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THE PERSONALITY OF PRINTMAKING

INTERVIEW OF EUGENE YU AND TREVOR SCHNEIDER

I will repost with a better formatted version, haha

EUGENE: Hi, hello. This is Eugene. uh Eugene you. I'm a fourth year student here at UIUC studying studio art. with no particular concentration. I guess I do painting. I do printmaking. I did a little bit of fashion. and an MFA candidate at Washu. And I'm also with…

TREVOR: uh my name is Trevor Schneider. I am a senior in uh printmaking. That is my concentration. I used to be a graphic design major, but transferred uh majors. Yeah. So Eugene, why don't you uh get into our first question here? Well, what got you into printmaking?

EUGENE: Well, first, I think it's always just another class that you take. I mean, for me at least, uh just another class that I wanted to take for credits. got with uh this person named E. She's a paper maker, also. I think adjunct faculty at times and uh she taught intro to printmaking. It was just, I think I really enjoyed the class.

It was a lot of varieties of printmaking and we got to do a little bit of everything. We started with the relief and then we did Intalio. and then we finished all with screenrinting, which, you know, the three major things. And I thought everything was just really cool. I mean, I think I wasn't good at it to say that like, you know, I'm doing this because I'm good at it. I was just saying, oh, this is another thing that I can do, you know. What about you, Trevor? What got you into printmaking?

TREVOR: Well, I was a still a graphic design major at the time, but I took a print-making class. It was the intro class, and I didn't really know kind of like what I was getting into really. I just like, I appreciate my advisor told me it was interesting.

Yeah, yeah. um So I took their class and, you know, every new uh form of printmaking we learned. It was just like, I was just like, whoa, yeah, this is actually awesome. I think I want to do more of this. And on top of that, I made some pretty cool looking stuff. I must say, Not, I mean, you know, it I just, you know, it was making really cool stuff, at least in my opinion, you know,

EUGENE: Would you say that you're talented?

TREVOR: Um, I don't know. I mean, I think everyone is skilled. If you can successfully pull off any form of printmaking, you know, then you have to have at least some kind of talent or skill. I think. Oh, well, one thing that I made that I thought was really cool was um, I mean like my very first print that I ever made, or I think it was like my first- my second, but it was in intro and like I still continue to make prints using that same linocut like to this day and I still hold it to like how do you it was just like a core of an apple and it was like my first linocut ever is Yeah, and I just kind of like it's like my one of my favorite things ever. And I don't know, then something like that just kind of like set my whole trajectory of printmaking, you know?

EUGENE: Yeah.

TREVOR: All right. So, what was like your favorite? I mean, what's your favorite form of print making, Eugene?

EUGENE: I think that changed a lot as things went for a long time. It was screen print because, you know, you can just design an image and print it. And sorry for the sirens. It's horrible, but um now, recently this semester, I picked up lithography. It's a class that professor Emmy Linghscheight taught. And I think oh man, that I'm I'm in love with lithography. I think lithography is my favorite form of printmaking. I think, I don't know. Lithography have just the drawing aspect that, you know, etching may have and like, you know, the image design that, you know, screenprint, like layers and like the ability to work reductively, like, you know, that's, again, goes into like relief and also, you know, etching. So, and I'm specifically, like, you know, talking about the practice of maninor, like, which is like reductive. But anyways, I think lithography I just offered so much possibility and I just love drawing on a surface that is as crazy as a stone and then like later transferring that drawing onto something else. I think that's just crazy of its own. And it's chemistry, which I don't like usually like. But, you know, even after I spilled acid on myself, I find I find chemistry a little bit more bearing. What about you, Trevor? And what's your favorite form of printmaking?

TREVOR: You know, you bring a very good point with the lithography and how it's like so intricate and, you know, really cool process. That, I mean, since I'm in the class too, I sort of also have recency bias. I love lithoography. I think it's really cool, but kind of like when I was saying before, what really kind of got me into um print-making was those, um , uh, sorry, the techniques that we learned in in show class, you know, like the linocut, I would probably have to say that's my favorite. um, but also like screen printing, you know, can't hate on that. That's probably like top three and intalio.

EUGENE: OK rank it it top three.

TREVOR: top three oh, wait, that's like really tough. Okay. Inalio, I would only place it a little bit lower because it's so like exhausting to do I feel like and it's just such a

EUGENE:I feel like copper plate in general. It's like harsh.

TREVOR: Yeah, it is just a long process, but it you can make some really beautiful work. I just wish I I mean if it was just like I don't know never mind. I can't say if it was easier I'd like it better But that's crazy. But um I probably put that at like four

EUGENE: Four? At top three?

TREVOR Wait, wait, wait. top one one is linocut. Two is, uh damn, maybe lithography.

EUGENE: Two lithography?

TREVOR or two maybe dude. I'm sorry. What's your top three?

EUGENE: I'll give you my three what's your top three? Okay, my top three I already thought about this while I asked so lithography number one, definitely. um and then screen printing. And then third is probablyin cut slash like, you know, reductive kind of relief printing.

<MODERATOR> Is riso not in your top three?

EUGNE not my not in my top three, not in my top three. I'm solid on my top three. Lino, uh I mean fuck litho, screenrinting, Lino.

TREVOR: Okay. I think Lino or you don't this is actually really tough question. It'd probably be like Lino litho screen printing intaligio. Riso at the very bottom. I I hate risograph. just not, not me. It It's fun, it's cool, but I don't know, I really like it. um but are there any, are there forgetting?

EUGENE:I don't know, what other um if you consider like letter press as like a form

TREVOR:Oh yeah, I haven't I haven't ever done letter press.

EUGENE: Yeah I don't know how to asking the wrong people. Okay, Trevor, what is a project that you worked on recently recently that you enjoyed?

TREVOR: um Well, um since I am in lithography right now, I think I would have to go with um the uh plate lithothography project that we just did and the stone litho. I mean, both are really cool. I think it's already packed. um I think, uh, yeah, the stone lithography, I really enjoyed that project. I mean, even like the process of drawing on it really cool. So I would definitely say lithography.

EUGENE: What about like a project, like like describe the project just literally just describe how you like lithography. You can cut this far out. What project?

TREVOR: Okay, you're right. um Well, this one project I worked on recently was the Bombing of Capitol Hill print. um That one was definitely a fan favorite.

