- Please note: This is a past event.
Michael Keyes: Woodcut Printmaking, “En Plein Air”
Thu September 18, 2025 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $135. Note: Entrance to Petrified Forest State Park is included in the registration price.
9:00a – 4:00p
Maximum of 10 / Minimum of 3 – All ability levels
The sensation of carving basswood plywood with razor-sharp Japanese gouges to produce a wood block for printing handsome prints is fulfilling and productive! The goal for this class is to produce a small edition of 5 woodcut prints, carved and printed by each student.
Participants will be introduced to wood and paper types, carving tools, inks, brayers, and printing tools used in making woodcut prints. We will discuss how to store and transport paper, ink, tools, and equipment, and how to make woodcut prints on site, “en plein air.”
Woodblocks, ink, paper, and accessories will be supplied, as well as carving tools to be lended for use. Participants must bring a 6” x 8” sketch or drawing as a reference for the woodcut print to be produced. To make a successful print, the drawing needs to be made up of bold shapes, and black lines need to be thick, while white lines can be either thick, or thin and delicate.
The instructor will demonstrate the steps to translate a black-and-white drawing into a dynamic woodcut print. The instructor will emphasize how to carve the block with shallow gouge marks, ensuring the optimum control of the print appearance.
Michael Keyes is a woodcut printmaker and oil painter with a BFA from Wright State University, and an MFA from Ohio State University.
In woodcut printmaking, he is challenged by composing black and white shapes into active, impactful images. His woodcuts relay visual stories—either a simple story of a breathtaking landscape, or a complex story of people helping people, as in activities in early days of the Covid 19 pandemic. The addition of brisk color, produced with oil-based inks, brings a special liveliness to his works.
He teaches woodcut printmaking at Art Students League of Denver.
Michael was awarded “Best of Show” at the 2021 National Arts Program Front Range Exhibition, and “First Place” in the Studio Work Category, at the Escalante Canyons Art Festival in 2024, among other recent awards.
You can see more of his artwork at MichaelKeyesArt.com
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