July 8, 2015

Drawn at La Ceiba Grafica, in Coatepec, Mexico (outside of Xalapa):

La Ceiba Grafica is a lithography and printmaking complex, located in an old hacienda, in Coatepec (near Xalapa, where Jalapenos come from).   They make all their own lithography supplies.  I made a small lithography print while I was there:

La Ceiba Grafica makes their own wooden litho presses

View of the back patio

They use marble stones,

which they mine locally

I choose a gesture drawing,

which I had sketched the night before,

at their open life drawing session on Wednesday nights

My transferred drawing

I drew with litho pencils,

which they had made at the studio

I also used the tusche

they made at the studio

My stone on one of their 

homemade wooden litho presses

I inked the image up darker than I drew it

The final print,

made on their homemade cotton paper

(which they made from discarded cotton towels

from local hotels)

They scraped the walls of a local breadmaking kitchen,

to get the black pigment,

which they used to make litho pencils

and printmaking ink

I went to the Anthropology Museum in nearby Xalapa, housing many original Olmec heads:

Very impressive museum

Prehispanic printmaking,

using clay rollers

to print seals

Awesome miniature printmaking,

on Amate paper

Print show in a pulqueria!

The most appropriate print venue.

Zamer (from Mexico City)

was showing his print masterpieces 

at "La Otra" pulqueria in Xalapa