EUGENE: It's a beautiful print

TREVOR:It's a beautiful print

EUGENE: <background noise> Describe your process of making that like what made you want to make it?

TREVOR: You know, there's a lot of different um things happening in the world right now, politically, uh economically. and sometimes things like that can influence, you know, what my art comes out to be. And I thought, you know, like, why not um include like some subtle opinions on this?

EUGENE: <laughing> Some would say subtle

TREVOR: well well I I don't know. I remember seeing this one guy he like paints images of like banks that are like on fire or like exploding whatever and I guess it's sort of like a nod to that maybe

EUGENE: Yeah I see that as an inspiration.

TREVOR: But uh I don't know. I I did a Xerox transfer of the Capitol building, which I thought was really cool and then but like everything else was drawn, hand drawn, and it was really fun making it and drawing on the stone and using that heavy machinery to like move the stone around and having to to grind it, or what was it called?

EUGENE: Graining

TREVOR: Graining the stones. Not grinding. Grained the stone was like a whole process on its own. It was a whole workout. But like, I don't know, it felt like once I completed successfully, like that whole print, it was like, um very rewarding um . Lithography, I would say one of the best aspects of it is that it's so rewarding.

EUGENE: Yeah, definitely.

TREVOR: How about you, Eugene? What did you uh what's the project you worked on recently that you really like?

EUGENE: Well, shoot. I think I always have to say lithography. Yeah, I mean, again, goes into the same class. Is that where we're both taking. um Trevor's a great friend and uh yeah, um this one project that I just worked on is called “HOME” . It's a maniere noire lithography print. Maniere noir describes the process of reductive printing, which is you kind of roll up your stone black and then scratch away at the blackness and then like reveal. Sorry. Revealed the the stone like underneath. It's kind of like etching. I see it, how you scratch away at the hard ground. Or like in some ways, like, you know, relief printing, cutting Lino, cutting wood, anything that includes the idea of reductive. So, yeah, and within that border, I did a image of a Chinese character of a home and uh inspired by like a lot of Chinese door hangings of like luck or like bringing luck in the idea of. So, okay, basically Chinese people would hang these things on their door. They're typically shaped like a it's a red diamond shape with the letter of luck or like, you know, blessing of anything like, you know, of that sort on it to like represent bringing in good luck. And I was inspired by that concept, basically making one of home. And on that letter of home I scratched in a picture of my father holding my dog, just chilling, watching TV. I think, yeah, I don't know. I think a lot of my work recently I think, yeah, I don't know. A lot of my work recently have just been center around this one theme. Maybe I'm kind of miss home. And yeah, and I printed that image on red diamond paper, so to represent going back into that idea. And I've been planning to include this print on another installation or like just having it installed on something else in general. And, yeah, I'm really excited about where that is going.

TREVOR: Me too. I really like that print of yours. What about like.

EUGENE: Okay. Trevor. What does print making mean to you as opposed to like other art mediums? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, you can cut that one out, but.

<MODERATOR> Well, you do it.

EUGENE: Sorry for the interruption. Sorry. Okay, Trevor.

TREVOR: Wait, I wanted to add on I never I realized I never really even described what my thing kind of was um basically, it was these planes bombing the Capitol building with some uh explosions and um yeah. All right, moving on. Okay, I feel like we should move on, um Eugene. What does printmaking mean to you? I know that's a loaded question, but like, try your best to answer that as opposed to other art mediums specifically.

EUGENE: Of course. um I think nowadays I will consider myself a painter, if anything. I paint a lot. I think I always just enjoy enjoyed the idea of drawing and like printmaking at first seemed like so unreal to me because it was like the action of doing something more than like drawing and like, you know, painting. And I think the reason that nowadays, I think lithography is my favorite way of primaking is that I found back that idea of drawing and, you know, sketching and stuff like back into like primaking. So I kind of like, so I would say lithography is like the linkage between like my usual practice.

[Group contemplating eating chips during the interview] And I don't think you should do it. It's gonna be like crunchy and stuff.

Okay, um And um yeah, so I think in terms of just print making itself, it's what fascinates me is the reproduction of it. It's like I can make a drawing and I can make a painting and I can take a picture of it. But the, the actual painting, like would only be one actual painting. It's like, you know, the Walter Benjamin idea of like aura, you know what I mean? It's like the Mona Lisa, like as you talked about it. It's like like paintings there can only be one, but like in printmaking, like you you can reproduce something like so many times and they'll all be each individual in like each pieces of his own. And I think that idea just really amazed me. Like, from a long time, I really liked the idea of like misprints, like printmaking that like not every print is going to come out like the same, especially with things with like multi-layered stuff, like with registrations. I think like it's really hard to like actually get everything right. Like the ones that are presented perfectly are usually like one in 30 or like one in like 20, whatever, you know? But most of those like, you know, out of an addition of 30, like most of them are probably going to have like flaws in them, whereas like, oh, this one little piece is off or like this this like didn't go straight or something like that, you know? And I think that idea is just really amusing to me also. It's like, how do you have so many like pieces that are actually uniquely original? Like, I think I'm more intrigued by the idea of printmaking and that's and I think that's what why it means so much to me, you know? like, it just intrigues me a lot. It scratches my brain. brain more than like, you know, is something that I can like touch and feel. What about you, Trevor? What does making means to you as opposed to other art medium?

TREVOR: Well, you said a lot of things that I feel like I would mention, at least eventually, if I answer this question. But um I think how I think one thing that printmakingmaking means to me, like, as opposed to other art readoms that it's just very, um, I'm trying to think of a word that I could use to encapsulate it all. But the fact that there are so many different kinds of printmaking, and each of them can produce such unique and creative, incredible artwork while, like being able to make multiples of that print, you know, it's just incredible. And, you know, there's a process on top of these unique prints, there's a unique process for each of these kinds of printmaking. And, you know, if you don't like one form, you know, there are plenty of others that you probably will like, you know, you can really you know, if you're a printmaker, like if that's you as your title, that doesn't say a whole lot until you get into the depths of it and the details, you know, because, you know, if you have the title of a painter, you paint images, but even with the with like with the brush if you're a title of a print maker, you use your hands, but it's different, you know, there's so many different kinds of printmaking, and, you know, so many different levels and it's just really cool. And I love the fact that, you know, because there are so many different forms and different kinds of ways to approach things, the variety of work that can be produced from printmaking is I'd feel like multiplied by like a hundred as opposed to like other kinds of mediums and yeah, printmaking it is just, it's awesome. You can get really, really into it.

