week will be guided by a conceptual prompt to inspire students in their image making. However, students are free to be conceptually self-directed. The final is open ended; students may turn in a print, a suite of prints, a plate, or other 3D works utilizing paper, copper, and intaglio printing. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00

Introduction to Silkscreen Printing will introduce students to the entire image-making process, from stencil making (digital/photographic stencils, CMYK, hand-drawn positives, paper & ruby-lith stencils, drawing fluid, laser cutting, and so on) and hand-pulled silkscreen printing techniques for beginning students. The final project 'Metamorphosis' will be a collaborative project using collage-like methods and various printing techniques such as drawing into prints, digital and/or photographic stencils as well as repeat patterns. Silkscreen is a time-based art making process. Students will experiment with many layers, and create multi-color layered variations. Independent and self-motivated projects will be encouraged using both traditional and nontraditional printmaking methods.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. An Independent Study may be taken either for credit within the Printmaking major or as a nonmajor studio elective, depending upon the subject matter under study and the major of the student. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

This course will introduce students to contemporary letterpress printing and artist's books. While keeping the broad historical role of letterpress printing and self-publishing in mind, the course will allow students to use the various incarnations of letterpress printing to further their own work. In this course, we will learn how to operate a Vandercook letterpress printing press: including how to set up types on the press bed; how to expose polymer plates to create graphics; as well as an introduction of the printing history of typography. We will also be learning non-stitch booking-binding techniques and essential pop-up book structures to render a more complex print project. The focus of this course will be for students to improve their letterpress printing skills and book making techniques, while allowing each student the time to develop a unique body of work. Students will be encouraged to be as experimental and interdisciplinary as possible, combining printmaking methods and other media for their final projects. Students will visit special collections for inspiration, experiment with various output devices including, digital printers, letterpress and polymer technologies, both traditional and experimental materials and bindings to position the final project- an Artist's Book into contemporary hands.

This course explores printmaking as a series of painterly and experimental processes, with and without a press. Students will learn a variety of techniques to produce monotypes and monoprints, as well as processes that can shape their art practice at large. Assignments will be process-based with no limitations placed on subject matter or content, but students will be encouraged to build their own lexicon of imagery and interests. In many ways this course is about finding new ways to make an impression, or reinvent an image. The course will function as an "open-studio" style format -- beginning with demonstrations and then utilizing the class work time allotted to its maximum potential. Printmaking requires good time management as a process-oriented medium with substantial set-up and clean-up. We will take time weekly to look at and discuss student work as well as look at prints and other reference material for inspiration and guidance. Because printmaking is a physical, materials and process-based medium, this course centers embodied experience and learning. While printmaking is often conceived of historically and artistically as a technical medium for reproduction, we instead will use printmaking's tools and processes as an invitation to explore its primary elements: pressure and impression, touch/tactility, materiality, translation, indexicality, multiplicity, experimentation, spontaneity, and playing with uncertainty. Rather than perfecting or mastering a technique, we will think about printmaking as resourcefulness, changing or reinventing rules to suit our purposes as artists.

A Professional internship is one of the central experiences of a RISD Printmaking education. Students can participate in the collaborative process between artist and printer in a fine arts publishing shop, work with artist/printmakers in a community-based print facility, learn the newest photographic and digital print techniques in a state-of-the-art shop, assist an individual printmaker in a private studio or choose from many other educational opportunities. The department maintains relationships with many printshops including, Solo Impression, Renaissance Press, Pyramid Atlantic, Kala Institute and many more. Internship lists will be distributed and some printers will come to campus to conduct interviews.

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

Engraving requires a single tool - the burin - to make intaglio prints of astounding clarity. The engraved line is unique in its brilliance and energy. A skilled engraver has complete mastery of every aspect of line, allowing a great range of expression from the most delicate linear shading to visceral gestures that stand our in relief when printed on the paper. Students will learn tool sharpening, image development, techniques for transferring designs to copper, burin use and special printing requirements. Emphasis will be placed on development of a personal language of marks appropriate to individual artistic needs. Museum visits and a master copy will provide inspiration for contemporary expression through an analysis of great engravings from the fifteenth century to the present. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 Elective Open to Printmaking majors only; sophomores and above. Open to non-majors with department permission.

Grad Print I will focus on the notion that Printmaking (and its constituent processes/techniques) are a "hub" within the visual arts. Students will experiment with a multitude of print processes that branch from drawing (a logical creative starting-point between Printmaking and Painting), and form extensions into the mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, and even video. Processes covered will include; drawing fluid/screen filler, screen monotype, image transfer, drypoint intaglio, and various other forms of monoprint. Assignments will require experimentation with each new technique and projects will require the individual exploration of these techniques and application to each students' personal studio practice. Demonstrations, presentations, and group/individual critiques will supplement all work time. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Open to all graduate-level students.

