[alt-photo] OT: PDN & Photopolymer Gravure Workshop August 2010 New Hampshire

[ender100 at aol.com]

Paul Taylor of Renaissance Press and I will be offering the workshop described below this coming August.  This is our second presentation of this unique workshop this year.  Those who attended the first workshop were really pleased with the experience!


Please Contact me OFF LIST at ender100 at aol.com  if you wish to enroll or would like more information about the workshop.  Thanks, Mark




Photopolymer Gravure & Precision Digital Positives
August 2010
 
With
 
Paul Taylor of Renaissance Press
&
Mark Nelson of Precision Digital Negatives
 
August 13, 14, 15, & 16, 2010


Traditional copper platephotogravure has long been recognized as a printmaking medium that producesbeautiful, rich prints prized for their unique tonalities, textures, and depth.In recent years some printmakers have been working with photopolymer platesthat are directly exposed with UV light, developed in water, and inked andprinted much like copper plates to achieve similar results in the intaglioprinting of photographs and drawings. 
 
This four day intensiveworkshop is presented by two masters of printmaking, Paul Taylor and MarkNelson, each offering students their specialized expertise in various aspectsof this process. 
 
Mark will cover the platemaking process using the double exposure method, first exposing the plate to anaquatint screen and then exposing the plate with a film positive generated fromand inkjet printer. This unique approach to the double exposure method forcreating photopolymer plates has been developed by Mark Nelson using hisPrecision Digital Negatives System. Students will learn this simple three-stepmethod of plate exposure and calibration that produces exact exposure times foraquatint and positive, the proper density for the inkjet positive and aPhotoshop adjustment curve that properly adjusts the tonal scale of the finalprint image. This approach produces plates with incredibly long tonal range(rivaling palladium), sharp detail, and very smooth prints. This methodproduces highly predictable results—no need to continue to struggle with how toproperly expose photopolymer plates! Just wait until you see what these platescan really do!  Each student willreceive their own high quality Precision Digital Negatives aquatint screen touse and take home.
 
Paul will cover theprintmaking process. This will include inks, ink preparation and conditioning,applying ink to the plate and wiping the plate. Paul will also coverprintmaking papers, preparing the paper for printing and how to finish prints.Students will learn about adjusting presses and blankets and a variety ofunique printing methods including, chine colle, oil rolls, tissue printing, andprint varnishing.
 
Prospective students musthave a reasonable understanding of Photoshop to participate. Platemaking orprintmaking experience is not required. Images do not have to be ofphotographic origin. Students will be asked to bring Photoshop files of imagesor drawings and a laptop. A thumb drive for transferring images is alsorecommended.
 
Housed in a remodeled 19thcentury barn on the bank of the Ashuelot River, Renaissance Press provides abeautiful setting for students to learn this exciting process.
 
Paul Taylor is a MasterPhotogravure Plate Maker, Printer and Director of Renaissance Press. Paul'swork with early photographic process spans over thirty years of intensive workand study. He is the founder of The Rhode Island School of Design Press and hasbeen teaching photogravure at RISD since 1993. Renaissance Press Prints arecollected by Museums internationally. Artists published or produced atRenaissance include: Duane Michals, Robert Mapplethorpe, Joel Peter Witkin,Linda Connor, Robert Adams, Aaron Siskind, Roy DeCarava, Tom Baril, and manyothers.
 
Mark Nelson is the Authorof Precision Digital Negatives for Silver and Other Alternative PhotographicProcesses. He is a photographer and prints with the beautiful Platinum& Palladium Process. Mark has now adapted his unique Precision Digital Negatives System to craftpositives for both traditional copper plate photogravure and for thephotopolymer plate gravure method.
 
Contact: Mark Nelson atender100 at aol.com for more information and/or to enroll.
 
Workshop Location:Renaissance Press, 2 Ashuelot Main Street. Ashuelot, New Hampshire


 
Lodging: Lodging isconveniently located in the beautiful setting of nearby Brattleboro, Vermont.For a listing of available lodging, see: http://www.brattleborocham
 
ber.org/visit/lodge.php