EUGENE:Yeah, I totally agree. It's endless the possibility.

TREVOR: Yes, possibilities really are endless.

EUGENE: Yeah, like, okay, Trevor, if you were to reproduce your Apple core image on like another format of primaking, what would you do it in? again? If you were to reproduce your apple coret lino cut image in like another format of printmaking, what would you do with it?

TREVOR: Oh, I would love to try doing that in lithography, like drawing that on a stone

EUGENE: That would be socool. Like, realistically?

TREVOR: Yeah, but also like

EUGENE: You totally do that.

TREVOR: Oh yeah, Another thing that I love about printmaking is that different kinds of different forms of permaking can help you achieve different effects that you're trying to reach. Like if you have a certain style of art that you like to make, like certain forms of printmaking are better for you, like linocutt, you can be really gritty and like, um, like jagged and um rough. I don't know, I feel like this are good words for it. Like you can be. And like I made this like spider looking thing, which is like kind of has similar vibes and it's just like really cool. But yeah, to answer your question, uh, or maybe in intalgio. Yeah. I don't know. I haven't done Intalio in so long, but

EUGENE: It’s an alien process man, like dipping something in acid tanks

TREVOR: Yeah, it is I don't understand how people like came up with these anyways, what's something what's like a project that you made that you want to that you would do in a different form?

EUGENE: Ooh. hmm. I feel like that is a good question on itself, but then I I kind of my mind kind of went went to like adding on to something. It's like like something that I failed to mention is like a lot of these techniques can combine, like, you know, you can like

TREVOR: screenprint on your litho?

EUGENE: Yeah, exactly. And I I think my mind kind of more went there where it was like, ooh, I can add something like that to like this project. Because I was maybe want to like develop like my home, like print like poster, but like, I don't know, scree print something over it, like, but have the same image. I don't know. Yeah. All right. Do you feel like there's a community when it comes to print making?

TREVOR: Uh, yeah. um, you know, that's actually a very on, like a good timed question. Like, so the printmaking program at UIUC is uh, it's not big. It's not, I don't think it's cared for as much as opposed to other schools, um, even other, like art forms schools, but, you know, the program is not that big, but I would say the community within it is the only printmaking community that I experienced up until recently when I went to Puerto Rico for the printmakingg conference, you know, my mind was, uh, what's the word? Like my mind was opened to all these possibilities. Like the amount of people that are like it was just like so much community that I didn't even realize was out there. and like even people who, you know, don't, like, aren't even like friends, like you can already feel the sense of community when you're all primakers and you're all like doing this prim making stuff. and, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are just, you know, awesome and, you know, talking to other printmakers is just, it's always fun conversations.

But would I say there's a big community, a printmaking community at UIUC? Sort of. You know, we have printmaking club. That's awesome. That's community in itself um, but even larger than that, you know, going beyond our school, uh there is community out there. There is a printmaking community and it's, you know, it may be hard to reach, you know, there's only so many printakers compared to other uh artists, but um, yeah. the answer is yes. What about you, I'm going to flip that question on you.

EUGENE: Of course. um yeah, I feel like to me the community part of printmaking really shines through in the idea of like you can talk to someone about things that only like you guys can understand. Like I can't speak to anyone else about lithography, you know? Like no one is going to understand what I'm talking about when I say like, oh, I'm graining a stone and the drawing on it and then like, you know, etching it. Like, that's just like, I feel like it's this tightly packed knowledge that brings us together, you know, as a class, or like, you know, just as friends. And, you know, is that part of the process of like learning something together and doing something together that like makes the process more fun, I think, or I believe in is that way.

And I don't know. I think I just would love to like, I think the perfect example of this is like, I can always show like my stuff to my parents. Like, oh, I made this like cool painting. And then I show it to my parents. And then I'll obviously get a different reaction as if I show my painting to like, you know, someone that does painting. And I see that and like I see that sense and also like printmaking, you know. I would love to see other printmakers print and I would like, if I ever make prints or like keep continuing to make prints, I'll like, you know, try to find print makers to show my prints to. And I think that's the connection for me. Yeah. We said that insane. Okay, Trevor. How would you recommend someone to get into printmaking? It's kind of a broad question. What about like, let me kind of thin it down. In printmaking in like college or like, you know, just in general in like this teenage, like developing years, not as say, like, you know, later on in life in like our age range. Or actually, I don't know, I'm sorry for saying that. You can answer that however you want.

TREVOR: That is a loaded question. How would I recommend someone getting into printmaking? Well, I feel like I need to start off by saying I feel like making is such a low percent chance of like possibility when someone (A) is has like the creative bone in their body and (B) wants to pursue arts and © decides to go to college for that. It's like those are three baselines that they would have to, you know, be in order to like do something like

EUGENE: I don't think they have to like all coexist, though. I think it could like be one of those three things, you know, that gets

TREVOR: No, it has to be all three. What do you mean?

EUGENE: You don't think non-collegoers can do print making?

TREVOR: I no, I said to be like I said for example, to be like choosing that as your major at a school.

EUGENE: Ohhhh

TREVOR: all three of those things would have to

EUGENE: oh yeah, to choose it as a your major, but I questioned it

TREVOR: No, I'm still getting into the question. It's all part of my answer.

EUGENE:<laughing> Ok sorry, keep cooking

TREVOR:<laughing> let me cook- Okay. um and but I'm saying like it's such a low chance that someone picks printmaking as something they're going to pursue because I feel like, you know, drawing or painting or like photography or graphic design. Those are just like way more likely in today's society. you know, I feel like printmaking is just it's more it's more foreign to to artists um unless they're actually known it is in or, you know, into it. But I feel like there are people who, you know, see it and then they like think like, oh, hey, that's really cool. And then they may be, you know, involved in one um realm of art, but then, you know, think like, oh, they might try to dabble in printmaking because they think, like, oh, my friend made this shirt using printmaking screenprinting like, that's really cool. I want to try that. There are some people in our class who are like other majors, but are just like in a print-making class because I think it's awesome. And then find out that it's like really cool. But I think if I were to say like, hey, I know you're like really art seed to someone, but and I think you should try printmaking, I think I would have to say like with a part of me telling that to them, I would feel like I would have to recommend a certain form of printmaking that I think would suit a beginner or someone who wants to become interested.

