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Laurent
Schkolnyk
Laurent
Schkolnyk, a Frenchman, is one of the few artists in the 20th century
who mastered the technique of mezzotint, and his eye brings to it a
contemporary vision. More »
Available Artwork
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Parfum
de Cerises
by Laurent Schkolnyk
5"
x 7"
Mezzotint
on Paper.
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an inquiry about this art or other
works by this artist.
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Grande
Corye Sleve
by Laurent Schkolnyk
8"
x 6"
Mezzotint on Paper.
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an inquiry about this art or other
works by this artist.
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Using
three different plates, one for each of the primary colors, he first
prints yellow, then magenta and finally blue, causing the colors to
mix and become seven or eight different hues and tints, this producing
half-tones and shading. His mentor and supporter is Yoso Homaguchi,
renowned Japanese mezzotint artist. Schkolnyk draws on the traditions
of Magritte, Chagall, Morandi and especially Japanese still life and
gives them new meaning. His work is exhibited throughout America, Japan
and Europe and he has had more than thirty one-man shows since 1985
in locations ranging from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, Seoul to Paris
and Kuala Lumpur to Boston.
The
essence of mezzotint is mystery created by delicately graduated color
tones rather than lines. It was a technique popular in the 18th and
19th centuries. Invented by an artist named Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1676),
mezzotint requires that the copper plate be roughened and pitted with
an instrument called a rocker, a chisel-like tool with a curved, serrated
blade. This creates close clusters of dots, burrs, troughs, and peaks,
the areas between which hold a rich supply of ink, producing tonal
gradations, or a kind of halftone. Once the entire surface has been “rocked” to
create the “ground”, burnishing or smoothing out parts
of the pitted surface then creates the image area. When the plate is
inked and transferred to paper, the result is a dark, rich velvety
picture.
Color
mezzotints to imitate paints were first produced by Jacques Christophe
Le Bont (1667-1741). This three-step method was often used to reproduce
affordable images of the popular classical paintings of the day.
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