What is the curatorial imperative? By incorporating curation into studio practice, artists understand the context for placing new combinations into the world. Collecting, archiving and critical analysis of source material will develop a philosophy of stewardship. Central questions about printmaking as a crucial core for many disciplines that incorporate the relation between matrix and formed object, layers, reversals, positive and negative and replication of original and appropriated media will provide a structure. The state of print publishing, art fairs and current curatorial literature will inform ongoing discussion. Graduate major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

What is the place of printmaking in the art-world and the world at large today? Central questions about printmaking as a crucial core for many disciplines that incorporate the relation between matrix and formed object, layers, reversals, positive and negative, the replication of original and appropriated media will provide a structure. The state of print publishing, art fairs and current critical literature will inform ongoing discussions, research, and presentations. Graduate major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

Strategies for analysis and documentation are presented and discussed as students combine their research and reflections on their own evolving production into an illustrated, written thesis that organizes, focuses, and articulates their ideas. Artist's books, online publications and other formats will be explored. Intensive support for development and production of the thesis in relation to studio practice will be given. Graduate major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

Technical fundamentals related to each of the basic intaglio processes will be demonstrated throughout the semester. Traditional and contemporary intaglio applications will also be presented and experimentation will be encouraged. A series of monotypes, small editions in each process and a larger technical combination plate will comprise the final portfolio assignment. Imagery, concept and content will represent a primary course element as technical facility is mastered. Individual critiques will be the standard throughout and two group critiques at the midpoint and end of the semester will also be scheduled. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department; course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors as elective by permission of Instructor.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. An Independent Study may be taken either for credit within the Printmaking major or as a nonmajor studio elective, depending upon the subject matter under study and the major of the student. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

This course sustains the search for personal, idiosyncratic visual direction. Printmaking applications are refined, experimentation is engaged and study incorporates group discussion, readings and critical writing related to texts provided and visits to libraries, museums and galleries. In addition, students will update the resume created during the previous semester, an artist statement will be written, cover letters and employment/grant applications will be addressed at regular intervals throughout the semester. Installation and presentation of work created will be analyzed as a critical component. At the end of the semester, students will discuss their current work in oral/power point format as it relates to personal research of historical and contemporary art/artists. Critiques, group and individual will occur each week and an outside guest critic will be engaged for mid-semester and the final critiques. Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

This course will introduce students to contemporary letterpress printing. While keeping the broad historical role of letterpress printing in mind, the course will allow students to use the various incarnations of letterpress printing to further their own work. The focus of the course will be learning to print, and print well, how to troubleshoot on the Vandercook proof press, and exploring how the different approaches, processes, papers, and techniques effect and direct the finished work. The course will begin with an overview of letterpress printing history and its relation to the evolution of typography, and its major impact on, and reaction to, societal change. We will first focus on setting and printing from handset type, and more traditional image making techniques (read: Linocuts!), and then introduce digital images through the use of polymer plates. Once the basics of the process have been covered, the focus will be on students using the techniques and processes to further their own work, and the creation of a final project using any of the techniques as appropriate to the piece. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

This course offers basic black and white lithographic technical applications on lithostone and lithoplate to those students who are at the beginning level. Contemporary techniques, and technical short-cuts will elaborate on traditional processing. Experimentation is encouraged throughout the semester while emphasis is placed on the development of personally innovative imagery and concept. Informal group and individual critiques are conducted in conjunction with group mid-semester and final critiques. A professionally portfolio of assigned prints is due at the end of the course. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major requirement, Prinmatking majors only. Registration by Printmaking Department; course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.

Make you own paper for printing or three-dimensional constructions in this hand on experimental studio course in making paper. Curriculum will include: paper specifications, basic sheet formation, Japanese Plant fibers, recycled materials, paper modules and screens, along with paper structures for installation based work. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00 Elective Open all students.

A Professional internship is one of the central experiences of a RISD Printmaking education. Students can participate in the collaborative process between artist and printer in a fine arts publishing shop, work with artist/printmakers in a community-based print facility, learn the newest photographic and digital print techniques in a state-of-the-art shop, assist an individual printmaker in a private studio or choose from many other educational opportunities. The department maintains relationships with many printshops including, Solo Impression, Renaissance Press, Pyramid Atlantic, Kala Institute and many more. Internship lists will be distributed and some printers will come to campus to conduct interviews.

The Degree Project involves a semester of guided, but essentially independent study to test the student's ability to design and successfully complete a substantial, comprehensive body of work. A Degree Project Proposal is submitted at the end of Wintersession in February. Each senior's body of work is ultimately presented in a Printmaking Degree Project Exhibition in the Woods-Gerry Gallery at the end of the semester. In addition, this course works in tandem with last semester's Senior Degree Project: Seminar topics. Accordingly, a Degree Project Final Folder is also submitted containing, DP Proposal, Final Statement, Resume, Artist Statement, and images of Degree Project work. It is important to note that the Printmaking Degree Project follows grant procedure, thus, its potential value to the graduated senior with a Printmaking BFA degree in the professional realm. Estimated Materials Cost: $200.00 Major requirement; Printmaking majors only Registration by Printmaking Department, course not available via web registration.

