The joy of Graphic Arts is in its yield---duplication---a few, or many times over. Hooray for the invention of the printing press which greatly facilitated the "pulling of prints". Nevertheless, the beauty and excitement of handprinting will never be replaced by those who truly love the tactile essence of graphic art from beginning to end.

INTRODUCTION TO GRAPHIC ARTS PART 1: RUBBINGS

    Learning graphic arts can begin with very simple materials like paper, cardboard, crayons and paint. This section introduces the basic idea of impressions made from paper "blocks" and crayon "ink".

    We begin with "doublecuts", a design of straight, curved and combined lines "cut on the fold". The background paper is then unfolded, and the cuts are turned up, down, right or left as needed. This produces a 2nd "layer"--the folded part overlapping its background. When "inked", this layer will pick up the color impressions.

    Row "A" begins with 2, 5 and 6 straight lines cut on the fold, the angle pointing up and down. "B" is a curved cut moving towards the middle and when folded down, opens a negative, inside space. "C", with 2 combined curved and straight lines, forms inner and outer shapes. "D" cuts away a shape and inserts it on the margin."E" is a composite of all of these kinds of cuts and becomes the "block" ready for printing. It is a paper,"fan folded" width-wise, 5 times, ready for printing.

COLOR PRINTING

    There are many color printing compositions to try, and each has its special effect. Some are (1)single color for proofs (2) cool color combinations (3) warm colors (4) black (5) analagous(color side by side on Color Wheel (6) complements (opposite colors)(7) reversals and (8) collages, all of which will appear in succeeding graphic pages. Here are four examples of the 12"x18" "E" block above.

Click images for full views.

   The printing of the block is quite easy. The paper is unfolded after cutting, the cuts are opened to lay flat and the corners taped down on a smooth, hard surface. Printing paper (we used computer paper; newsprint is also very good) is placed on top and corners taped. Peeled crayons, broken into half sizes or smaller work best. Crayons are held SIDEWAYS and firmly rubbed over the entire surface. Add new color changes at any time. For the reversal, the last example, light colors are printed first. The print is then turned around upside down, carefully re-aligned and darker hues are added on top. Piece 'a cake!