PUBLICATION CENTER

Bonny Lhotka, the experimental artist and co-founder of The Digital Atelier printmaking studio, has released an educational DVD showing how artists can use inkjet printers to create original works on metal and other non-porous substrates. Photographers can use the techniques to reproduce their images on materials other than standard photo and art papers or canvas.

As Lhotka notes in the DVD-preview video on the Digital Art Studio Seminars website, many artists are intrigued by printmaking on metal because it makes the image shimmer or glow. In the 120-minute DVD, Lhotka discusses printmaking processes that use metal, metal leaf, marble fresco panels, and mill-finished aluminum sheets. The processes are suitable for use with most desktop and wide-format inkjet printers that use pigment inks.

Some processes require using a custom pre-coat or gelatin transfer. These materials can be purchased from Digital Art Studio Seminars as well as project kits that can be used to experiment with some of the techniques shown on the Printing on Metal DVD.

This is the second DVD that Lhotka has released on alternative printmaking processes for photography and fine art. The first DVD, entitled Inkjet Transfers, talked about processes for transferring inkjet prints to a range of surfaces using gelatin, gels, and fresco gelatins.

The two DVDs can be purchased individually for $39.95 or as a set for $75.95. Additional techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials are explained in the book, Digital Art Studio: Techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials.  Lhotka co-authored the book with other members of The Digital Atelier, Dorothy Simpson Krause and Karin Schminke.