clintfulkerson.com, (not just clintart.com)

copper plates for printing

Here is the progress so far on my first mezzotint plate:

I had to prop the plate on the scanner using the pen so that the reflected light would show the contrast between the all-over texture from the mezzotint rocker in the background (which will print black) and the parts I scraped away for my image. This needs lots of work before I pull a proof. After I print it a few times, I plan on cutting the main cellular form out with a jeweler's saw and printing it that way, perhaps with a few other shapes. I like the idea that each print in a series can have the same forms and remain unique. We'll see.

Here is a detail scan of a drypoint plate I'm working on simultaneously:
I'm really eager to get these plates done so I can get into Pickwick and print my brains out.

Some pods Kate found for me

Printmaking

I recently joined the printmaking cooperative Pickwick Independent Press, run by Lisa Pixley, co-owner of the The Artist Studio here in Portland. I am one of the core memebers of the press and I can't wait to get back into printmaking. I haven't really done any printmaking recently, but I did learn the basics of monotype,woodcut, and different intaglio techniques at MassArt. I think printmaking is a natural progression for any draughtsperson, so I am excited.

This is probably the last etching I printed at MassArt, way back in 2000:

Traditional printmaking using copper plates actually requires a lot of metalsmithing tools and skills that I have. All of my scribing, burnishing, and scraping tools I have for metalsmithing will work on plates for printing. The methods for resisting and etching copper plates with acid is the same for printmaking and metalsmithing. I've recently been reading about mezzotint printing, a process which produces the blackest blacks and a range of tones comparable to black and white photography. Similar effects are achievable with aquatint or by using a roulette, but such a deep black and gradual range of tones is only achievable in a mezzotint. The book I got from the library to learn how to do this is called The Mezzotint: History and Technique by Carol Wax.
In order to prepare the plate, I use a mezzotint rocker on the copper to kick up little burs which will hold ink later. The mezzotint rocker has 65 teeth per inch which disrupt the surface of the copper. I had to rock this copper for 3-4 hours to get an even texture, and I still need to touch up the edges a little.
The mezzotint rocker is made by the EC Lyons Company

Here's what the copper looks like at 30X magnification:
And a stack of animals for good luck:

Another Commune

Commune for Rent

Features include:

-rooftop graden growing corn, peas, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic and turnips.

-greenhouse

-compost heap and worm bin

-tilapia tank fed and aerated by organic garden runoff. Fish caught as needed for food using worms as bait.

-two bathrooms, nowhere to bathe, maybe stand in the garden as it rains.

-14 bedrooms, one of which is reserved for the garden manager

-continuous market selling the crops grown in the rooftop garden

-telescope

-barrel of beer

-art gallery featuring the art of Mike McFalls, Clint Fulkerson, Kate Beck, Aaron T. Stephan, Jasper Johns, and a white porcelain dog from the Jeff Koons studio.

-art in common areas by Vincent vanGogh, Winslow Homer, Milton Avery, Francis Bacon, Clint Fulkerson, Frank Stella, Christopher Keister, and Sol Lewitt.

-triangular paned dome window

-3 wood fired stoves (still looking for a reliable wood supplier)

-amazing cookware including a 5 quart le creuset saucepan

-common dining room seats 15

-structure well-supported by rock pile

Entry to the commune is a $1000 down payment, then is free as long is you contribute labor to sustain the commune. To be considered for this opportunity, you must meet our strict criteria for admission (which we keep to ourselves). So, in four sentences or less, tell us how you would contribute to this community. We are particularly interested in people with practical skills of gardening, carpentry, plumbing, and masonry, but we could also use all around creatives, DIY makers and users of various steampunk contraptions, and engineers, scientists, and theorists (people smarter than us) who could debunk all this stuff as foundation-less, or make the whole idea better.

new cartoon detail

This is a new cartoon in progress. It's is a fun little detour from my more meditative drawings. It is a little self-contained fantasy community, inspired equally by Richard Scarry and Sim Tower.

Division cont'd 2

These are new drawings that fill in gaps in my newest series. Eventually I'd like to make enough drawings to depict the transitions between the major doubling stages, having each drawing be one frame in a smooth animation of cell division.

Drawing Waste

eraser bits, erasers, pencil leads that broke off in the sharpener

December at Whitney Art Works

This show represents a cornucopia of tantalizing attitudes and approaches. Conceptual, hilarious, funny, honest, whimsical, quirky, smart, passionate are only some the adjectives we've got to flaunt. Come see for yourself!

The December 2009 show will be on view from December 2 - 23 with additional hours (noon- 6pm) on Monday, December 21 and Tuesday, December 22.

Whitney Art Works is open Wednesday - Saturday from noon - 6pm