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When I was very young there were two cameras floating around the house; a Yashica Super 8 and a Welta/Weltini 35mm. Those were my 'toys' growing up. I was fascinated by them yet really knew nothing about them aside from their being 'cameras'. We had, as most American households did, the usual Instamatics, Polaroids, 110s etc., strewn about, but the former were to me objects of pure infatuation. I still have these now after over 40-ish years. I've even loaded the Welta and taken pictures with it. Photography didn't come as a hobby until many years after those youthful intrigues. Had I not been 'politely' invited out of regular high school, I may never have become interested in the field. So I ended up in a secondary high school for poor academics but actually wound up learning more there than any other institution prior. They offered a B&W photo lab class so I signed up and learned the process there. The 'hobby' wouldn't actually begin until about four years after I graduated. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe a moment of nostalgia for my high school lab days, but in 1998 I found myself lingering in a local photo shop and eventually walked out with a screw mount Pentax K-1000. I've been enthused since. Well, I guess it didn't help that I wound up winning a photo contest sponsored by Kodak shortly after the K-1000 purchase. Then, I began finding old cameras in antique and thrift stores and began collecting them. But don't get too excited. Though I do have 'some' the hobby of taking pictures as well as collecting have been touch and go...intermittent at best. But I do have some interesting specimens I think. It was natural though to be drawn to totally manual cameras which was probably a whisper from my 'toys of youth' experiences. Well, that's me and the camera world...in a snapshot.
Other specifics about me: I have many interests and pursuits. For the past few years I've been dabbling in making art (namely the printing processes) and collecting it. I'm a total book nerd and collector. I'm a thrift store nut always after that next find. I've been a metal detectorist since 2010, and basically like anything old that has to be dug up from dinos to denarius not that I've ever found those things myself (hard to find in Iowa). Lastly, I like 'looking at the pictures' of all the greats; Bresson, Fellig, O'Sullivan, Adams, Vroman, Klein, Zielinsky etc. Street and experimental abstract photography is of particular interest to me as well. That's all for now. -Jarl

Welcome to Photrio, Jarl!

Sounds like we have more than a few common interests, so looking forward to your participation.

GuizerJarl said:

For the past few years I've been dabbling in making art (namely the printing processes)

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Cool! What kind of printing processes do you favor, currently?

And welcome aboard, Jarl, it's great to have you with us

Kino said:

Welcome to Photrio, Jarl!

Sounds like we have more than a few common interests, so looking forward to your participation.

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Thanks. I hope to be able to add something here...everyone is light years ahead of me it seems. Some really great work I've seen on the forums...way over my head lol.

koraks said:

Cool! What kind of printing processes do you favor, currently?

And welcome aboard, Jarl, it's great to have you with us

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Thanks, Koraks! I'll try most anything. I've been getting more into collagraphs lately. Have done monotype/print. As far as intaglio, I have tried some dry point but the results weren't quite right, so, I have some more trials to invest in that. Collagraph can be printed both intaglio and relief, but, I prefer intaglio. I did some linocut, screen print and batik in my secondary school. It was more 'introductory' than anything else, but was fun. I have been pondering designs for some linocut/relief prints but just haven't committed the time to that medium yet. I have everything I need minus the inspiration and moment of concentration. I've done a good deal of watercolor monotypes...which I don't see a lot of people doing. I need to improve my drawing skills. It's something that I can do well at times and at others it's an uninspiring nightmare. Most things I do are abstract but some things are deliberately figurative and or representative. For instance, I'll try to do a watercolor once in a while. It's cool because where I live there are three art galleries and a frame shop within a few minute walking distance from my house. Not to mention several antique shops. I'm not a trained artist. In fact, I never call myself an artist...it just doesn't feel right. I always say, 'I do art...but I'm not an artist.' Maybe if that's all I did and made half a living at it...then I'd have to call myself an artist.

GuizerJarl said:

I'm not a trained artist. In fact, I never call myself an artist...it just doesn't feel right. I always say, 'I do art...but I'm not an artist.' Maybe if that's all I did and made half a living at it...then I'd have to call myself an artist.

