First Month

In september i started at Göteborg Konstskola and it is truly like I've died and gone to heaven.

So much so that i have managed to not be late for class once which, for me, is quite the achievement. In the last 5 weeks i have learnt how to etch and dry point and i even had a try at lithography. Here are some of the experiments i did in various techniques:

1. Twohead - dry needle

I always had the idea that etching was something only grown-ups could do, people with patience and color-coordinated socks. I am happy to say that i was totally wrong.

I really like the resistance of copper, i don't always manage to make the exact line i had planned but this gives way for a kind of freedom. (Dude. Five sentences into this blog and i'm already starting to be all vague and artsy like. Where will this end?)

2. Inuk - hard ground copper etching

This is Inuk the disgruntled Inuit, on the brink of adulthood and trying to rebel against his overprotective mother by growing a mustache.

3. Inuks Mama - Lithography

She looks way nicer than she actually is.

I feel a kind of ambivalence towards lithography. The sound and feeling of grinding stones is absolutely hypnotic and meditative, i love how the whole process makes me feel like an alchemist and i really enjoy inking the stone. But on the other hand there's drawing on the stone which i find really hard, you have to be so careful not touch the stone while you're working, and i miss the carving and cutting used for linoleum or etching/dry needle. I really want to try it again though, i just have to find my way i guess.

4. He doesn't know either - soft ground

Soft ground is hard! It has the same fragility as lithography, one sudden move and you've made some unintended mark. I had to reapply the ground 5 times because of this. It got on my nerves. Maybe something to do on a totally nerve-free day with loads of patience and focus and other such unobtainable qualities.

In conclusion: Printmaking rocks! Really! I really look forward to learning to do offset plates which we'll be doing after our school trip to Amsterdam (kroketten here i come) the coming week, and i'll be back here with results.