The New New Thing – Back to the Stone Age
June 7, 2025 2:20 pm | by Craig Webb | Posted in Art, Technology
Last week I made a jump into a new (old) direction. I signed up to make lithographs at The Art Students League in New York City.
I looked at the summer schedule in May. Lithography is offered for June 2025.
I had to decide quickly. The listing cryptically said “June 2025” and June began on a Sunday. The lithography class has a requirement to talk to the professor before signing up. He was holding interviews on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. That meant a danger of missing a week’s time.
I went to The Art Students League on Monday and invaded the facility to get a first look. The lithography shop was empty. The litho shop is rather small compared to university press shops. The presses have leather-strapped stretcher bars. The black ink rollers were wrapped in plastic. I did not see any color rollers. I did not see any color ink.
The Art Students League Litho Shop has a good many stones including some large ones. There is a small hand-crank lift to move stones from the shelf to tables and the press.
The layout was strange. I went home with doubts about enrolling.
Tuesday morning I woke and faced my fears and doubts. I went back to see the professor and took a second look.
The class professor is Michael Pellettieri. Michael turned out to be a very wise, kind man. He asked about my history and I showed a few prints from my website.
Micheal knew a professor at Cornell from when I was there. When I was at Cornell the professor was a professor emeritus.
Micheal suggested that I sign up for Wednesday/Thursday instead of Monday/Tuesday. I went home and tore up my storage area searching for my box of litho supplies and tools.
On Wednesday the shop assistant, Diego, gave me two stones. He offered a large stone but I could not move it from the shelf. The shelf rollers are plastic piping on rods and are hard to roll. I chose two medium-sized stones instead, a grey stone and a yellow stone. I spent Wednesday graining both stones. Diego made fresh paper covers for my stones to keep them clean.
On Thursday I had time to talk to Michael Pellettieri. He also teaches etching and is often in the etching room. I made trips to The Art Students League Art Supply Store and back. I talked to other students and monitors. I did not get more done than to gum out borders on my stones.
A huge limitation at The Art Students League is that people are not allowed to be in the shop except during the assigned “class time”. They keep things locked up. This is especially toxic for lithography as it is not practical to drag the stones home to work. I am used to a schedule of working from 8 am to 11 pm, seven days per week.
It is possible to pay to come on Fridays for four hours. The extra fee is $20. I paid at the bursars office. I came back on Friday afternoon to knock out a couple of touche images. I added texture with Korn’s crayons to provide for a comprehensive first test.
On Wednesday I will etch and then print. Thursday I will grain the stones and start a next set of images. I am excited to be working with lithography again.