ruben castillo - copper plate demo

Members of the Print Society of Greater Kansas City moved to the printmaking room at the Kansas City Art Institute. Instructor Miguel Rivera introduced us to master printer Ruben Castillo, who showed us the inking process of a copper plate.

Three minute video. Castillo inks solar plate etched copper plate.

Five minute video. Castillo talks about the artist's vision for a particular series.

Within video Print Society member Cynthia Gibson is amazed all the steps that go into each proof.       

Ink rolled on heated copper plate. Excess ink wiped off. plate positioned on printing bed. Paper laid on metal plate. Felt blankets. Rolling through printing press bed. Proof pulled and inspected.

One minute video. Castillo talks about friendly soy-based solvents used to remove ink from inked copper plate.

Master printer Ruben Castillo and his own prints -- click HERE

Copper plate   (Courtesy of Ruben Castillo)

Finished copper plate etching proof (Courtesy of Ruben Castillo)

Demo presentation took place May 18, 2019. Printmaking Building, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri


posted December 9, 2019

miguel rivera - applying new methods

Instructor Miguel Rivera talks about intricate inked proofs -- his experiments -- a hybrid of non-traditional high tech and traditional methods such as woodblock and etching.

Members of The Print Society of Greater Kansas City listen to slide presentation.

Experimenting opens up new visual possibilities for the artist to employ in his or her design. Rivera said he learned about these tools and techniques from his intern students at the Kansas City Art Institute.

For example, a CNC laser can be programmed shave away micro-layers from the surface of heavy printing paper. Rivera shows us the machine, the steps to scan a design into the computer, the calibrations and settings ---- and soon it becomes apparent that the whole process is more than just flipping a switch or pushing a button. 

 

Five minute video. Group walks over to see router in action.

Above, the pattern of a city map can be carved with a machine programmed router on to a wood block. It is up to the artist to try new ways of creating and inking wood blocks to make unique inked proofs.

Video. Four minutes.

Rivera presentation took place May 18, 2019