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 Cost of Materials: $125.00

Please contact the instructor for permission to register. Preference is given to Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.

Elective

Intaglio: Alternative Practices builds bridges from experience in the medium of intaglio by presenting advanced and innovative platemaking and printing processes 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 Cost of Materials: $125.00

Elective

Pattern and print have been closely linked since the development of printing techniques in East Asia in the 600s. Since then, printed patterns have enriched pictorial art, textiles and wallcoverings - any surface that can take a print. All printmaking methods have been used to create patterns, from the earliest woodblocks to digital printing today.

 This course explores a handmade approach to pattern through drafting on graph paper, working with gouache, carving wood blocks in relief and printing with distemper paints. Emphasis will be placed on developing structures that exploit the fixed size of a block to make patterns that are satisfying when spread over a large area. The potential of the carved and printed mark and impact of layering with a small number of colors will be explored in individual and group projects. Students with prior printmaking experience will be free to execute designs in a range of media such as screenprint, intaglio and letterpress.

The hands-on approach will provide a foundation for exploration of design and printing methods introduced in the second half of the course. Students will work through a series of self-directed projects and apply appropriate computer programs as needed.

 A final portfolio/collection of patterns will employ and potentially combine techniques and methods learned in class. Readings about the history and theory of pattern design will be presented throughout the class and RISD Museum and Fleet Library collections will be consulted for historical background and inspiration.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $120.00

Elective

In today’s competitive higher education landscape, MFA graduates must go beyond artistic excellence to secure a full-time teaching appointment. MFA Forward: From Studio to Professorship equips emerging art professionals with the essential tools for thriving in academia. Through a focused blend of workshops and practical exercises, students will learn how to build compelling cover letters, refine portfolios of both personal and student work, write impactful teaching philosophies and diversity statements, and secure powerful references to support their candidacy.

Students will also receive in-depth guidance on crafting a polished curriculum vitae that highlights their unique blend of creative and pedagogical strengths. Interactive sessions on acing the job talk and navigating the campus interview process prepare students to present confidently to search committees. Finally, the course addresses how to sidestep the “adjunct trap” and plan a more sustainable, long-term career trajectory. By synthesizing these professional development strategies with each student’s creative vision, MFA Forward cultivates artists who can seamlessly transition from the studio to the classroom—and ultimately, into full-time professorships that recognize and reward their investment in artistic and academic excellence.

Elective

This co-requisite interdisciplinary course qualifies for both Liberal Arts Elective credit (LAEL) and either Non-major Studio Elective credit (NMSE) or Printmaking credit, brings together Black literary and print traditions to inform our understanding of American civil society and, more broadly, democracy and its complex relationship to freedom as a cultural phenomenon. Throughout the course, we will examine a number of central questions:  What is the relationship between concepts of political power and the black archive as a blueprint for liberatory praxis? How can we use ideas of liberation found in black letters to narrate through offset and letterpress print design? What is Rhode Island’s role in these histories and stories of resistance?

Rooted in our local histories of Black resistance and offset and letterpress print craft, the first half of this course will use a lecture and group discussion format to examine the importance of the liberatory imagination in primary source documentation. A core objective is to clarify the silences surrounding oppressive ideology and its promotion of racially repressive phenomena through print culture and political counterframes.

Note: This is a co-requisite course for Juniors, Seniors, Fifth-year and Graduate Students. Enrollment includes both LAEL 3150 and PRINT 3250. Students will receive 3 studio (open studio elective, if applicable to the student's degree program), OR non-major studio elective credits AND 3 liberal arts elective credits (6 credits total).

This course is not available for registration in Workday. To register, please email the Registrar's Office at registrar@risd.edu. Registration will close once the course reaches capacity.

Elective

This studio course introduces students to the art and craft of papermaking, focusing on traditional Chinese and Japanese methods. Students will learn paper specifications, fiber preparation, sheet formation, and processed paper techniques, working with both plant fibers and recycled materials. The course also explores how handmade paper can be applied in two- and three-dimensional projects, including sheet production, book arts, and installation-based work.

Elective

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.

Elective

Printmaking and The Politics of Protest examines the role of prints and printed matter in the context of political protest, the power of images, and how artists as well as non-artists have asserted and supported social justice and sustainability issues through art. While exploring the historical and structural basis of inequality, students will learn different theoretical paradigms and techniques for visual analysis in order to understand how visual media can inscribe and dismantle power and be a catalyst for change while mediating numerous social, economic, cultural and political differences. More importantly students will form recognition of their positions in an increasingly pluralistic world while fostering an understanding of social and cultural differences. This will be investigated through some of the following methods: lectures, exhibitions, guest lectures, video, historical art and media, group research initiatives, and the discussion of and creation of images that define and explore issues impacting our lives.

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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. This course is not available to Sophomore Printmaking Students.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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. Course may be repeated for credit.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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 Cost of Materials: $175.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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 Cost of Materials: $175.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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 first semester seniors.

Open to Junior, Senior or Graduate Painting Students. 
 

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

Building on the fundamentals of lithography this course will explore the technical, aesthetic and conceptual aspects of colour printing. Using ball grained aluminum plates and photolithography plates students will develop their imagery and concepts. Students will be encouraged to innovate and experiment with colour and image making techniques in conjunction with craft and technical mastery. Technical demonstrations, individual and group critiques will be used throughout the semester to encourage students' artistic practice. Hand drawn and digitally generated films for photo litho plates and traditional drawing on ball grained plates will be demonstrated among other techniques.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $75.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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.

Open to Graduate Painting Students. 
 

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

This is a seminar class for the senior printmaking student. The course addresses practical topics related to becoming a professional artist after graduation. Topics include (1) professional content development as applied one’s CV, artist statement, website, and social media promotion; (2) class discussions about galleries, museums, graduate programs, auction houses, and grants; (3) examination of marketing channels for today’s artist; (4) introduction to business skills and professionalism as appropriate for the art world. Professionals from related fields will be invited to the class to share their expertise and experience. 

Open to Senior Printmaking Students. 
 

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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/powerpoint 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.

Open to Junior Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

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.

Open to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

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 Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective