drawing | Janet Towbin

Dec 06 2016

Tessellation 7

06/12/2016 | Comments: 0 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, drawing, Pattern, Photography

My newly completed drawing is the seventh in my series of Tessellations all based on a single shape. This one has taken me longer than usual to complete–our Thanksgiving trip to Cincinnati came just after I was about half-way into the drawing. Coming back to it after that time away was hard yet rewarding.

Concentrating on the drawing has taken my mind off politics (UGH!). I sat at my drawing table and got lost in lines and shadows. My only concern each day for hours at a time was whether a line should be darker or if an area would look more dimensional, showing more motion if shading was added. As the drawing appears right now, it may or may not be finished. I’ve decided to look at it for a few days–and then determine if it might need a bit more added detail in some of the open areas. Time will tell.

Tessellation 7; 2016; graphite on paper; 22″ x 30″

Here is a fun detail shot of the drawing I took at a low sideways angle. I was completely surprised with how dimensional it looked this way. Who knows? I might turn this oddly angled “anamorphic-looking” photo into a mirrored pattern drawing. The fun never ends!

Tessellation 7 (detail on an angle); 2016; graphite on paper; 22″ x 30″

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Sep 21 2016

Tessellation 6

21/09/2016 | Comments: 2 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, drawing, Pattern

A new drawing completed this week; it’s number 6 in my Tessellation Series. I hope to add more drawings to this series and then search out a place to exhibit them. All the drawings are based on the same shape that is an interlocking pattern. The tessellated shape is very evident in this iteration–but in other drawings the shape is quite hidden.

Tessellation 6; 22″ x 30″; Graphite on paper; 2016

Tessellation 6 (detail); 22″ x 30″; Graphite on paper; 2016

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Circle Swirls: Drawing and Linocut

27/08/2016 | Comments: 0 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, drawing, Pattern, Printmaking

My newest relief print is based on the drawing “Circle Swirl” from my Patterns of Obsession series. Printed in an edition of 10 by Brent Bond at Santo Press, it is another laser-cut linocut. It amazes me how precisely the laser-cut can be on the linoleum’s surface. I am pretty thrilled with how it turned out. Soon I will be adding a digital color layer to the print making it into something else entirely. Can’t wait to get that started! It’s going to be so much fun to see how it evolves with color.

First, the drawing:

Circle Swirl; 2016; graphite on Stonehenge paper; 16″ x 16″ image size; 22″ x 22″ paper size. POR

And the print:

Circle Swirl by Janet Towbin Circle Swirl; 2016; Laser-cut linocut; edition of 10; 16″ x 16″ image size; 23″ x 22″ paper size. $400.00

And here is a little teaser for you…my computer rendering (it’s a work in progress–the specific colors may change) of how I intend to add color to the print. Keeping my fingers crossed it will compare to what I can do in Photoshop.

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Jul 09 2016

Rule of Thirds

09/07/2016 | Comments: 1 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, drawing, How To's, Printmaking

This week marked the completion of a suite of 6 new prints at Santo Press. The process was quite involved and complicated. I first made a series of 11 gouache paintings using a rainbow of colors in series of 3 bands of stripes. This led me to consider making a print of the bands of stripes. I carved a piece of linoleum with 30 stripes and printed it by hand in my studio in black ink. The flat color looked very nice, but it didn’t have the texture/tonality I wanted to achieve.

I decided to make a rubbing of the linoleum block (with a black crayon) which gave me the texture I wanted. Several rubbings of the linocut were made and then photographed and stacked vertically in Photoshop. They were then manipulated and cleaned as much as possible. My manipulations looked good to me, but when it came time to actually create high res digital files to use as the cutting matrix for both laser-cut and photpolymer plates they were not usable. Brent took over and did a much better job. No mystery there…he has mad computer skills and I am merely a novice.

There are two suites of Rule of Thirds prints; each set has a 1-color print (black and white) and two multicolor prints. Rule of Thirds I, II and III are printed with a key block (laser-cut MDF) printed on top of 3 different colored bands of flat color. Rule of Thirds IV, V, and VI are 3-color photopolymer relief prints. All 6 are printed in an edition of 10, image size 12″ x 18″ on Somerset paper 22″ x 15″.

Below are some photos to give you a sense of how this suite of prints developed from paintings to finished prints.

One of a series of 11 gouache Stripe paintings.

The first hand-pulled linocut I printed in my studio. Unique print, 2016, 12″ x 18″ on Kitikata paper.

One of the many rubbings made from the linocut. Don’t even ask how many of these I made before I was satisfied!

2 (of the eventual 3 colors per print) to proof at Santo Press. The color bands were printed on top of the key to aid in registration and to get a good sense of what the colors looked like with black.

Color mixing at Santo Press for Rule of Thirds III.

More color mixing at Santo Press for Rule of Thirds editions V and VI shown in conjunction with striped gouache paintings.

Rule of Thirds grid of all 6 editions by Janet Towbin

Rule of Thirds I, II, III, IV, V, VI; 2016. Grid of all 6 editions.

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