Helen draws

Tag: lithography

  • ‘El pi de Son Boter’ stone litho print

    ‘El pi de Son Boter’ stone litho print

    For my first attempt at stone lithography, I decided to draw inspiration from the immediate surroundings of the printmaking workshop (just like I did for the mokuhanga workshop previously). The Son Boter possessió next door sits in the shade of some twisted, gnarly pins blancs (Aleppo pines, Pinus halepensis), with interesting lines and textures.

    Following a rough sketch, I drew the tree directly onto the stone with the aim of creating a bit of movement and energy. Once I had an outline I was happy with, I set to work with a black lithographic pencil to define the lines and form of the trunk and branches.

    I then painted on gum arabic to stop out areas of white and protect other parts of the drawing, before applying lithographic tusche and alcohol to achieve a different texture for the pine needles. The interaction between the tusche and the alcohol was mesmerising, and it’s this ‘giving over control’ to the materials for unexpected results that I love about printmaking.

    The developed image had some lovely effects that couldn’t be seen at the drawing phase, and which only appeared once the stone had been prepared for printing. This was down to how the grease moved around the plate (due to the alcohol) and penetrates the stone, even if it’s not visible to the eye. This was a very happy accident, as it added to the sense of movement I was hoping to achieve.

  • Lithography with Elena Carrasco

    Lithography with Elena Carrasco

    In July 2024, I returned to Joan Miró’s printmaking workshops (at the Fundació Miró in Palma, Mallorca) to try my hand at stone lithography and aluminium-plate lithography, led by Spanish artist and printmaker Elena Carrasco.

    After studying fine art, Elena decided to focus on printmaking techniques, focusing on lithography specifically. After studying at the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico, she returned to Spain and finally set up her own lithography studio, La Litográfica, in Madrid.

    During the nine-day course, Elena introduced us to lithography on both stone and aluminium. We learnt about the history and theory behind the technique, and then applied our newly acquired knowledge to reproduce our own works on both surfaces.

    The amount of information and the steps involved (lithography is very process heavy, as it turns out) were quite overwhelming to start with. But as we put into practice everything we’d been taught, it all started to come together.

    It was also very special to use the massive but beautiful French wooden lithography press that Miró himself used to print with. The lithographic stones have a wonderfully tactile nature, edges stained with ink as a physical reminder of the artists that have used them before (even though the image has long been removed).

    We discovered that lithography is also a real team effort, from reminding each other of the next step to helping keep the stone damp while inking up between prints. The other thing I’ve loved about both courses I’ve now been on here is the truly supportive and encouraging atmosphere, thanks to both other participants and the course leaders.

    My next posts will reveal what beginner’s luck (and first-class teaching!) helped me to create using stone lithography and aluminium lithography techniques.