Adventures in Intaglio!

I took intaglio and woodcut back in college almost 30 years ago. Since that time I have contemplated restarting my interest in printmaking, and now I have finally pulled the trigger.

I enrolled in a printmaking course at Portland Community College. Signing up for a class two days a week for 11 weeks is no small commitment! But it turns out it was barely enough time to scratch the surface (no pun intended!) of the possibilities and complexities of this medium.

Intaglio is a process where lines are etched or scratched onto a metal plate. Ink is applied to the plate, then wiped, leaving ink captured within the lines. Then damp paper is placed on the plate, and is rolled through a printing press. The ink transfers onto the paper, creating an image. 

In total, I did three different plates over the course of the semester.The first one I did is called "The Bitter Sea" (5"x7")

Here is a picture of the inked up copper plate before the first printing:

Here is an image of the print after rolling it through the press.

Notice the image gets reversed when transferred to the paper!

This initial state of the print was done entirely with drypoint (which is simply scratching the image onto the plate with a metal object).

Here I added aquatint, which creates fields of varying shades of grey.

The second plate I developed might be called my magnum opus of the semester. It is named "Vacancy" (8"x10")

Utimately I did a total of 11 states before deciding it was finished!

I decided to utilize some of the earlier states by tinting them with watercolor. I’m fascinated by how the mood can very so greatly with different color schemes.

The final piece I did was a tiny 4”x6” image, based on a jazz record album from the 50’s, called “Struttin’”.

 Although I would LOVE to keep going with the printmaking, it is necessary for me to put it aside for the time being and concentrate on some collage painting projects coming up this year. Keep you eyes open for more news of those projects, and when they are completed, I will surely dive back into printmaking! 

Stay tuned...

The Making of "Collared" - the Final Piece

As I described in my last post, my technique for developing my collage paintings involves multiple steps. It starts with a drawing, then moves onto a small collage sketch on illustration board, then onto the large final piece on wood panel.

In my last post I shared with you as I made the drawing and then went onto the collage sketch. In this post I made three short videos about the making of the large, final version of "Collared".

Please excuse the film and sound quality of these videos - I'm still learning how to produce them! Here is a picture of the piece at the stage it was in when I made this video.

The Making of "Collared" Take 1! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

Who is Leland Bell? A great American artist who started out as an abstract painter and moved onto figurative, narrative painting. (Not to be confused with the other Leland Bell, a Native American painter who shares the same name.)

Leland Bell, "Three Figures with Butterfly" 1979-82

After working on it for a few hours, I followed up with a review of my decisions. 

The Making of "Collared" Take 2! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

This is the final video where show ways I have resolved certain issues, and new decisions I have to make. 

The Making of Collared Take 3! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

And here it is! The final piece is done. Email me for purchasing information.

Leslie Peterson Sapp, "Collared" 16"x20" $950.00

The Making of "Collared"- a Work in Progress

As many of you know, my technique for developing my collage paintings involves multiple steps. It starts with a drawing, then moves onto a small collage sketch on illustration board, then onto the large final piece on wood panel.

During the past week I participated in a facebook/instagram challenge put on by my art business coach Cory Huff at The Abundant Artist. Because of this challenge I created three short videos of myself discussing creating of my newest collage sketch for a piece I will call "Collared".

Here are all three videos, (each one is about 2 minutes long) along with pictures of the sketch at it's various stages.

 First, here is the image itself. I was attracted to the woman's collar - hence the title! I also find that the word has many, somewhat uncomfortable meanings and associations which I think helps add depth to the image.

Next, here a is one of two drawings I did of the scene, trying to simplify and create order of the image.





As you can see, I made the collage sketch while at the beach for a long holiday weekend. Maybe this is why I appear so jovial.
Making of "Collared" collage sketch, take 1 from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

This the first stage of the sketch:

Making of "Collared" collage sketch take 2! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

Next I made a big decision about color. In the first picture, the table tops in this bar are tan colored. This tan color is my go-to color choice for table tops. But making"by route" choices is the downfall for a fine artist! The purple-taupe cools the image down and creates a mood.

In the final video, I talk about some of the last adjustments I need to make to feel "right" about the finished sketch.

The Making of "Collared" take 3. from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.
And here is the final! (Maybe! I am still wondering about that wine bottle.)

Now I will move onto the final piece, which will probably 16"x20".

 (BTW, this collage sketch is also for sale! It is 4"x5" and is $150.00)