EUGENE: Let me ask you this, this. um as someone who, like, if I were someone who never, like ever done printmaking before and like has like little experience in drawing, like, what would you, what was the format of printmaking that you would recommend me to do?

TREVOR: Yeah, um Well, I think I would say linocut.

Eugene: Fair?

TREVOR: Or maybe screen printing because that's something, you know, a lot of people just like want to make a shirt and that's what they want to do. But I would say something, you know, even though linocut is like one of my favorite, uh forms of printmaking, it's and it's still, I mean, even though it's kind of I would say easy-ish in a way compared to other forms of printmaking, but that doesn't take a take away how cool it is. But it's something that beginners and people who have never done printmaking before can do and would do with relative ease. Yeah, you don't need a press. That's for one. You don't need like a huge thousand dollar thousand pound machine or, you know, hunk of metal uh and you can get the stuff for relatively cheap,

EUGENE: I feel like linoleum cost a little.

TREVOR: And yeah I mean and you know you need the tools to carve it but

EUGENE: yeah yeah, like eraser stamps. That's literally the same idea as like you know intolio or I mean I mean linocuts or relief, you know, because it's reductive.

TREVOR: Yeah, but so, I don't know, I feel like that's I would recommend maybe Lino to someone I agree. But yeah. What about you? How would you recommend someone get into printmaking, whether they're just like a someone's never done before or maybe you're trying to like convince them. What would you say?

EUGENE: Well, I think, for me, that's why I asked the question because I think for you to like, because I think there's like two sides of it. You can either like get into printmaking and be like, oh, I really want to do it. Or then be like, oh, I'm interested in like how this looks and I want to like learn this one thing. And, you know, I think those are very different. Like, you can call something an interest and you can like, you can get into it or you can get into it, you know? And I think, oh, for like just calm, like, you know, if someone is just trying to have a fontivity to do or like do something like on day night. Like, I definitely recommend like I don't want to cut to them. It's like, I think it's easy. You don't need a press, you can using like rollers to print to print on like paper. and you can just carve like small things, like using house tools accessible to everyone. But if you want to get in and get into it, then I definitely recommend a lithography. I think it's so fun. Like you from graining the stone, like feeling the stone itself, like, you know, a sediment of like ocean oceanic life from millions of years ago years ago. I think, yeah, like you're really in touch of the process. If you're someone who like really wants to get the gist of like printmaking, I think you need to get into something that is like hands on as like, you know, lithography. It will really make you like get you in. Or maybe I'd be wrong. Like people will probably be get intimidated by it too. But that's what I'm saying, you know, you can either get into it or get into it.

TREVOR: Yeah, I do feel like lithography is kind of like one of the highest forms of print-making sort of. But not to say that, you know, the others are just like at a lower, you know, level of importance, but I just feel like lithography is like such a long, like, journey.

EUGENE: It definitely is, it’s a commitment

TREVOR: It's like a journey to get to there. It's like through the end and the end product is beautiful.

EUGENE: Sometimes

TREVOR: um Yeah, but that's why, you know, it's good to start out with those other forms, um, because they don't take as long, I feel like. Also, because that's a lot of printmaking just takes like a long ass time.

EUGENE: Commitement, man.

Yeah, you got to be committed, but like you were saying, I think one of my favorite parts of it is just the fact how hands-on it is. You know, it was it's big. It's huge difference between printmaking and graphic design. Like I made that jump, which was a risk that ended up being very rewarding and, you know, and I think the reason why, I mean, that was actually one of the reasons why I switched, um, you know, graphic design was it's all just digital stuff on the computer.

EUGENE: It's not hands-on.

Trevor: It's not hands-on. And I think I just kind of got bored of doing so much graphic design stuff. I mean, I love graphic design. Don't get me wrong, but I what I like even more is being able to physically make my art with my own two hands and, you know, I just think there's so much more personality. and uniqueness to printmaking as opposed to, I mean, all, I mean, most of the art forms, really, but I mean, that's like a that's a very powerful statement, but

EUGENE: I like the word personality a lot. Yeah, I think personality describes printmaking a lot, because I feel like, you know, why don't you just print it on an ink jet printer? Like why like do this complicated process? Because I think it is a personality of it, you know?

TREVOR: Hey, you know what really pisses me off? Okay. People sometimes see printmaking and I guess it's like a combination of multiple factors like maybe it just looks that good or people are just that dumb where they don't recognize the fact that it's not a drawing. look at your print. It's like, oh, did you draw this with like a pen? It's like, no, I didn't draw this with a pen. This is printmaking and it's like, I get that people are just like uneducated or just like they simply just don't know. and that's like totally fine because, you know, it is an awesome experience to get to be able to like explain what printmaking is to someone and them being like genuinely interested, but it's kind of just really annoying when someone thinks that what you are showing them is a painting or just a drawing. but, you know, then it's like, you’ve got to go through the whole process of explaining what.

EUGENE: There is a certain appreciation for it.

TREVOR: Yeah, you do have to have a certain appreciation. A lot of people just get like, oh, they're just like bored of it and they really care what you're saying. And I had someone recently, um I was selling some prints at a house show and someone I mean, I know they may have been kind of drunk too, but like they walk up saying, like asking that question like, oh, did you draw this? And us saying no, and then like we explain what it is and what is printmaking. And then the end when they walk away, they call it a painter or they call it a drawing or they call it something else as a walk. It's like, all right, whatever. And it's just like, I don't know, but, you know, I also enjoy explaining what like printgmaking it was like if I'm like showing my parents intanglio print or like showing them a lithography print, like they don't know what the hell that is. So like I love being able to explain that to them and like open their minds to.

EUGENE: It's a very specific process, yeah

TREVOR: Yeah. And if you just throw out the word painting, it's like mass majority of people like know what

EUGENE: Yeah, you throw oil painting on a canvas

TREVOR: or like photography people just know what that stuff is I mean

EUGENE: I guess there's like more layers

TREVOR: Sorry There’s a lot of layers there's a lot of it I'm putting a very vague meaning but just yeah majority people just don't really know what making is

<MODERATOR>: You can understand what painting is

TREVOR: um yeah you can understand painting and all this stuff at a much more basic level than printmaking Yeah.

