Australian Print Workshop: jo Lankester, 1 Week Residency 2024
I feel so privileged to recently be invited by the Director of the Australian Print Workshop to work with a Senior Printer and two apprentices to produce two editions of three colour lithographs printed on the FAG Offset Press over three and half days to arrive at two BAT states by the end of the residency. It was a wild three days of drawing, laying touche washes and making quick decisions.
I prepared as much as possible for an artist who works spontaneously to mark-making once the first colour is laid on the paper. I had clear ideas about the colours and tones I wanted to achieve. My limited knowledge of colour and lithography resulted in reverting to my reactive method of colour choice and mark-making.
I reacted to bold colours the same way as my first residency, confusing the experienced printer with what direction I was heading in. I realised I was no longer certain of my colour choices and chose a safe colour palate with which I was familiar. We only printed one version of the print, with the second colour being a bold red, and in hindsight, it was a banger. I'll take note of this for the next opportunity that may come my way to work with professional printers to produce my work.
Working in collaboration with a printer benefits my growth as an artist. On this occasion, I learned what a technically well-printed image looks like and my desire to push it beyond the excellent state of the printer's work to fit my aesthetic of ink sitting heavy on the image rather than beautifully integrated with multitudes of tones and subtlety. It shows my level of skills is much lower than that of the professional printers at APW. *wow, what an experience. I'm really proud of the two editions we produced in collaboration.
The images I'm showing are the touche washes and line drawings of six plates. I'm not sharing the BAT or trial proofs as the image has not yet been published by the APW.
I worked on the two sets of prints simultaneously. They can be read as single prints or a diptych.
