Laura Splan

From Pixel to Print: Digital Imaging + Inkjet Printing

Course Description
This workshop will explore a variety of digital imaging techniques and inkjet printing fundamentals. The workshop will use the creative development of a project as a platform to explore the technical, artistic, and conceptual possibilities of digital image manipulation and processing. Photoshop layering, selections, filters, and adjustment techniques will be covered. Final images will be printed on an Epson 2200 which can print up to 13” x 44”. The class will consider the significance of color, effects, scale, and different print media (i.e. vellum, photo, watercolor paper). Shakerag will provide a selection of papers for student use.

Each student will pursue an individual project that uses Photoshop as an artistic tool to collage and/or process images for the print medium. Projects may culminate in a single print, a series, or even a sculpture. Students should approach digital imaging and printing not as a departure but rather as a compliment and continuation of their current artistic practice. Students should bring source images, photographs, and materials that they may incorporate into their digital images and prints. These need not be in a digital form. Digital still cameras and a flatbed scanner will be available to students to collect additional source material during the week. The instructor will show examples of artwork that reveal the possibilities of digital imaging and inkjet printing.

Skill Level
No experience necessary to take this class. The workshop will cover the essentials of Photoshop and inkjet printing required to complete a project in the class.

Artist's Biography
Laura Splan is a New York City based mixed media artist. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of California, Irvine where she began using Photoshop 2.0 while studying digital media, photography, and video. She has been a digital media instructor since 1996 for a number of media art centers, colleges, and individual artists. She received her Master of Fine Art in Sculpture from Mills College in Oakland, CA.

Splan has had solo exhibitions at the International Museum of Surgical Science (Chicago), the New York Hall of Science (NY, NY) and the Richmond Art Center (Richmond, CA). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Museum for Arts and Design (NY, NY), the Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland, OR), and Caren Golden Fine Art (NY, NY). She has been a visiting artist and lecturer at Maryland Institute College of Art, California College of Art, Cal Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, and San Francisco Camerawork. She was recently awarded a Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grant for Visual Arts. Reviews of her work have appeared in Craft, Artweek, Discover Magazine, the Village Voice, and Fiberarts. More information on Laura and her work: www.laurasplan.com.