EUGENE: It's very individualistic to say the least.

TREVOR: Yeah. That's why I think personality definitely. I agree to that.

<MODERATOR>: unintelligible

EUGENE: So, Trevor. This is my question to you. What is your favorite part of prim making at U of I so far?

TREVOR: Well, um I've been involved in it for like three years now and I got to say I've gotten quite involved and gotten to know quite a few people met some um awesome people done some awesome things, but yeah, I I do think my favorite part of the program at U of I is meeting wonderful people that I am now friends with. um I, you know, met some really cool people through this program. I've been able to do some really cool things because of this program. um and I uh don't think I can ever take that for granted. um I'm sure I would have made some cool connections, met some cool people in graphic design, but I feel like printmaking is just more true to me. And, you know, I've made some really awesome friendships in relationships with people and that's all because of printmaking.

EUGENE: Well said.

TREVOR: Yeah. you have do you have a favorite part of printmaking here at U of I?

EUGENE: yeah definitely uh shout out professor Emmy and Guen

TREVOR: Shoutout Emmy and Guen

EUGENE: shout out Emmy and Guen

TREVOR: Very iconic duo

EUGENE: We love Emmy and Guen

TREVOR: yeah um I think they are also a big reason why people end up loving taking printmaking classes is because they are just two very awesome artists, very talented and um you know,

EUGENE: Printmakers,

TREVOR: They're good printmakers, good people. And, you know, being in that ink lab, that dungeon of a school

EUGENE: Dungeon sounds it's a it's a homey basement

TREVOR: yeah it has a lot of character to it yeah

EUGENE: And roaches recently

TREVOR: and roaches but you know that's what makes it-

EUGENE: characteristics, individual

TREVOR: It has so much personality

EUGENE: Personality,yeah there we go

TREVOR: Yeah

EUGENE: Yeah, shout out Emmy and Guen. Shout out noble print lab

TREVOR: Noble…ink lab, yeah

EUGENE: Yeah, Eugene out

TREVOR: Alright, alright bye-bye.

0 notes

aprintmakerspublication · 1 month ago

Text

ONCE A PRINTMAKER, ALWAYS A PRINTMAKER

INTERVIEW OF ARIANNA AQUINO AND HOPE ALLEN

HOPE: Hello, my name is Hope. I graduated last year with a degree in graphic design and currently I'm a fine dining server at a country club. I also did an internship last summer in book publishing for design.

ARIANNA: Hi, my name is Arianna. I graduated in graphic design last year . Currently I'm a barista, but uh, I also do a lot of freelance and like art markets, mostly selling prints and zines.

HOPE: Alright. And, okay, so Arianna, what got you into printmaking?

ARIANNA: So in high school my friend told me about an after school print screen printing program. And I was really curious because I, you know, I haven't really heard of screen printing before that, but I got to see examples. I saw the way that, you know, colors were laid out and separated and just like the different possibilities that can be made with screen printing.

And it also fascinated me, the sort of communal, community aspect of it where you can share with others and like it's made to be multiplied. So I just thought that was really cool. But anyway, I got to meet other artists and discover the fact that I had a passion for art and design.

Oh, And what got you into printmaking?

HOPE: I didn't get into printmaking until college. When I transferred to U of I, I knew about lino cuts and stuff and I started to do some of those on my own, but they were not very high quality 'cause I didn't have very good tools. And then I finally took intro to printmaking and I fell in love with the process and I got involved with the club and I kind of just hit the ground running and.

I also really love the community. I love the Ink lab. I love the space. It was just a really, it was very comfortable, very intuitive for me, so I immediately picked it up, and I think that my art style just really syncs in all the different methods of printmaking.

ARIANNA: I do, but I do agree, I do see, like I have seen your work before, like in the different mediums that you do within printmaking and I just think they're also stunning.

Like I love the way you approach each layer and decision and I think it's awesome and I, I like. I'm going to fangirl over you right now.

HOPE: Well, now I've got a fangirl over you. Not because, no, not, no, not because I have to, but because genuinely your stuff is so inspiring and like I remember one of the zines you made in our comics and zines class.

It was the one that spiraled backwards and then you could read it both ways. And I just thought you always have such a clever way of playing with grounds. Foregrounds and different layers. And also your resos are so nice and I, I always love checking on what you're doing.

ARIANNA: Yes, thank you.

HOPE: Of course.

ARIANNA: But talking about more of like the like different mediums within printmaking, what would you say your favorite form of printmaking is?

HOPE: I definitely think it's lino. One of my favorite prints I've ever made was a reductive lino, and I definitely want to try that again. I think that I just really love. The natural texture of it all, and I think that the different types of art that I make always just ends up looking the best to me in that.

I don't think that my work sings as well in like screen print and stuff, and I think that screen print has a time and place. For a lot of different pieces, but I think definitely lino or woodcut, just relief in general, any type of relief. And what is your favorite form of printmaking?

ARIANNA: My favorite form of printmaking is riso.

I feel like I've been asked on different forms and things of or by different people, what makes it my favorite and it feels really cheesy. 'cause I feel like a lot of the risoheads answers will be that they like the way the color turns out. They like the sort of grainy grunge of it.

And that is why I love it. 'cause I just think the colors pop out so beautifully. Especially with the fluorescent inks. Mm-hmm. It's florescent Pink is one of my favorite things ever. It's like my religion, don't tell my Catholic parents that. Um, but yeah, it's just really special to me after like trying the different, um, forms of printmaking.

HOPE: Mm-hmm.

ARIANNA: Like especially falling in love with screen printing at first, which is so heavily body oriented. It's also kind of nice to shift it to. A machine, like I feel like in my head, it seems like it's not as much work and it kind of isn't, but like it has its own charms and like ways about going to it.

HOPE: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think riso is great for, especially graphic designers. I think that it's a really good overlap and I think all printmaking is great for graphic designers, but riso is definitely like a really good niche to get into and to settle in.

END OF PART ONE

ARIANNA: [00:00:00] So, oh, we went to the same school and we had the same manager you did. What was your experience like?

