The charm of Bob Seal’s ‘Spring Planting Day’ print won the hearts of voters in the ‘Impressions of Nature’ Printmaking Competition which ran back in April, and as a result won Bob the People’s Choice First Prize. Bob’s use of a strong composition and bold colour gives his work a distinctive character and energy. We wanted to learn more about his prints.
Lisa: What inspired you to make the print ‘Spring Planting Day’?
Bob: I created the print as part of a project for Kooragang Wetlands Rehabilitation Project (KWRP are based in Newcastle NSW Australia). I am artist in residence as a volunteer.
I wanted to show what happens on planting days. Making a fabric banner from my print seemed like a good way to promote KWRP planting days. KWRP Volunteers plant lots of trees and we have regular planting weekends which welcomes participation by families and the general public, plus groups who are environmentally minded .
They always end with a morning tea! 🙂
Lisa: How long have you been making prints for?
Bob: At least 40 years!
Lisa: Do you have a favourite printmaking process?
Bob: Burnishing relief woodcut prints is something I love to do. I’m particularly attracted to making wood engravings and woodcuts. More recently I got involved in cutting and engraving vinyl after seeing some of John Lawrence’s vinyl engravings.
Lisa: You create lots of prints of animals. What in particular fascinates you about animals?
Bob: The singular animal images I have created are for a series of tiles for an educational trail around Kooragang Wetlands. I have cut them from plywood and made moulds and casts of them for children to make rubbings off them. Rather like brass rubbings, as they follow the trail around Kooragang Wetlands. I worked at Taronga Zoo in Sydney for a while in the art department and started to draw animals and capture their essence in as simple an image as I could. Have always been amazed with Australian animals, from the Koala and Echidna to the Platypus and Possum, every animal was very foreign to me when I first arrived here in Australia. I talk to the Possums and their babies who live around the house here. They have become my family friends.
Lisa: What kind of inks do you enjoy working with?
Bob: I am using oil based letterpress inks at present, but looking forward to trying out Caligo Safe Wash, relief and intaglio inks.
Lisa: Do you have any preferences for what kind of paper you like to print on?
Bob: Wenzhou is my paper of choice when burnishing prints by hand, but I am in the middle of making a relief printing press and planning on exploring different paper types very soon.
Lisa: Which printmakers do you most admire?
Bob: My favourite printmakers are Shiko Munakata, Antonio Frasconi and the German Expressionist printmakers. I love their direct simple approach to making a print. I’m less interested in technically precise styles of printmaking. For wood engravings, I have always admired the work of Thomas Bewick, John Lawrence and James Grashow.
Lisa: What are you working on at the moment?
Bob: I am in the planning stages of two more fabric banners for Kooragang Wetlands Rehabilitation Project. This will keep me busy for a few months. I have spent most of my life working as an illustrator/designer/
Lisa: Where online or in the flesh can we view more of your work?
Bob: Printmaking: http://bobseal.tumblr.com
Illustration and cartooning: https://www.behance.net/
For more information on the Kooragang Wetlands Rehabilitation Project visit http://kooragangwetlands.com
