At the Academy for Visual Arts in Ghent (Belgium) we welcome every year around 85 students. Most of them stay with us to learn non-toxic printmaking during 4 or 6 years, even longer. This gives us and them the possibility to work in depth with the techniques we offer.
We are working with non-toxic for over 20 years and during these we have seen things change, getting from a point were health was the main issue to a focus upon environment and sustainability. It has not always been easy since after the hurray feeling of the first wave of non-toxic there came a repercussion. Non-toxic could never be as good as traditional and even people who had started with it turned back to traditional.
But for over 20 years our students have proven that the work they make with these techniques and materials are as good as the ones made with the traditional materials and techniques. After all the basics do not change. It's just scratching through a protecting layer, bring on particles on a plate to get a tonal quality, etching with another mordant, and so on... Let's see it this way. Our students do not know how to work with the older techniques or materials and why should they if they can get the same results. In the end it's just the image which is important. But if this image can be produced with materials and techniques that just fit better in this moment in time, why not?
At the following pages you will find how to produce your own materials (they are open source, so alter them as much as you wish), tips regarding working with materials and how to get a good studio practice. Some things might look a bit weird in the beginning but we are sure you will get profit out of them.
We also give the credits were needed. After all the people who did put work in this deserve this.
Go to techniques.
Go to tips.
Go to studio practice.
Go to D.I.Y. materials.
Ieder jaar verwelkomen we ongeveer 85 studenten in de afdeling Vrije Grafiek aan e Academie voor Beeldende Kunst van de stad Gent (BE). De meeste studenten volgen gedurende 4 tot 6 jaar onze lessen. Sommigen blijven soms