26 April 2023
Laura K, Year 9 Art Scholar
On Friday 21 April, Year 9 students studying art took part in a really interesting print workshop with Miss Emilija Pliaukstaite, who is Woldingham’s art technician and also a great artist. The workshop focused on intaglio printing, a technique that scratches, cuts, and etches the surface of a plate to transfer the inked image onto paper.
We started by looking at the work of artists such as Karen Wick, who uses the inside shiny layer of milk bottle cartons to capture the presence of abandoned buildings. Then Miss Pliaukstaite demonstrated the intaglio printing process: she created an image on a foil plate by scratching the surface layer, covered the plate with ink, rubbing it into depressions, wiped the surface of the plate with cloth, and pressed the plate onto soaked paper using a printing press. The mirrored image was then printed onto paper.
This workshop allowed us to practise our crosshatching skills and the art of writing backwards (because the final image is mirrored). I really enjoyed learning this new process, as did my fellow students, some of whose feedback is shown below.
Maria D: “The etching exercise was the best part. Although applying the ink was very messy, I still loved it.”
Maria E: “The intaglio printing was a very creative process - it was a great new technique to learn.”
Marina R T: “It was very well organised, there were enough materials for everyone.”
You can see more of Miss Pliaukstaite’s work here.