This course is intended to build on a basic Screen print foundation. Beginning with fine tuning basic stencil making and registration and printing techniques. The course will move on to working big. It's what screen printing can do more efficiently and in a lower cost-effective way than any other traditional printmaking technique. The class will cover printing with a one arm squeegee designed for printing large stencils and on a 10-foot fabric/paper printing table made to print along lengths of paper or fabric, joining each impression to the previous one to create continuous surfaces. Methods for producing handmade stencils to making the matrix from fine dot digitally made positives will be demonstrated and taught. Screen printing on substrates from fabrics, rolled paper, rag sheets and other surfaces will be explored. Images can involve repeated pattern, be large scale image oriented, or tiled depending on each student's individual content issues and image needs. In the second half of the semester the students will embark on a research project aimed at; producing a large-scale print or series of large scale prints, printed fabric yardage, rolled wallpaper, installation. A proposal due at mid semester will serve as a starting point for the project it should speak to; focus and direction, content and form, the techniques and strategies planned, how will the stencils be made; handmade photo, computer generated half tones or line, what materials, tools will you use what will you print on. What artist influence the work? What do you look to and at for inspiration? Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Elective Open to sophomore and above.

This course is designed to present various printmaking processes to students new and more experienced; majors and non-majors. In group or individually, beginners will learn and advanced students will review print techniques that span silkscreen, intaglio, photo/digital, and/or their printed combinations, e.g., students choose the print technique(s) they wish to be the focus of their final, printed edition. The course objective concentrates on visualizing a distinct, image, while respecting each printmaking discipline(s), as it melds medium, process and concept. Drawings, studies and printed proofs will be initially created to learn, explore and plan strategies for the edition. The editioned print can be either experimental or more traditional. The course will culminate in a professionally presented printed edition that will be kept by the artist numbering enough prints to accommodate a class print exchange. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Elective; advanced students only This course may be repeated for credit.

What does it mean to think through making work, to interrogate ideas as you investigate form? How do you iterate and generate, testing constants and variables, seeing the universal against the unique? By what means do you both initiate-and creatively sustain-a dialogue with yourself in the studio, actively engaging with both the ideas and the work you are producing? And finally: how does the very act of production help to illuminate alternative, provocative, even radical new forms of inquiry? This class will focus on framing practice as a function of the principles and processes you bring to your work. We'll investigate mark-making and note-taking; consider what it means to mine resources and assemble research; and examine how collecting and documenting expands your capacity to see, and by conjecture, to produce new things. We'll look at binary systems (the tension between fragility and permanence, for example) and at mediated systems (how, why, and where your work manifests); and at the critical role-and resonance-of personal narrative in the context of materiality, multiplicity, and medium. Combining critique, selected studio/museum visits, occasional readings and regular hands-on reviews, this weekly class for first-year graduate printmakers introduces both practical and philosophical approaches to making work in the studio. Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Major elective Open to Printmaking graduate-level students only. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of department.

This course is specifically designed to address the format of a printed suite, a series of related images on a theme or story, using basic intaglio techniques. Progress and mastery of techniques will allow the student to progress to more advanced techniques and color printing. A minimum of six images in the suite is required with a minimum edition of six prints of each image. As this is a course that addresses miniature or small scale, prints are not to exceed 4" on any side. An archival portfolio will be fabricated to professionally present and contain the finished suite accompanied by its related colophon page. Estimated Materials Cost: $75.00 Major elective Open to non-majors as an elective. Course can be repeated for credit.

The Sculptural Print looks to the multiple as a material (rather than a form) for the construction of one-of-a-kind works. The primary technical focuses will be in photo-emulsion based screenprinting, polymer-plate etching/intaglio, and basic relief printing. Students will be asked to design unique image vocabularies, transform and translate them to various matrices, and then to alter, manipulate, reimagine, and finally to build structural pieces using the printed matter. In the first half of the term, class sessions will begin with a presentation of artist precedents and technical demonstrations. In the second half, classes will still begin with a short presentation, and will then focus largely on in-progress critique and technical troubleshooting/consultation. Works completed for midterm will be based on provided prompts with detailed parameters and require students to work in series and at a large-scale. The final will be fully self-directed. Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Major elective Open to juniors, serniors and graduate-level students. Permission of Instructor required.

Students will stretch their own screens and will be introduced to a wide range of stencil techniques (cut film, paper stencil, crayon and glue, tusche and glue, and photo). Students are urged to experiment with stencil and printing techniques to produce a portfolio of editioned prints. Estimated Materials Cost: $175.00 Major requirement Open to non-majors as elective by permission of Instructor.