Saturday, February 23, 2013, I’ll be teaching a beginners class on leather etching at Community Farmers’ Market’s Folk School in Bowling Green, KY.

There are only a handful of artists in the world known to be practicing this primitive art form. What a shame! While etching leather can be a challenging skill to develop, the challenge has more to do with perspective than reality. See, when you are sketching using a pencil, pen, or marker you draw to create the darker parts of the image. The opposite is true when you etch into leather. You are actually creating a negative of the image by scratching out the darker dyes to create the lighter parts of the image.

So, much of my class on etching will be teaching you how to look at an image as if it’s a negative and then how to apply that to the leather. The class will begin by teaching some quick ideas about sketching an object with a pencil on white paper. We will then focus on how to create a negative of that same object on a black piece of paper with a white crayon. This practical step of reversing your view of the object will allow you as a student to see etching leather as it really is, creating a negative through reducing the dark, rather than applying dark to the medium.

Once you have begun grasping a better view of seeing and creating a negative, you will take out your own knives and begin taking your image and scratching it into scrap pieces of leather. After you feel more capable of etching and of applying what you’ve learned, I will have some cool opportunities to try out your newly found understanding to a finished leather product.

Time:

Saturday, February 23, 2013 from 9am to noon.

What you’ll need to bring:

1.  A sharp pocket or Exacto knife. Each student will be responsible for their own knife and for their own safety in using it. I will teach some simple and proper uses of the knives to ensure safety while achieving the desired strokes on the leather.
2.  A simple picture or object that you’d like to etch (for example, an animal, flower, favorite quote, tree, etc). The class will not be long enough for you to take on a complex task, so I encourage you to think in simple terms. The goal of this class is to introduce you to etching and there won’t be time to etch the Mona Lisa.
3. A patient spirit. It’s not as easy as it may appear on the surface.

What I’ll bring for you:

1. Paper
2. Pencils
3. Crayons
4. Objects to be sketched and etched if you can’t come up with any ideas.
5. Scrap leather and finished leather.
6. Bandaids.
7. Patience and a little encouragement to help you work through this challenging skill.

Cost:

The cost of the class is $20 per person. If you can not afford the $20, please speak to me. I’ll see if we can work out a full or partial scholarship for you. I’d love to have as many of you as would like to participate and will not allow money to stop you from participating.

I will also have scrap leather for sale by the bag full for $5 a bag. I’ll have bags on hand for you to fill.

To register for the class, fill out the form below. This will help me to know how many supplies I need to have prepared for that weekend and if I’ll need some extra help to get things done.

Reexamine your work through the methods, materials and professional benefits of the ever advancing world of Etching. Students and professionals of printmaking will be able to push their ideas and understanding of the Etching process through knowing when to combine the method of Intaglio, to better poetically place the right method with the right image idea. This 3-day workshop will help you “brush up” on the basics with new materials and techniques as well as other print shop standards.
*For Early Bird Special registration call 719-520-1899 before May 1.

Reexamine your work through the methods, materials and professional benefits of the ever advancing world of Etching. Students and professionals of printmaking will be able to push their ideas and understanding of the Etching process through knowing when to combine the method of Intaglio, to better poetically place the right method with the right image idea. This 3-day workshop will help you “brush up” on the basics with new materials and techniques as well as other print shop standards.
*For Early Bird Special registration call 719-520-1899 before May 1.