From Block to Print: An Introduction to Woodcut

From Block to Print: An Introduction to Woodcut
with Julie Lapping Rivera

2 Days: Tues & Wed
January 27-28, 10 AM to 4 PM
Cost: $315 + $45 materials fee
6 participants maximum

Carving an image out of a block of wood can feel both magical and meditative. This two day workshop will introduce you to the beautiful art and craft of woodcut printmaking. We will explore the art form by looking at master prints, then learn the basics: getting your image on the block, exploring the tools and techniques of carving, honing your tools to keep them sharp, and finally, inking and printing.

In order to best utilize our time together, please come to the workshop with some simple sketches that will allow you room to play with various tools to create a variety of textures and tones. Your drawings can be abstract or realistic, but I suggest that they be uncomplicated,
(Not too many small shapes and details) to allow you the freedom to discover what your tools - and hands - can do!

In addition to a sketchbook and soft pencils, please bring carving tools and a leather strop with you. Some tool recommendations, from less expensive to more expensive:

-Powergrip carving tools (Amazon, Woodcraft)
-McClain’s Printmaking offers a range of carving tools - you can create your own set of four or five tools and get a discount.
-Pfeil carving tools - 6 tool set (Woodcraft)
-Leather strop can be ordered from McClain’s, Amazon or Woodcraft.

Julie Lapping Rivera is a printmaker and collage artist, currently teaching woodcut at Smith College and at Zea Mays Printmaking. She began her career as a teaching artist in NYC with the Studio In a School Association, Museum of Modern Art, and Lincoln Center Institute. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient in Drawing and has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2022 Julie was awarded a guest artist residency fellowship to Scoula Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy. representing the Boston Printmakers. Her most recent artist residency was at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland. In April, 2024 through February 2025, her woodcut and poetry series “Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women” was at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, MA. A larger version of the project is currently at the Loveland Museum in Loveland, Colorado. It will then travel to the Temecula Valley Museum in California.

Image Credits to Julie Lapping Rivera

Free parking is provided.
Class is located at Shepherd & Maudsleigh Studio,
27 Dunstan Street, West Newton, MA 02465