Retracing Footprints Left by a Romantic

by Charles Wiegand
The Daily Evergreen
Monday, February 26, 2001

Art, poetry and antiquated craftsmanship converged in the print studio of the Fine Arts building Sunday.

About 25 students enrolled in English 332 have been studying the style and vision of eighteenth-century English romantic writer William Blake. Blake, a radical thinker of his time, created an entire mythology based loosely on certain texts such as Greek writings and the Bible. He manifested his creative vision in the form of poetry, engravings and watercolors.

Many of his artistic expressions were committed to engravings, which contained visionary images accompanied by his own poetry.

"Vision to (Blake) was vision of new political thinking and of people being free," said Debbie Lee, English professor.

The students created prints emulating the technique and style of Blake’s work.

His art reflected his view of anti-authoritarian thought combined with his own prophetic musings. Blake lived in a time of widespread poverty in England, and dreamed of a time when people would have greater freedom and dignity, Lee said.

For students making the prints, the process is labor intensive and requires a great deal of patience.

First, the students drew their intended design on a regular sheet of paper. After the drawing was complete, they laid a small square of glass over the sketch, and traced the drawing to the glass. Using a steel etching tool, they slowly scraped indentations in the glass to etch in the drawing, explained Reese Cousins, a senior majoring in English.

Once the etching was completed on the glass, a thick ink was applied, then wiped off with tarlatan cloth. This left traces of ink in the engraving. The glass was placed on a rolling press with a piece of paper that was compressed against the glass, picking up the ink to recreate the images, said Kevin Haas, a Fine Arts professor with 10 years of engraving experience.

Afterwards, the resulting reproduction could be painted or modified.

"You’re not limited to just having one of them," Haas said. "As you progress, you get a record of changes you make to the drawing (on the glass)."

Students not only etched drawings into the glass, but also carved entire poems into the plates.

"This takes a lot more," said junior Jennifer Burroughs. "For all the labor you put in, you have to make sure it’s working toward something. You get a better product out of it."

Haas agreed.

"Working like this presents you with possibilities of working with your hands that are not readily available when using a computer, " he said. "There’s a challenge that is presented when on has to physically create things on paper."

This is the first time such an activity has been included in English 332, Lee said. In the future, she said, they will do a more extensive class and get more into the printmaking process.