FEATURED ARTISTS:
MARCIA BROWN, BRIDGET LAMBERT, AND TRISH TILLMAN

(Archived article from March 2001 - click here for current articles)

Untitled (garden) by Marcia Brown, cyanotype over silkscreen, 11" x 7.5"

When artists Marcia Brown, Bridget Lambert and Trish Tillman first met, they immediately hit it off. Along with their friendship, the three share ideas and an interest in experimenting with different digital printmaking techniques. Marcia prefers cyanotype, Bridget prefers monotype, and Trish prefers silkscreen; along with these techniques they all combine digital imaging. All three artists approach the computer as just another printmaking tool. They have similar approaches but different outcomes. All three begin by extracting certain subjects from digital images using Photoshop. They prepare these images for output onto film for silkscreen, silicone intaglio, or cyanotype, or onto paper for gum transfer.

Marcia scans images onto film to use for cyanotypes. The cyanotype process involves exposing paper that has been coated with light-sensitive chemicals to sunlight. Where the sun hits the paper, it is transformed into a brilliant blue. Dark areas on the film block the light, leaving the paper white in the final image. Because of the long exposure time involved, actual objects can be used to block the light, and their shadows can be captured in the print. The cyanotype becomes part of the paper, which can then be printed or drawn upon. The digital image is important because the scale can be manipulated. Marcia is interested in perceptions, especially the ways common or everyday objects are seen when their scale or their relationship with other objects is altered. The cyanotype process also has an implication of time associated with it, since it captures the light and atmosphere of a particular moment. Marcia often uses cyanotypes to provide a visual indication of how events of the past remain part of the present.

Current Duration by Trish Tillman, silkscreen, monotype and pencil, 30ö x 22ö, 2000.	Love Affair, Part III by Bridget Lambert, monoprint, silkscreen, plastic letters, 19ö x 22ö

Bridget uses the computer as a proofing device, the way others use a sketchbook. She begins by scanning instructional drawings into the computer, usually from airline safety cards she has collected over the years. Recently, she has been working on a series of prints in which she first extracted and manipulated an image of a couple escaping from a crashing airplane. An inkjet printout was used as a guide or layout tool to transfer the key image to a piece of plexiglass. The plexiglass plate was then used to create a monotype. The monotype became the first layer of her print. She then returned to the computer, which can be faster and more versatile than sketching and planning by hand. It is also the perfect place to experiment with text and image; the layout of just a few words can be critical to the overall composition of the print. The final design as it appears on the computer is then printed and taken to the studio to use as a guide at the press.

Trish takes her digital camera everywhere she goes. She uses a Nikon CoolPix and takes pictures of objects she sees along the road - people, vehicles, or interesting landscape angles. She uses the digital images in different ways on each print. Some images are the initial source - a starting point, others are elements of the process. Shooting digital images not because of the image quality, but because of their unpredictability, intrigues Trish. She may see one thing, and the camera will capture another, due to the time delay between the taking of the picture and the point that the "shutter" releases. Obviously, the quick and easy nature of the process, and the fact that there is no waste of film and processing, lend freedom to take endless pictures. The digital photographs can also be imported into the computer instantly, manipulated and turned into films or ideas for prints. Yet, the manipulated photographs will not always be obvious in the final print. Sometimes Trish chooses to make a drawing from the digital photo, either on mylar to expose on screens or plates, or on the print itself. A digital image of a street can be transformed into background texture in a monoprint, or the close-up of mechanical equipment can be drawn as a soft, translucent overlay. Just as the outcome of digital photos are unpredictable, the way they appear in the final print can be a contradiction, proposing the question of which interpretation is more accurate - the realism of the photo, or the reevaluation of the drawing.

One new area of exploration is the exciting ability to print digital images on a large format ink jet printer. Not a substitute for traditional hand printing, these full-size digital printouts can expand well beyond that possible with traditional desktop printers. These large format images can stand on their own, as well as provide endless possibilities when used in conjunction with traditional print processes. Bridget and Trish are currently working with Cynthia Alderdice, of Alderdice Studios in Annapolis, to explore this promising technique.

With all the emphasis we already place on process as printmakers, we sometimes question time spent fussing with the computer. One clear advantage of the digital process is that many possibilities can be tried and more risks can be taken, because we aren't irreversibly changing a print. Like using a squeegee in screenprinting, we can apply a flat color by using the paintcan tool in Photoshop. The drawing tools we use include a scribe or burnisher, but also a keyboard and mouse. The computer is just another tool, and the digital image is just another layer in the many layers that make up the final print.

Marcia, Bridget and Trish will have their prints on display at the Glenview Mansion Art Gallery, in Rockville, Maryland, July 1 through July 31, 2001. For more information and images, check the gallery web site at http://www.ci.rockville.md.us/arts/2001exhibits/2001.htm.