HOPE: My experience was very different. I transferred in, so I technically did a graphic design degree in two years because I did not do graphic design at my community college. So I did not have any experience.

HOPE: So, um, I think that it definitely could have been better. And I think that post-graduation, I've seen a lot of improvements in the graph design program specifically. However, I learned. A ton just through working with other students and through the community. So I even if maybe the curriculum wasn't as robust as I might have expected it to be, I think that I learned a lot through collaboration and different classes, and especially through my printing classes.

HOPE: That's where I felt the most nurtured. Even as a designer, I think that my professors would find a way to incorporate graphic design into my projects and encourage me as a designer in printmaking. So I think that was a very like full circle moment and. That's kind of how [00:01:00] art and design as a whole works together and I am excited to see where the design program is improving and how they're finding a way to make it a lot more geared for the students and encouraging them to like share their art, especially online.

HOPE: I think I've just seen a lot more like of a social media part presence, which is really cool as a designer. Yeah. But what are your favorite parts of the program?

ARIANNA: Um, I mean, I definitely like see like myself in your answers. Like I loving the community aspect of it because I think before, you know, going to college specifically for art, I was a little bit, um, I was nervous to like be in a room with other people like.

ARIANNA: You know, critiquing my work, obviously. But you know, I found that like a lot of my professors and my peers were super, helpful, constructive. They were like supporting me in whatever stage I was in because I definitely look back at being like a weaker like design or like artists [00:02:00] in my like earlier works.

ARIANNA: But then, you know, I feel like I was really empowered, like along like the past few years and it just made me wanna, you know. Make more creative choices that I don't think I would've done before, and then like push myself into things I wanna do and how I wanna represent myself. And I also got to learn about like everyone else.

ARIANNA: Like it's such an intimate thing, making art. Like even if you're given a prompt, like even in graphic design, like we get such open-ended like projects sometimes, and I get to like really learn like about people's interests and I just love it.

HOPE: Yeah, I agree. I feel like I was constantly learning through the other students, like just seeing what other people were working on and seeing where you could take things and thinking about things that I'd never thought about before was so helpful.

HOPE: And it definitely made me grow a lot as a designer and as an artist. And I feel like I made so many things in college that I would've never made on my own as an artist. So I am forever grateful for [00:03:00] that experience. So. Uh, c community costume. Yeah.

HOPE: The next one? Yes. What is, or was your experience with printmaking? Oh, wait, is that the, do you want us to go to community? Are we, wait, we're doing community. Sorry. Sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh.

HOPE: Do you feel like there's a community when it comes to printmaking?

ARIANNA: Oh my goodness.

ARIANNA: Oh my goodness, yes. Because the thing is, is that like.

ARIANNA: Uh, I don't know. There's a lot of opportunities to like even try printmaking, even as a non printmaking major, like as you know, an art student. I like got access to the printmaking classes, which I loved. Um, 'cause I got more exposure to different like mediums I wouldn't have otherwise. But like today, for example, we had print palooza and that was such a fun event where people, like people of different, not only majors, but like someone from [00:04:00] Parkland, at least one person from Parkland was there, which is like.

ARIANNA: So cool that there's like enough of an outreach like in Urbana champagne to I guess make printing more accessible, even if it's just for a few hours. Like there's a lot of people who are curious and the people who like already have like the experience and stuff, they're like such a close knit community and I really admire that.

HOPE: I agree. I feel like I could talk about community in printmaking for hours. I feel like there's so many different reasons why community in printmaking is so important to it, and I feel like that's what drew me to it originally. Like I immediately, one of the first events I went to was Print to Palooza when I was in intro and just seeing so many people and talking to them about printmaking, even though I was a novice print maker at the point, at that point, it was. so insightful and it was so encouraging and I've been to so many, like every printmaking festival or related event that I've been to has connected me to so many other printmakers, and they're all very communal and everybody's always very willing to share. [00:05:00] Their experiences. And if you go think about like things like the conference at SGCI, you learn so much about printmaking through other people and what they're working on and their practices.

HOPE: And it's all about community to me. And I think that's what the beauty of printmaking is, is that it's, it brings people together and I met. Some of my best friends through printmaking, and I think that's where I met literally everybody in it. It was through printmaking in classes and the Ink Lab and with like Noble Print Club.

HOPE: I think that that's even like reaching out to non-art. Has been really cool just to see like the amount of people that know about printmaking and are interested in it and have never tried it. And it's been really cool to be like, Hey, come to this event, or like, check us out or even just come see the process.

HOPE: Even if you're not interested in doing it yourself. It's really like most people are interested in it. I think it's a really good way to get as many people as possible interested in art in general.

ARIANNA: Wait, wait, this one or this one? This one. Um, okay. [00:06:00] So. I mean like both of us like love printmaking obviously

END OF PART TWO

ARIANNA: Um, so both of us love printmaking. We fell in love with it. Um, I guess how would you [00:07:00] recommend, like someone who's newer to printmaking or like curious about it, how would you recommend them starting?

HOPE: That's an awesome question. I feel like I would say the same way that I started, I feel like Lino or relief printing. Yeah. Should I wait a second? We can hold, hold for ambulance.

HOPE: Okay.

HOPE: Hold for a, on the, on the busiest street in town.

HOPE: There's another one coming. No. You know, I can't tell.

HOPE: How would you recommend? There are definitely a few different types of ways that are like. Easily accessible as well, but I think that relief printing or lino printing is the easiest way to do it at home because you could literally use a spoon and as long as you get like some type of carving tool from somewhere at Speedball has great cheap ones, that's a really good way to like at least get the feel for it and see [00:08:00] if you're interested in it.

HOPE: I feel like that one is really nice because it's a very hands-on process and I think that the labor of carving is what really got me into printmaking and it's just, to me it's very cathartic, it's very relaxing, so. I think that that's a really good way. It's very cheap. It's very accessible. You could even do it on an eraser that you have laying around, but there's definitely other really cool aspects of we making, like kitchen litho is a really cool crash course.

HOPE: Or you could do so many different types of like really rudimentary printmaking at home. Just get the feel for how your art would translate in that way, or just if you're interested in the actual process. But there's definitely cheap, easy ways, like things like screen printing can seem really daunting and expensive, but there's definitely different ways to create things at home.

HOPE: Very low cost.

