Welcome
Louis F. Dow Studio Fine Art Printmaking
Welcome to the studio
DowStudio.com is the Internet portal for the art - drawings and fine art prints - of Master Printmaker Louis F. Dow. On this site, you can find out about Louis, learn about how he makes his art and see many examples of the art. Check out the buttons at the right to navigate to various parts of the site. On many pages are short “blurbs” that explain about various aspects of printmaking and drawing and about some of the personal approaches Louis uses when making art. These often have links to more complete explanations. On the “Contact” page, there’s an opportunity to contact Louis with comments, questions and ideas or to inquire about purchasing or commissioning art.
A “monotype” is any unique (mono-)
piece of fine art made using some
kind of printing process (-type). In
the case of the monotype pictured
above, Alpine Village, the image was
built up on a flat plexiglass plate
which was then placed on a press bed
and covered with a piece of fine art
paper. Running the plate and paper
through the press causes the image
to transfer from the late to the paper.
Alpine Meadow
Monotype
About Louis Dow
Dow has been a professional printmaker for over 35 years, running professional, commercial printmaking studios in Los Angeles, Indiana, Fundão, Portugal and Miami. At each of these locations he made his own art; worked with artists from around the world who have an interest in printmaking, especially etchings and monotypes and monoprints; did workshops and was generally supportive of aspiring and accomplished printmakers and artists. He also makes, proofs, editions and repairs etching and other types of relief and intaglio plates for artists, publishers and collectors. Louis began his adult life as a musician and later earned a Masters of Public Administration from the highly respected City Management School of the University of Kansas. He held several “real jobs” in public administration, including being City Manager or Assistant in several municipalities. Although he truly enjoyed public administration and public management, he wanted to see if it was possible to live his live without a real job and decided to return to the arts; learned to draw and began a focus on Printmaking, particularly etchings and monotypes.
Insets, top to bottom:
-Le Synagogue: Etching &
Colligraph, hand color; 24x36
-Black Flowers: multi-plate etching;
24x36
-Invitation to the Dance:
Colligraph; 17x30
-Glacier Park: Monotype; 44x30
Printmaking -
Printmaking isn’t commercial printing, it isn’t posters or reproductions, letterheads or invitations.
Fine Art Printmaking is simply various techniques for making fine art that include some kind of
printing process. Included in Printmaking are such techniques as etching, wood- and lino-cuts,
hand lithography, monotypes and monoprints. While drawings aren’t a printmaking technique,
many printmakers also make drawings and many printmaking techniques involve some drawing so
drawing is often part of a Printmaker’s portfolio.
What does “printing process” mean?
A “printing process” simply involves the process of transferring imagery usually by means of a press. So, in Printmaking, there is some kind of plate - in etching a copper or zinc plate, in lithography, a stone or aluminum plate, in wood-cuts a block of wood serves as a plate, and so on. The image is built up on or cut or etched into the plate using any of a wide variety of techniques and then transferred, usually in the press, to paper or some other substrate. The result is a “Print,” also called an etching, or a woodcut or linocut, or a hand lithograph (not to be confused with photo or ofset lithography which is standard printing, like posters or invitations), or a monotype or monoprint.
Insets, left to right:
-Santa Monica: hand-colored
etching, 20x24
-Dante’s View: Monotype & Mixed
Media, 40x60
Store
Custom Original Monotypes
Monotypes are pieces of original, unique fine art made using some printing process. The studio can make original, one-of-a-kind monotypes in almost any custom color and style. We often make fine art that will match color and stylistic schemes. Prices are based mostly on size. Generally $300.00 - 3,ooo.00Etchings
While we make etchings in a wide variety of styles, they often have a more “traditional look.” Etchings are the medium of Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, and Blake. Etchings are often smaller - Rembrandt did some as small as postage stamps - but are conveniently available in sizes up to 24x36 inches. The Studio has developed a technique, mixing an etching with a colligraph, which allows for wide ranges of colors and textures while keeping costs reasonable. Cost depends on size and difficulty of printing. Generally $300.00 - 5,000.00Drawings
Strictly speaking, drawing isn’t a printmaking technique, but it’s common for printmakers to also make drawings and that’s certainly the case at Dow Studio. We do both pen & ink and pencil drawings and make color available via either colored pencils or other color media. Prices depend on size and technique. Generally $200.00 - 10,000
F
DOW
tudio.com
“Printmaking is the
GRAND OPERA of art. A
Printmaker employs
almost all of the tech-
niques artists use,
imagery, chemistry,
composition, technique,
and lots of problem
solving, to make a print.
-Louis F. Dow
News
Dow spent a fruitful year in Portugal recently installing a printmaking studio for A Moagem Cidade do Engenho e das Artes, an art museum and cultural institution in the town of Fundão. After the studio was opened, he worked with local artists and printmakers from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, England and Russia. All in all, this was a grand experience for any printmaker. Now, he’s back in Miami working on building a new printmaking facility. The plans for this studio are based on the one he previously ran in the Wynwood section of Miami and the original North Hollywood location, with workspace for all printmakers, aspiring and professional, individual instruction and
workshops, space for the making, proofing
and editioning of etching, engraving,
colligraph, wood- and lino-cut and other
types of intaglio and relief plates.
And, special sections of the studio will be
devoted to photo-etching and digital
printmaking including giclgées.
As soon as the studio is running, he also is
planning on adding hand lithography to
the mix, making this a complete
printmaking facility and center for the
Miami printmaking community.
On this page:
-The Rehearsal: Pencil Drawing,
30x44
Gallery
Below, you’ll see three sets of images. The first shows drawings, the middle is Monotypes, monoprints and colligraphs, and the last (though not least) are Etchings. Click on an image to see a larger version. A more complete Gallery of the art can be found at: dowstudiodealer.com.
