Introduction to Polymer Gravure

This class is an introduction to the polymer photogravure process, the modern successor to the difficult Talbot-Klic copperplate process. A modern polymer-coated plate is used to create an intaglio-etched surface that is inked with an oily printer's ink and then wiped, leaving ink in the varying depths of the recesses of the plate. Run through a printing press, the ink is transferred to paper creating an image with an exceptionally fine gradation of tones.

The beauty of the polymer method is that the plate is etched by tap water rather than the more chemically dangerous mordant used in the traditional copperplate photogravure process. Prints will be made from digital negatives printed at our studio, allowing students to print images made with digital cameras or scanned film negatives. Participants will leave with at least six etched plates and several prints from each plate.

This workshop is appropriate for anyone who interested in alternative printing techniques and does not mind getting ink on their hands. Participants should have a basic familiarity of Photoshop.

One-weekend Workshop:

Saturday & Sunday, 9am - 5pm

October 30 & 31

• CD, DVD, or Flash drive with a dozen 5x7" (360dpi) images.

• $400 + lab fee of $100

Clay Harmon has been an active photographer since the mid-70s. In the late 90s, he learned the platinum printing process, which served as a catalyst to crystallize his current artistic direction. His evocative photographs are printed using hands-on processes such as platinum-palladium, gum-platinum and polymer gravure. His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows, and is represented by the De Santos Gallery in Houston. Harmon's work is in private collections, a well as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He works as a geologist and has a B.Sc. and MBA from Indiana University.

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