Image making has been an anchor for the entirety of Todd Drake’s life. “No matter what crisis or joy surrounds me, I use my time in the studio to process those events and reflect them through the act of making,” says the NYC-based printmaker. Todd works to capture the energy he feels in life. He tells us; “Successful images for me are both visually impactful and filled with powerful content”. With art heroes including the German Expressionists and printmakers such as Peter Paul Piech, his work explores both the expressive range found in the painted mark and the unique qualities found in printmaking.
Todd’s latest collection of prints is a step away from his usual work and explores coloured backgrounds and the use of ‘waste ink’. The project was initiated after Todd printed a new linocut in a light blue and was overwhelmed with positive feedback. A new aspect was added to the work when he used colour rather than black to print the linocut. He comments; “I realised I could add a new layer of impact to my work by using colour”. But how could Todd make colour his own and not simply copy his print heroes like Peter Paul Piech? This led him to begin experimenting with colour use, both with the background and foreground of the primary carved image.
Todd intensely searched for a way to use colour that seemed authentic to him. Holding a masters degree in Painting, he really loves the energy expressive brush making can capture, as well as the emotional range of colour. He shares his prints as street art, so finding a fast process was also important. Initially, Todd tried printing the foreground in colour and discovered that unless the colour stayed darker in Key he would often lose the graphic impact of the print. So he moved his focus to background colour. He comments; “When I used wood to print the background, I became excited by the random, loose, texture it created”. Next, he tried applying paint directly as a background in fast, expressionist strokes, and he hit the jack pot! The back linocut could now work its graphic magic on top, and the colour and brush strokes were adding something extra beneath. “With this method I was free to use a wide range of colour and texture. This just opened up the possibilities for me,” states Todd. Also, with this approach the background colour can be applied quickly, allowing him to make many variations with minimal time and effort.
The images Todd creates have content in them that are an expression of his inner life; his emotions, memories, and thoughts about the world. He describes; “The more honest I am with myself and the more I stick to that honesty in the image making, the more people respond positively”. One of his very popular images depicts a tree stump that is regrowing its limbs, speaking to Todd’s belief in persisting through difficulties and remaining optimistic over the powers of life. Another image in this series is of a person drowning. Todd states; “Their voice becomes a fountain rising above them. I believe the viewer is pulled in first by the beauty of the image then moved by the crisis of the person. To me this person represents us all but also the struggle of the Global Warming Refugee.”
Todd is now creating colour backgrounds in two ways. One method uses the leftover ink on his rollers and glass pallet. Rather than throw away that ink, he paints with it, rolling it onto printing paper and letting it dry to be printed on top of next session. The other approach is by painting a series of pages allowing them to dry before printing over top. He comments; “In a few cases my experiments fail and I add acrylic paint over printed sections to improve the image. These prints ride the edge of failure until I finally break through to a solution that makes the image work. That kind of seeking, and finding, is a lot of fun. “
“This new look – combining strong colour backgrounds with the graphic quality of my linocut prints, is a big breakthrough for me,” concludes Todd. Looking to the future, he hopes to use this approach in new large murals and in larger linocuts and prints, and spread his work across the UK and EU.
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