Inquiry: Interviewing the Printmaker

IToday John from the Auckland Print Studio came to our school.

He came to show us prints and teach us about printmaking. He does lots of prints of extinct birds on rocks. This is called lithography. He likes doing printing because drawing and with printing he can can make lots of pictures.

We wrote some questions to ask John. Here are some of the answers:

How do you make your printings better and do you make mistakes?

John does make mistakes. When he makes a mistake he keeps on going and tries to get it finished. Each time he makes a mistake he thinks about how to make it better - Aidan and Tauryn

When did you start printing and what is your favourite type of printing?

John was 18 when he first started printing. His favourite type of printing is lithography - Ryan and Selena

When do you do your art?

John mainly does his art at night time because he is working with other people during the day. During the day he is teaching at university - Luke and Jaidyn

Where do you do your printing and who do you it with?

John does his printing his studio. He does it with another person called his assistant. Sometimes he also helps classes or other people to print - Emily and Cory

What do you use to do your printing?

• a roller - Shardia
• some rocks from different countries like Germany and America - Campbell
• a machine to put pressure on his art - Ryan
• ink for the colour - Jaidyn
• paper - Waima

What is the size of the biggest print you have ever done?
John's biggest print is 1.2metres long! - Caleb

We thought John's artwork looked cool. He sometimes makes up his own pretend birds from two different birds. It sometimes takes him a long time to do his prints. John can mix together colours to make lots of new colours.

Here is a video you can watch to learn about the process of lithography: