My initial interest was to watch Bills’ 1977 video interview with Dan Smith (OUR Dan Smith!) with Dan talking about making etching and litho inks and why, while he worked on making a batch of etching ink.  Bill’s UW (University of Washington) video students were making this documentary as an assignment.  It is so interesting to see how Dan wanted to make the best printmaking inks available to artists such as himself, because he could not find the high quality inks he wanted to work with.  It was fascinating to watch “Making Etching Ink: Featuring D.G. Smith – Artist and Entrepreneur”!  You can watch a 2 1/2 minuet trailer at that link.

 

Bill told us that Dan Smith made the small batches of etching and litho inks and gave them to some UW printmaking students (Dan taught litho at UW in 1976) to test out in their work.  In the video when talking about one of the reasons why he began making inks, Dan says, “I’m into making perfect materials“.  A couple of other phrases really caught my attention; “One of my most favorite pigments is Lamp Black” and Dan goes on to explain why (incredibly rich color) as well as some background info on Lamp Black.  Later Dan makes a really poignant comment that I know many Artists also feel, “I don’t know how to make Art a bigger part of the world.“  I hope you have an opportunity to watch the video (now DVD) someday, it’s very interesting to watch what was originally a student assignment interview of someone who eventually turned his passion for making the BEST Art Materials for Artists into the Art business we know as DANIEL SMITH: Artists’ Materials.  And today that passion still continues to make the highest quality Artists Inks and Paints in the world!

 

Bills’ demo set up added another level of interest because his handcrafted “Halfwood Presses” were amazing sculptures on their own.  The photos on line do not do them justice, they are exquisitely detailed, and while working presses, they look as if they should be on display.  Bill brought his personal Mini Halfwood Press as a display which has a couple of unique and charming features.  The first was a clock embedded in the fine woodwork, and the second….well it has a music box mechanism in it and Bill surprised and charmed several DS store staff when it began playing!

 

For the part of the demo where Bill was pulling intaglio prints, inked in DANIEL SMITH etching ink, off the copper plate, he used a brand new, never-been-used press (#49) to test it before sending off to it’s new owner in Australia.  So not only was Bill debuting press #49, he was also pulling prints off a plate he made to commemorate his DVD of Dan Smith that he had not printed from before….pure performance!  Bill believes printmaking is a performance art and this demo was absolutely a performance.  I hope you get a chance to see his Interactive Printmaking FREE Demo this Sunday at the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store:

 

Sun July 26th from 12 to 2 pm Special Time!
INTERACTIVE PRINTMAKING: Daniel Smith Etching Ink DVD
Bill Ritchie Pulling Prints!
emeralda.com

 

Thank you Bill!

[ And Thank You for the wonderful print, I will treasure it! ]

 

Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
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Since this was a VIP tour, it began with KT, Manager of the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store introducing John Cogley, owner of DANIEL SMITH, to the NWWS board-members. The group met at the front of the store where the video of “How Paint is Made – The DANIEL SMITH Way!” plays in the foyer of the Seattle Store. John talked to the NWWS group about what was happening on the video by explaining some of the processes, sharing stories and answering questions. It was really interesting to find out a few new things I had not previously learned before since John is very involved in the entire process beginning with being active in finding new minerals for DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Paints .

 

David Pruneda, who works in the Seattle Store, took over for the next part of the tour by leading the group through the store to the room where the weekend FREE demos are held, it’s also used as a Gallery. The group took seats to listen to David talk about the minerals used for making DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Colors by showing and passing around some of the corresponding minerals such as Azurite Genuine . There were “rocks”, and jars of powered minerals and examples of PrimaTek watercolors painted out on watercolor paper. There was also a map on display showing where some of the minerals come from…literally all over the world!

 

The next part of the tour was conducted by Ron Harmon, the long time DANIEL SMITH Chemist, who took us back into the manufacturing room. There Ron showed us the the 5 large to huge mixers that the pigments are mixed with the various liquids. Watercolor with Gum Arabic and water, Acrylic with acrylic emulsion, Oil with either safflower or linseed oil, and Lithographic ink with litho varnish. Next, are the various three roll mills that “take the pigment particles and tear them down” to transform the mixes into DANIEL SMITH paints and inks. While we were there, one of the mills was being used to refine DANIEL SMITH Quinacridone Gold Watercolor , so it was extra cool for the NWWS group to see. Lastly Ron lead the group over to see the two filling machines, one for watercolors and the other for acrylics, where the tubes of paint are filled. The inks are actually too thick for the fillers and the cans are hand filled beside the mills. Here is a trivia question for you…how are the labels applied to the tubes? Answer: by hand! Bonus answer: by Ron’s daughter’s hand!

 

At the end of the tour, most of the group were amazed that while they “knew” that DANIEL SMITH manufactures its’ name brand paints and inks, they had not realized that the DANIEL SMITH Watercolors , Acrylics and Oil Paints and the Printmaking inks are actually made in the same building as the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store.

 

Next time you are visiting the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store to pick up more art supplies, just remember that a couple of walls over on the south side, is where the magic of COLOR for your paintings is made!

 

The tours are now resuming after a long hiatus, and DANIEL SMITH Manufacturing Tours are available by appointment for groups of up to 20.