Oaxaca, Mexico: Center for the Graphic Arts

Before going to meet Alan Altamirano aka MK_Kabrito, founder of La Chicharra graphic arts studio for a workshop demonstration on woodcut techniques, we spent the morning with master printer and lithographer Fernando Sandoval.  Fernando and his group do traditional lithography using copper plates and the acid wash technique. Master artists like Francisco Toledo and Sergio Hernandez rely on his impeccable expertise to produce the highest quality images. We were able to see many of these masters’ work during our visit.

We met Alan and translator/photographer Luvia Lazo Gutierrez in the studio and for the next two hours we learned about the printmaking process, using different plates for each color. (Note: we are offering a printmaking workshop in January 2016. Please contact us if you are interested.)

  Some of us volunteered to try our hand at it — time consuming and labor intensive.  Alan says it takes him at least thirty hours to make a large woodcut. Then he does the registration process, applying the ink to the wood and laying the paper exactly over the correct spot.

There is also a large work area and a printing press.  So the large pieces go through the press rather than transferring the image to the paper by hand.

I work with local experts and guides to put together an unusual and intimate view of Oaxaca, her art, food and culture. I am not a tour guide but an expert at award-winning university program development. If your organization has interest in a program such as this one, please contact me.