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I can relate Although I don't really do art most of the time. I just mess about, and I happen to like art. The messing sometimes draws me into that direction, that's all.

GuizerJarl said:

Have done monotype/print. As far as intaglio, I have tried some dry point but the results weren't quite right, so, I have some more trials to invest in that. Collagraph can be printed both intaglio and relief, but, I prefer intaglio. I did some linocut, screen print and batik in my secondary school. It was more 'introductory' than anything else, but was fun. I have been pondering designs for some linocut/relief prints but just haven't committed the time to that medium yet. I have everything I need minus the inspiration and moment of concentration. I've done a good deal of watercolor monotypes...which I don't see a lot of people doing.

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Oh man, that's pretty complementary to what I've done - which is to say, most of that I haven't even tried! I did do linocut for a brief while and made a handful of prints that I still find nice. As to intaglio, I've only done photopolymer, apart from a single multi-color drypoint I once did mostly as an experiment. Never done any proper etching either - I'm more of a photographer-printmaker than a draftsman. I hear you on the drawing skills. Mine are...absent, for the most part! Well, perhaps 'undeveloped' is a better term. I did sell off my etch press a few years ago since deciding I'm more of a photo-chemical printmaker than a photo-mechanical one.
Lithography, now...that's a tantalizing proposition. Ever tried your hand at that? Materials and equipment are 'a bit' of a hurdle, I imagine.

Welcome to the show. While photography has been a major passion and hobby for me since 1973, I’ve been drawing since I was 3 and if I had to choose one, I’d stay with drawing. I do lots of abstracts but also some representational. Drawing is matter of practice and the main part of that practice is seeing. I find that I really need to “be at one” with the subject in order to draw it, that is, spend the time to examine it in great detail and pick up the nuances. If you have a local urban sketchers group, go hang out with them. It’s non-judgmental and great fun.

I, too, like printmaking. I’ve done lots of screen printing over the years and through a printmaking class I took a few years ago did mono-prints, etchings, and linocuts. The latter really turned out well but are hard on my hands. Now I play more with cyanotypes and adding my drawing to them with graphite, pastel, or charcoal.

koraks said:

I can relate Although I don't really do art most of the time. I just mess about, and I happen to like art. The messing sometimes draws me into that direction, that's all.



Oh man, that's pretty complementary to what I've done - which is to say, most of that I haven't even tried! I did do linocut for a brief while and made a handful of prints that I still find nice. As to intaglio, I've only done photopolymer, apart from a single multi-color drypoint I once did mostly as an experiment. Never done any proper etching either - I'm more of a photographer-printmaker than a draftsman. I hear you on the drawing skills. Mine are...absent, for the most part! Well, perhaps 'undeveloped' is a better term. I did sell off my etch press a few years ago since deciding I'm more of a photo-chemical printmaker than a photo-mechanical one.
Lithography, now...that's a tantalizing proposition. Ever tried your hand at that? Materials and equipment are 'a bit' of a hurdle, I imagine.

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Hmm, never have done photopolymer. It looks interesting. I'd like to be set up for photo developing but I can't do that where I live. If there was a facility around here open for the public I'd be on it. One of the community colleges had a series of photo classes. Unfortunately, my real job prevents me from fitting those classes into my schedule. I just got a new etching press...can't live without one myself, lol. You can try 'kitchen lithography'. It gets a bad rap from litho purists for a number of reasons, but, I've seen many people make very nice prints which by definition are fundamentally 'lithographs'. There are lots of tutorials on kitchen lithography but by far the most comprehensive I've seen is Carolyn Muskat's demo.

VinceInMT said:

Welcome to the show. While photography has been a major passion and hobby for me since 1973, I’ve been drawing since I was 3 and if I had to choose one, I’d stay with drawing. I do lots of abstracts but also some representational. Drawing is matter of practice and the main part of that practice is seeing. I find that I really need to “be at one” with the subject in order to draw it, that is, spend the time to examine it in great detail and pick up the nuances. If you have a local urban sketchers group, go hang out with them. It’s non-judgmental and great fun.

