Black Heart Press

Manno Kalliomäki (1948-2005)
Hautausmaa ja luuranko haamut
(Cemetery and skeleton ghosts)
Etching and aquatint, 1973
Edition of 5

Manno Kalliomäki was a Finnish printmaker / artist based in Turku.
Dark Finnish humor and at times biting social commentary = BHP approves!  

Not much on the web about him, unfortunately.
Go see this print here: http://www.bulevardi7.com/se/myyntikokoelmat/?isokuva=6478 

Further reading:

Also not so sure what kind of music he was into (his obituary says he had a well sorted collection of over 2000 records), but here’s Finnish tango classic “Kohtalon Tango” played on a mechanical organ, for that Monkey Island feeling you’ve been trying to reconnect to for years now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDXNberllg

Goes well with the cemetery / skeleton choir etching, too.

Bringing to your attention my man Jonathan S. Green, who’s melancholy etchings / aquatints are now gracing a set of snowboards. On the printmaking achievement ladder, that ranks as pretty rad.
My favourite is the one pictured lowest. Make sure to check out their website to see all designs!
 

jonathangreen:

Magine Snowboards 

Did I mention I have my art on snowboards this year?
Never thought I’d see my etchings on a snowboard. 

Magine Snowboards based out of Port au Port, Newfoundland are featuring my art on their line of Xing All Mountain boards. 
These guys are doing great work, breaking new ground with their bio composite boards that have a low carbon footprint and environmental impact. World class. So glad to have my art on these boards

Gert & Uwe Tobias - The Etchings
The Romanian-born German twins are known for their awesome woodcuts, but:
This video: http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/202/1068 shows Jacob Samuel talking about his collaboration with G & U in their studio in Cologne, and his nifty portable aquatint box. Healthcare enthusiasts will love the video, it just seems so wrong to have your mouth come in contact with a hose that ends in a box full of powdered rosin, but I guess there is some kind of valve somewhere. I was also taught to get the rosin cloud going, and only then adding the plate, but whatever, the prints they made look absolutely stunning.
Printed in an edition of 17, on Gampi on a backing paper of Somerset Satin (500g/m²) - maybe I’m becoming a bit snobbish due to recent printing projects that involved Gampi, but when it comes to getting the most out of rich aquatint graduations, nothing beats Gampi <3 (maybe silk? I would love to pull more prints on really fine silk..)

Side note: I love the idea of a portable aquatint box, but whoop, that shipping crate is huge. Then again, I’m glad he didn’t mount the whole thing on his bike or Saab or whatever and took off on a fringe culture road trip, handing out free crummy prints along the way. For certain collaborative projects it might actually be a really good idea to pack a good, portable version of the shop and come visit, as opposed to inviting the artist over. Maybe cheaper, too ;)

Further reading:

The entire suite of prints at EditionJS, Santa Monica:
http://www.editionjs.com/img/tobias/ 

 Moldavian music, made in Romania:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRKZ_4RV0Rg 
so good, so good.

MoMA has the suite in their collection, gifted from Edition Jacob Samuel and the artists, and also shows them on a special website for print/out. I’m sure many of you will be as thankful as I was for the zoom function, which allows the print-curious viewer to blow up a 350x400px jpg two twice it’s actual size. The only true way to really appreciate fine art. I hope someone gifts MoMA a proper scanner and an intern soon, to remedy this.. 
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/printout/works/untitled-gert-and-uwe-tobias/ COUNT THE PIXELS 

jonathangreen:

New print in progress. Still needs some tweaking…

Intaglio 18” x 24”

BHP:
Swamped by printmaking work. Been up in Tampere editioning prints for one of Finland’s most prolific artists. Can’t neglect the internets for too long and would like to share Jonathan’s recent update. 45x61cm, and great rounded corners. Curious to see how this one will look when “tweaked” enough.

I think I’ve posted this before, but you might well want to read it twice: short interview with Mr. Green here:
http://www.pickmeupart.com/uncategorized/mini-interview-jonathan-green/

Also make sure to check out his tumblr for sketches for print pictured above.

The Rainbow
Magnus Dahl
Etching, aquatint
Artist’s Proof on Hahnemühle paper
Bergen / Stockholm 2010

This print by swedish artist Magnus Dahl hangs in my studio. Whenever I get disillusioned with contemporary printmaking and feel like building a time machine to join my renaissance heroes, I look up at this small, silent print and feel new hope - maybe not all is lost.

In other news, I’m relocating to Helsinki this August.

Handsome Boy Printing Club
Samuel Seger & Patrick Wagner
Germany / Norway 2009

Undiluted nitric acid & liquid hardground in seperate glass jars on zinc plates, smashed with a nice grey litho stone.
Edition of 3
Printed on Zerkall “Alt Bern” mould made paper, 340g/sqm
Paper size 76x54cm (29.9x21.2 in)

at 0:38 of this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urCeMWkWYfQ

To get the acid vapors to etch properly as well, a fine aquatint layer was molten onto the zinc board.