Info

Brad Schwartz is a fine artist and web/graphics designer from Spokane, WA. Browse through samples of mixed media drawings, relief and intaglio prints and other design work. Some work is for sale.

Contact me if you have any questions.

 

Thank you for visiting. 

- Brad

I’ve been interested in art all my life. Ever since I can remember I drew and painted with both my parents. This foundation fuels my passion for creating art today.

Since my first printmaking class in college I have been greatly enamored with the process and variety of media involved in printmaking. My work consists of intaglio and relief printing. Intaglio is better known as etching. It can consist of techniques such as drypoint, engraving and etching systems such as hard ground, soft ground, sugar lift and aquatint. All of these techniques (and more) can be used in concert to make marks on a metal printing plate.  Once satisfied with the look of the plate, ink is forced into its crevices and grooves; it is then printed on a hand operated intaglio press.  The plate can be re-inked and reprinted in an edition, or it can be cleaned and reworked, building up areas by adding or subtracting more marks and textures.

I enjoy intaglio for the great variety of marks that can be made. From detailed linear marks to powerful expressionistic passages, a whole range of visual emotions can be transferred to paper when printed. Intaglio also enables a full range of artistic values that can be rendered, from the slight tone of the printing plate to the rich, velvety black of a deeply bitten plate.

Relief printing is similar to intaglio in that marks are made on a plate, but there the similarity ends. Relief prints are typically created on wood or linoleum blocks. Bits of material are removed by carving with ‘U’ and ‘V’ shaped gouges along with a variety of carving knives. The block is then inked with a roller which covers high spots of the block with ink, leaving the lower areas that have been carved away untouched. This high / low elevation of the plate yields a high contrast black & white print, unlike the broad range of tones that can be found in an intaglio print.

Most of my work is created from memory or quick sketches in a sketchbook. Photographs are sometimes used for reference.

The content of my work stems from my surrounding environment. I draw inspiration from the areas that surround Spokane, Washington: the windswept fields of wheat in the spring and the rolling hills of the Palouse in the dry summer. And always, the magnificent and lofty cloud formations that ebb and flow high above.

My artwork is a brief record in time... putting others in my place but momentarily. I lend others my vision: an insight into the feelings I have for the landscapes that surround us.  My landscape imagery tends to be full of visual information, yet void of human presence, evoking the calming peace of being alone in nature.



Education

Spring 1998 Gonzaga University, Post-baccelaureate, non-matriculated Printmaking

Fall 1997 Gonzaga University, Post-baccelaureate, non-matriculated Printmaking

1990-1994 Ohio Wesleyan University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Printmaking & Painting

1985-1990 Shadle Park High School, Diploma

1998-1990 Gonzaga University, Figure Drawing and Painting

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