I, too, like printmaking. I’ve done lots of screen printing over the years and through a printmaking class I took a few years ago did mono-prints, etchings, and linocuts. The latter really turned out well but are hard on my hands. Now I play more with cyanotypes and adding my drawing to them with graphite, pastel, or charcoal.

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Thanks for the welcome, VincelnMT. Drawing was my first creative outlet as well. I just wish I had kept up on for all those years. I agree, art is about observation. If I had to explain it to someone I'd have to say that it's about comparative observations...proportions, distances, tonalities and gradients etc. Then comes the work of translating and then coordinating that information into your hand/pencil/paper. I've never done cyanotypes but I really like the look of them. I'll be trying them at some point. Didn't Matisse do something like cyanotypes called 'sun prints'? I've seen it done and it looks interesting and simple enough of a process.

GuizerJarl said:

I'd like to be set up for photo developing but I can't do that where I live.

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Film development is doable of course, but darkroom printing is a different matter. I can imagine there are places / situations where it's just not feasible. Community darkrooms are sparsely distributed, I'm afraid.

GuizerJarl said:

You can try 'kitchen lithography'.

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Hey, thanks for the tip! I'm going to do some reading on that. Hope it won't get me all reeled up and sidetracked into yet another direction

GuizerJarl said:

Didn't Matisse do something like cyanotypes called 'sun prints'? I've seen it done and it looks interesting and simple enough of a process.

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When someone asks what is a cyanotype, I say it’s like a sun print and many know those from doing them as a kid at a camp of some kind.

Yes, drawing is about seeing. I meet up with the local urban sketches every other week or so and we sketch up whatever is there. Sometimes it’s a building across the street or a view inside a coffee shop where we tend to meet in the winter. It usually takes about 2 hours to get the sketch done. I do a general layout in pencil and then switch to an ink pen. If I have time I add the watercolor after that. I find that I rarely spend that much time with a subject that I photograph unless I’ve gone back to it multiple times. Here’s a sketch from last Saturday.

VinceInMT said:

When someone asks what is a cyanotype, I say it’s like a sun print and many know those from doing them as a kid at a camp of some kind.

Yes, drawing is about seeing. I meet up with the local urban sketches every other week or so and we sketch up whatever is there. Sometimes it’s a building across the street or a view inside a coffee shop where we tend to meet in the winter. It usually takes about 2 hours to get the sketch done. I do a general layout in pencil and then switch to an ink pen. If I have time I add the watercolor after that. I find that I rarely spend that much time with a subject that I photograph unless I’ve gone back to it multiple times. Here’s a sketch from last Saturday.

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Hey that's great! It's good that you have an art group to convene with. There are some of those around here but usually it's either at a time I'm working or at a bar...which place I have no interest being in. This work you've done reminds me of a book I just recently picked up at a used book store by Danny Gregory titled:

"An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers." Published 2013.

Your work would fit right in as there are many urban scenes throughout. Thanks for sharing!

GuizerJarl said:

Hey that's great! It's good that you have an art group to convene with. There are some of those around here but usually it's either at a time I'm working or at a bar...which place I have no interest being in. This work you've done reminds me of a book I just recently picked up at a used book store by Danny Gregory titled:

"An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers." Published 2013.

Your work would fit right in as there are many urban scenes throughout. Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks for the heads up on the Danny Gregory book. I’ll share that with my sketching group. One of my favorite drawing books is the classic Betty Edwards “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” Coincidentally, she taught at Cal State Long Beach when I was doing my undergrad degree although I didn’t take any classes from her. She was in the art department and I was in Industrial Arts. It took me 30 years before I went back to school to study art.

VinceInMT said:

Thanks for the heads up on the Danny Gregory book. I’ll share that with my sketching group. One of my favorite drawing books is the classic Betty Edwards “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” Coincidentally, she taught at Cal State Long Beach when I was doing my undergrad degree although I didn’t take any classes from her. She was in the art department and I was in Industrial Arts. It took me 30 years before I went back to school to study art.

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No problem on the book mention. He's on Youtube under, 'Sketchbook Skool', too. That's awesome as I have Betty's book as well...among many others.

Welcome to Photrio, Jarl!

Welcome.