ARIANNA: I do love that as an answer because I think once, um, once 2020 hit, I think, you know, with like lockdown, we had to like stay inside. So obviously it's like [00:09:00] lino would be like. The most accessible way to go. Especially 'cause you don't really, yeah. All you need is like some paper. Like even I've seen people print, um, with erasers actually, like carb erasers.

ARIANNA: Mm-hmm. Love those. Um, but yeah, I'd also think, you know, it, it'll depend on like where you live. Like how close, because like there's a lot of community like printmaking studios that do have classes. It is still more like. It's still a little bit of a niche art form where like the classes are, you know, a bit on the more expensive side.

ARIANNA: And I think it's some, it's something to address that we need, you know, we, everyone says it, but we need more like funding for the arts. And I think, you know, like having that interest and like, you know. You know, bringing that to the forefront, I think that's gonna make it really like, it's gonna put more attention.

ARIANNA: [00:10:00] But yeah, I think there's a lot of ways to start, and I'm excited for the future of printmaking.

HOPE: Do you still feel connected to printmaking after graduating?

ARIANNA: Oh, I definitely feel like connected to printmaking and not necessarily because I print often, 'cause I, I honestly, once I've graduated and like lost the access, like, you know, I've printed at studio at studios in Chicago, but there's obviously like a higher price difference than, you know, having school access.

ARIANNA: Um, but you know, despite not really printing that often anymore. I do feel like I'm a printmaker because I stand by my work. Like I still go to art events. I talk about my work. I'm like very proud to like show it to people and I. It is just who I am. Like I feel like [00:11:00] even in the eyes of other people, I am known as a printmaker, like even more than a designer, honestly.

ARIANNA: Like I hardly, you know, I hardly consider myself a designer, which is. Unfortunate, but also I think I knew coming into it that I, I love printmaking more than anything. I love the way I could express myself through it, and I love being able to share like my prints. So it's just something that I feel will always be connected to me.

ARIANNA: And what about yourself?

HOPE: I totally agree. I feel like it really hit home that I feel more like a printmaker than a designer because I definitely do. I don't think going into it that I ever felt that strong in my design capabilities. And while I think that it's something that you can totally learn through practice and I feel like I have improved, I just think that printmaking and the process and the community is just so much more intuitive and so much easier for me to feel connected to.

HOPE: And I think that it's also somewhere that I wanna like stay [00:12:00] personally. And I think that design is more of a career. To me rather than something that I'm like really passionate about. And while I think the design can be something that I can be passionate about, sometimes I think that printmaking is something that I'm passionate about all the time, and I do still feel connected to it.

HOPE: I think that I could be a little bit better about creating. I think that I haven't. Had as many opportunities or haven't given myself as many opportunities to get in the lab and still like ink up bigger blocks. But I definitely think when I like reflect, I feel like I haven't made that much. But I definitely still go to conferences.

HOPE: I'm going to a festival over the summer for relief printing, so that's exciting. I think that, um, the festival that I'm going to is called Really Big Prints. Uh, it's a steamrolling festival at the Hamilton type museum. In Wisconsin, which is a really cool little piece of printmaking history. Very cool place to look up.

HOPE: They've got a lot of really cool ancient type machines and very cool. A [00:13:00] lot of classic type comes outta there. Um, but they steamroll over these really big blocks, that's why it's called really big prints, and it's all wood cut relief prints and they're really cool. And I camp out in the woods on the lake.

HOPE: And it's a very beautiful experience and I would recommend anybody to do it. It's every two years you should do it.

ARIANNA: Wait, like, that sounds so sick because I haven't heard of this, but the fact that they steamroll it, I just love hearing new ways that like people like print. I love the scale, I love the ridiculousness of it sometimes.

ARIANNA: Like how? Like it does become a performance. I love, like another thing I'd like to add is that. It's just such a beautiful art form because there's so many ways of going about it, and it's like, it's like magic, almost like how you can like. You know, you put yourself into it. It's really like a human thing, like depending on the, on the form of course, but like you really put your, like body into it and it's just, I love how laborious it is.

ARIANNA: Like that sounds like, you know, like [00:14:00] work has such a negative con connotation sometimes, but I love the work. That comes with printmaking.

HOPE: Yeah, I think the work doesn't necessarily need to have a negative connotation all the time. I think that sometimes you work because you care about something, you know, you put a lot of work into it and it's worth working for.

HOPE: And yeah, I really like, there's a lot of places that do the steamrolling, like gimmicky, and you honestly don't get an amazing print because it's hard to like set the pressure 'cause it's just a steamroller, but it's still just such a fun event and it's just, you know, just for the fun of it. And then you can print it better on a press later.

HOPE: But it's just getting a bunch of people together with a really cool. Prints and they're really big blocks and I would recommend it to anybody that's really into relief Printing. It is a very large block, but you can always split it up with a team and that makes it a little bit more digestible and everything is really cool that comes out of that.

HOPE: So moving along, do you feel as though printmaking influences your graphic design work and vice versa?

ARIANNA: I think actually it's funny [00:15:00] because that studio like screen printing program I talked about earlier in high school, it was one of the first times I sort of had to reckon with the idea that, you know, design matters. Like it's not, it's not just about how good your illustration is, but you also have to sort of have a certain rhythm to the things you're putting on a page.

ARIANNA: Like one of our projects was. Making up a flyer for an imaginary event. And I look back on it and I'm like, oh my gosh, those colors are so heavy. Like the patterns are like clashing it, like it's a stressful poster. For my imaginary event, which was an, which was an A SMR convention,

ARIANNA: it was ASMR convention. Um. But yeah, it feels like it was a great learning like experience because I had to really think about the fact that, you know, [00:16:00] what you put on a page and how you put it on a page like matters. And I think, you know, that was the first printmaking, was the first time I realized that like the art of design, like matters and not just, you know, how good you are, like as an artist, like artist or like down a technical level like.

ARIANNA: You know how people like push realism to be like. The most valid form of art making when you know there's a lot of ways to go about it.

HOPE: I agree. I think that they definitely influenced each other and I think that that's why I love printmaking so much. 'cause it definitely made me a better designer. I think that it taught me a lot about, for one texture.

