proof

Proof.

Classes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln introduced me to Lithography and Intaglio (or Etching). Lithography is drawn on treated Bavarian limestone. Heavy heavy expensive limestone. The kind you work with in school with provided for school equipment. Not the kind of tools I would have in my bachelor apartment after graduation. Ha.

In etching class I learned how to combine vine ash and linseed oil to make a cool black. Bone ash and linseed oil makes a warm black. And you smoosh it together with a metal spatula on a hard smooth surface.

In Intaglio (or Etching) a metal zinc plate is coated with a melted rosin that resists acid and left to cool. Then one draws a design by scratching through the coating. The plate is put into an acid bath tray for a specific amount of time. The acid eats lines into the metal. Light lines if you take the plate out after a short time. Dark lines if you leave the plate in longer. Much trial and error. Learning by doing. And you rinse acid off with water in the sink. So when you click on the above image, you will notice the lines are irregular and bumpy. Some people like their etchings to have a gritty texture. Others are super careful and attentive and can achieve some incredible line work.

For awhile I admired the rich darks that Rembrandt was able to get with his etchings. The etching I did above is called Night Road And Lights.
The impression is 5 by 7 inches on BFK intaglio paper.

When a design has many lines in it you can do what Rembrandt did. With a cardboard scrap you pull a thin coat of ink across the prepared metal plate. Then you scuff the plate with a stiff mesh fabric called a tarlatan. You end up with ink in the etched grooves of the plate. Usually the un-etched smooth portions of the plate are buffed to a shine. But, because many lines will hold much more ink, one can choose where to scuff and where to let heavier amounts of ink remain on the plate. It is that dirtiness of the ink that will create the awesome velvety atmosphere that Rembrandt did. In Night Roads And Lights I wanted the night sky to be a dark as possible. You can only see the road where the headlights illumine and barely see the dim lights ahead. That, my friend, was done on purpose!!

Experimentation. If your ideas aren't working out do something desperate and hope. I did a deep etch and changed the edge of the rectangle. I like abstract and grit and there is room in the world of intaglio for such results.

You will notice that my steps above resemble the style of Arthur Geisert. In the summer of 1977 I moved to Galena, Illinois to work for Geisert. I inked and pulled proofs for him in his hillside studio, that required me to climb up up up his many many wooden steps. 

 

Geisert is an artist who includes lots of detail and humor. The caption reads: "Arthur amuses himself, building steps in the backyard." I pulled eight proofs of "Steps." It measured 5 by 7 inches. Thanks to David Lange for sharing the one he has below, as I have no photos of my early work.

Ga-chun-gah!!

In keeping with whimsy while in Galena I did an etching called "Compress." It measured 6 by 9 inches.

Circa 1977. Arthur Geisert did a four-plate hand-colored etching called "Noah's Ark." His images are full of detail and humor. Three minute video. This work is in the Reinhold Marxhausen collection at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. Geisert was an alumni, class of 1963, a friend of my father, and a skilled printmaker.

Summer spilled in to the fall of 1977. See more of that by clicking on
http://karl-marxhausen.blogspot.com/2015/02/chicago-art-institute.html

I chose to stay out of college one semester and worked in Galena until Christmas. I found out I was required to finish my schooling at UNL, as my parents were paying for the education they wanted me to have. I returned to Nebraska and stayed with my parents at the Columbia Avenue house. In the spring of 1978 I took a semester of classes across the street at Concordia Teachers College. And in the fall of 1978 I returned to the UNL to complete my Bachelor in Fine Arts degree.


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Thanks to David Lange (Illinois) for his photos of my etchings in his private print collection. More on Lange http://cee.illinois.edu/faculty/davidlangehttp://cee.illinois.edu/faculty/davidlange

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