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

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

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 focus 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 Cost of Materials: $175.00

Elective

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 Cost of Materials: $175.00

Elective

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 Cost of Materials: $175.00

Elective

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 Cost of Materials: $100.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

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 Cost of Materials: $100.00

This course is a requirement for Sophomore Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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 Cost of Materials: $200.00

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

This course begins with Japanese moku-hanga techniques learning the fundamentals of water-based East Asian relief printmaking, including carving, printing with sumi inks, watercolors and rice paste. Students will be required to make exact editions using this technique as a way of ensuring mastery.

Pivoting at the mid-term, students will design their own relief print projects, using the techniques that most fit their aesthetic needs, whether those be from Eastern or Western traditions. Large scale prints and 3 dimensional prints will be encouraged, as will a wide range of woodblock printing techniques depending on the needs of each student—which might include chiaroscuro, reduction, multi-color printing, and digital processes such as laser cutting and experimenting with alternative substrates and unconventional materials.

Elective

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

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 Cost of Materials: $200.00

Enrollment is limited to Senior Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

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.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

Graduate 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 Cost of Materials: $100.00

Open to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

Graduate 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 Cost of Materials: $100.00

Open to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

Since the invention of the printing press, printmaking has been uniquely tied to text. In this course, we will use intaglio printmaking as a medium for exploring how images and words can come together to inform and expand our practices. We will experiment with the role text can play as a visual element, research tool, and vehicle for clarifying ideas. Intaglio printmaking will provide the medium for exploring the relationship between text and image. Student-artists will learn techniques including drypoint, hard and soft ground etching, aquatint, and photo-based intaglio as they work toward a final project that brings together text and image. This course will focus on the development of ideas through the interplay of visual and textual modes of thinking, group discussions, demonstrations, group and individual critiques, museum and special collections visits, and creation of a final print portfolio.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

This course offers basic lithographic technical applications on Bavarian Limestones. Students will learn about the history of Lithography, learn traditional and contemporary processing techniques, and develop the skills necessary to print fine art lithography prints. In this course, students will investigate their personal assumptions of aesthetics in art and the conceptual weight of visual aesthetics as it relates to their work. By exploring mark making and various techniques unique to lithography, students will define their own visual aesthetic as symbolic imagery. The course will include a variety of conceptual readings and discussions focusing on visual aesthetics, symbolism, and print philosophies. Experimentation is encouraged throughout the session with an emphasis on the development of personally innovative imagery and concept. Informal group and individual critiques are conducted in conjunction with group final critiques. A professional portfolio of assigned prints is due at the end of the course.

This course will introduce students to contemporary letterpress printing as a medium for exploring language, poetry, identity, culture, and social change. While keeping the broad historical role of letterpress printing in mind, students will consider how printed matter has been used to circulate ideas, challenge dominant narratives, build communities, and respond to social and political change. The focus will be on learning to print (and print well!), troubleshooting on the Vandercook proof press, and exploring how different approaches, processes, papers, and techniques affect and direct the finished work. We will begin with an overview of letterpress printing history, its relationship to the evolution of typography, and its role in the circulation of poetry, political ideas, and social movements.