Cranky curates a book.

PUSH Print, 30+ Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking.

Published September, 2012 by Lark Crafts.

Last year we had the pleasure of working on a book project with Lark, an imprint of Sterling Publishing, and are happy to say it is now out! PUSH Print discovers the passion of 30+ contemporary print artists pushing the limits with their innovative work. Letterpress, screenprinting, xylography, lithography, and etching, as well as multimedia and digital approaches to print are included in this dirverse survey complied by us, Jamie and Keith Berger, the Cranky Brothers. It is a visual feast that will pique your curiosity and spark your imagination by illustrating the scope and power of printmaking art today.

Carry on after the break for more images of the book and a chance to win a copy!

Here's the page with our ugly mugs. Please don't let this put you off from buying the book. And even though you may prefer looking at pictures, below is the rather riveting introduction we wrote:

Welcome to PUSH Print, the 3rd edition in an exciting gallery series exploring contemporary artists who "push" the boundaries of traditional craft mediums. Printmaking has a long and varied history in commerce, technology, communication and art with practitioners often deliberately moving and mixing from one application of the craft to another. This rich diversity of message, intent, design and technique continues today as shown in this book. 

30 artists, including several collaborative creative teams, are featured in these pages. And even though a book is an ideal place to showcase printmaking art, the work goes well beyond ink on paper. All of the traditional forms are covered including wood and linoleum cuts, etching, screenprinting, lithography and letterpress. However, digital technology is often also incorporated in either the initial preparation of images or the final printing and rather than being flat finished pieces, much of the work is executed as sculpture, installations or digital photography. When you think about it, what is print really? These artists will show you that often it’s not what you’d expect. 

As a designer and art director working with my brother who is an old-time pressman, we both looked at this art through very different bespectacled eyes. I tend to focus on concepts and abstract qualities. Keith appreciates process and technique. What truly amazed us is how these printmakers so masterfully blend all these elements and then some. 

Doing printmaking art is not for wimps. Even the most delicate image requires much skill and labor using any combination of sharp tools, acid etched metal or stone and antique iron presses that resemble medieval torture devices. Somehow these artists magically bring together true creative vision with real blood, sweat and tears. It involves a lot of hard work but you get the feeling that is how they like it. 

Prints have been a central part of art history for centuries, but for a time the computer and other flashy modern mediums stole some of the creative spotlight. Fortunately though, the craft has always been kept alive in hidden backroom studios at art schools and colleges throughout the world. This is exactly where it needed to be and where recently the younger artists in PUSH Print first became hooked and many of the more established printmakers now teach and work themselves. They are a hearty bunch and thriving community. You’ll see and feel in the inspiring work being produced today, print will live forever.

 

The book includes both fine and commercial artists and many who cross between the two as does Roman Klonek, who is shown above. 

The three fellows at Delicious Design League count among the + with their Chicago studio's great work. 

Social commentary figures into many of the printmaker's work including the monumental woodcut prints by Tom Huck.

We will do separate posts on some of the others in the book soon. The list includes Michael Krueger, Valerie Wallace, Conrad Botes, Sandow Birk, Studio On Fire, Dusty Herbig, The Little Friends of Printmaking, Brian Anderson, Jason Urban, Dirk Fowler, Jenny Schmid, Giulia Zaniol, Tugboat Printshop and more. 

~ Win a copy of Push Print ~

We have a few of the books to give away. Tell us what makes you most passionate about print in a comment below. We will choose our 3 favorites and send each winner a signed copy of the book. Please keep the comment to one short paragraph. You don't have to be a printmaker, just need to proclaim your love of ink on paper.

Deadline for posting is 11:00 PM, Sunday October 7, 2012. Winners will be annoounced on Monday Oct. 8th. Cranky judge's results are final.

Buy the PUSH Print book here.

 

Comments

[Daniel Kearsey]

I can still smell the ink in my grandpas studio. He was a printer by trade, as well a fine artist. Since I was a little kid, the importance of printing on specific papers and weights were drilled in my head. Learning the importance of craft was much more important than learning how to type on a computer to him and that is how I learned to be the designer I am today. I love paper; for its texture, smell, feel, etc etc. When I design, I don't just think about a pretty picture and type...I think about the paper.

[Alex Jung]

Ink, Paper, Tactility. It's as simple as that.

[Brian David Smith]

I am immensely attracted to printed works because of the intricate mechanical and technical processes the art of printmaking possesses. Ink on paper as a medium for artistic expression in its simplest form can be immensely powerful. I view such works as invaluable artifacts of the human experience. The impact of printing on the history of people is difficult to comprehend because of its enormity. Also, there's something incredibly satisfying about ink stained fingers.

[JooHee Yoon]

I love the tactility of printmaking and the unpredictable accidents that can occur. The importance of human error can’t be emphasized enough! As an artist working with various printmaking techniques I am drawn to the textures and marks that results from doing something by hand. It’s a feeling that you can’t replicate using just a computer, as with this medium you have the ability to control everything, down to the placement of the smallest pixel. I also greatly enjoy the process of printmaking, separating out the different layers by hand, preparing the screen or plate. And it’s rather magical seeing all the elements of an image come together as it is being printed. Also the physicality of it, moving around the print shop, getting paint on your hands. And there is something strangely addictive about being able to make multiples of things.

[Ryan]

Permanence.

[Jason Martinez]

There is a rhythm between man and an old press that is art in its self. Like a symphony orchestra and it's conductor, the balance of ink, pressure, and medium that when all come together at the hands of the pressman, the idea is brought to life. The result can be more breath taking than initially imagined. That is why I am crazy about printmaking.

[Sylvia]

A good print starts with good paper. We LOVE paper! So many sheets to choose from!! So many textures! So many weights! We LOVE the way a blind impression feels or the amazing results you get from overlapping inks on a letter press. A beautiful printed piece is an artwork and the possibilities are endless.

[cindy]

The challenge in achieving a perfect print. The moving meditation and rhythm of printing a stack of paper. The smell of ink that lingers afterwards.

[Cranky Pressman]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I feel the inky passion in them all. We are about to choose our three winners but see there are a few commenters who did not include a URL or other way to be reached. If your comment is one of these please email me at jamie(at)crankypressman(dot)com so I can contact you!

[Cranky Pressman]

Okay, a day late but the first winner of the book is...

Daniel Kearsey. Anyone who uses grandpa and trade in the same sentence knows how to get to an old guy.

Well done Danny Boy. The other two winners will be announced soon.

[Cranky Pressman]

He likes tedious work, unpredictable accidents and human error but we won't hold that against him, so JooHee Toon is our second book winner.

Actually we very much agree with JooHee and wish more people would just loosen up.

[Cranky Pressman]

And the final book winner is Sylvia. This is not only because of her over-gushing love of paper, but because she understands that overlapping two ink colors is as old gal Martha Stewart would say... a good thing.

Thanks everybody for playing along. We appreciate all the comments.