HOPE: I love the texture of printmaking, all different forms. And I think that's where I'm always missing out on digital media, especially as a designer. And I think that finding different ways to bring texture. Into my designs through printmaking has been a really good experience for making better designs, and I think that some of my best design work, no, definitely all of my best design work has come out of things that were made [00:17:00] post printmaking, like post thinking about things in a printmaking sense, and I think that just.

HOPE: The different layers, and I especially like screen printing. I think that my brain doesn't work that well in screen printing a lot of the time, and I think that that's goes the same for like graphic design. A lot of the time. I don't think that graphic design is as intuitive to me as other forms of traditional media media, but through learning screen printing and how to make it a little bit stronger through my art style, I think that that's where I found. how to be a better designer. And I think that if I hadn't done both, I definitely would not be as strong of a designer as I am.

<MODERATOR>: Any other, do you guys have any, anything else that you want to talk about? Like, sorry. Fair enough. Um, like how do you feel like the difference between like how you taught graphic design, Mr.

<MODERATOR>: Printmaking, like do you feel like there's a similarity or difference or like between your classes? I guess [00:18:00] like the classes, like the structures, I guess.

HOPE: Yeah. I don't know. Ooh, I could definitely talk about that. I think that, I think it just, it really varies by professor and I think that Emmy che, shout out to Emmy Che, she, I took two of her classes in one semester and just the way that they're structured and the way that she so clearly cared about whatever she was teaching and was so thorough about it.

HOPE: Made me wanna care about it and made me feel like I was learning a lot more than some of my design classes and that, that's not to say that some of my design professors didn't have the same impact on me, but I think that it took me a while to find those professors. I think that in my last semester, I really found people who explained design to me in the way that Emmy taught printmaking to me.

HOPE: And I think that if it weren't for her teachings and her care for teaching it and her for, she really, you know. Has a love for the labor of printmaking and it shows, and that is what got me so passionate about it. It definitely helped. So I think that, [00:19:00] yeah, I kind of, what happened to Arianna? I don't know where I was going with this, but you know, just, yeah, yeah.

ARIANNA: No, I definitely agree. Like it feels like, you know, I've had, you know, I think the printmaking professors, they really. Allow us to sort of like, it sounds cheesy, but shine in our own individual ways because you know, it's funny that you were thinking of examples for printmaking first, but I was immediately thinking about how in graphic design I sort of felt like.

ARIANNA: Hmm. The things I would come out, like the projects I would come out with would feel a little like too clean and too sterile, because I know that like, you know, when it comes to graphic design, you're making things for other people in a certain way that like leans a little more capitalist oriented, like you have to make it, you know, almost.

ARIANNA: It might be [00:20:00] controversial, almost generic. Um, but I feel like, you know, in printmaking it was easier to, I guess you could frame it as be selfish, but rather you can like just explore the things that interest you in a hyper-specific way. But I. It's not like you're making it for your own, I guess what's it called?

ARIANNA: It's not just for yourself, but you also know that you have an audience in mind. But it's nice to know that you can make like. The quote unquote, more personal work and know that it could reach people in ways that you thought you wouldn't be understood.

HOPE: I totally agree. I feel like the way that printmaking, yeah, you can make something for yourself and then people just happen to like it.

HOPE: But design, you very much have to focus on someone else. Liking a lot of the time. And I think that's where I kind of fell short a lot, [00:21:00] or maybe even my professors just in feedback. It'd be like, well that's probably not gonna work for other people. And it's like, well if it's working for me, then why can't it work for other people 'cause there's definitely people out there like me. And I think that a lot of the time design is about reaching as many people as possible and getting as many people to digest something as possible. Which should be a strength as a designer, but sometimes I think that designs can still be strong, even if it's for a niche group of people.

HOPE: But that's obviously what, not what they want to teach because it is a very capitalist, it's kind of built in capitalism because that's kind of where it sits unfortunately right now. And that's where I'm trying to find maybe some more ties to printmaking so it doesn't feel so capitalistic and so commercial and watered down.

ARIANNA: Yeah, I agree with that. And. I don't know. I just think it's interesting because like while you were saying that, I was thinking about how printmaking originally, or it depends on, you know, the region printmaking happened everywhere, but you know, separately. Um, but [00:22:00] originally printmaking you could say that like, part of it was, you know, creating like letterpress, like text textual information.

ARIANNA: Um, like the Bible's one of the first, you know, mass produced books. And it's just interesting how. I guess some art, like some printmaking forms were brought up to sort of, you know, appeal and like spread information that way.

<MODERATOR>: And hold on, it kind of was, yeah, like the original design, like it was. That's kind of what we do now, but it was just all, it's like individually set up for print making.

<MODERATOR>: A lot of it is like, sorry, I'll just, this is the moderator thing when it comes to print making. A lot of it is that it's first used for commercial use and then there's something that like advances the technology when it comes to like lithography. Lithography was like voice the primary way of getting information out or like getting image out and then it became photo completely took over.

<MODERATOR>: [00:23:00] So. It's interesting 'cause I still talk about this, but it kind of takes an anti-capitalist stance because it's taking these things that are abandoned by capitalism and turning it into an art form. So that's kind of like how, like that happens with like screen printing with risograph. Like risograph used to be for like supermarket ads I think of recently, and now people use it more so for art.

HOPE: Yeah. Yeah. That's really well said. I think that that's a, I hope that design is going that direction and maybe some of the tools. Wow of modern design. Go towards that. And I think that they totally could, I think that programs could be abandoned and they could be found more useful in the future. A little bit more artful and a little bit more playful, hopefully.

<MODERATOR>: Yeah. Any closing thought too?

HOPE: I love print making.

<MODERATOR>: You love print making.

ARIANNA: I love print making. Um, I think. I think maybe one of the things I also want, you know, anyone reading [00:24:00] anyone to take away from this, one of the things to take away from this is that, you know, printmaking. I personally find printmaking special because it's just really nice to be able to share art in a way that like people, like, it's cheesy, but people, something that people can hold and like appreciate because let's say you have a painting and it's a one off and shout out to my painters, I love them.

ARIANNA: I, I think it's just really nice to make an additional print. Give them to your friends and then they can, you know, I'm friends with a lot of printmakers and they give some to me too, and I just think it's an amazing way to connect to people and like look into what you know, they really wanna make.

HOPE: I agree.

HOPE: Keep printmaking alive and once a printmaker always a printmaker and that is as corny as I can get. Thank you.

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