Carve Your Creative Path
We provide the guidance & printing equipment to help artists realize their vision.
Welcome to the Woodblock Revolution
Are you primed for the challenge of producing work on a monumental scale? BIG INK seeks image proposals from emerging, mid-career, and established visual artists who would like to carve a woodblock, at least 24" x 36" in dimension, to print at an upcoming event. No prior experience is required. Any artist that has an interest in print media and wants to achieve a deeper understanding of woodblock carving may apply.
Upcoming Calls-for-Entry
4541 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Event Dates: April 4 & 5, 2020
Apply By: January 27
Center for Contemporary Printmaking
299 West Ave #4002, Norwalk, CT 06850
Event Dates: April 18 & 19, 2020
Apply By: February 10
Video Tutorials
Never carved a woodblock? No problem! BIG INK's step-by-step video tutorials will guide you through the process.
Professional Prints
BIG INK assists in the creation of three impressions from your carved block, one of which is archived in the BIG INK portfolio.
Photography
Participants are provided a photographed image of their work which is also added to BigInk.org.
No Submission Fee
BIG INK doesn't charge a submission fee and only collects a participation fee from artists accepted in the program.
Meet Squiddy Our Eight Armed Ink Slinger
Squiddy is the name of a favorite BIG INK mascot. He uses his many arms to fulfill a variety of interests including printmaking, air guitar, and stamp collecting. Squiddy is featured prominently on BIG INK's tour poster which you can see by clicking the button below. Tag @biginkprints on Instagram with a photo of our poster tacked up at a creative hot spot and you might get something special in return!
Woodblock Print Archive
BIG INK has worked with hundreds of artists and, although we meet in-person for a short period of time, the spirit of collaboration lives on through our growing woodblock print archive. BIG INK requests ownership of one print from each BIG INK participant. Their work is photographed, cataloged online, and used for future curatorial projects.
"The Big Tuna" Mobile Printing Press
BIG INK’s giant mobile press, officially dubbed "The Big Tuna," is unique in that it can travel practically anywhere. It can be set up indoors or outdoors and can print oversize with relative ease. No other such machine exists that can travel readily and provide artists access to large-scale printing equipment. The Big Tuna has made quite an impression when assembled in various places such as the entrance to a subway station, in the middle of a flea market or at the heart of a city commons.
Recent Exhibits
Curators will request work from our archive to exhibit at universities, museums, art centers, and galleries. Hosting an exhibit is easy to facilitate since twenty or thirty prints can be rolled and shipped. Prints are typically hung on the wall using rare earth magnets. If you are a curator interested in mounting a BIG INK exhibit please contact us for more information via the button below.
Testimonials
“They encouraged all the participants to work together to execute their prints. The event inspired me to continue exploring scale and surface in my practice and opened up a new channel of communication with a great group of artists.”
Enrique FigueredoArtist, enriquefigueredo.com
“BIG INK is a great way to connect students with creative entrepreneurs working in the field. They came fully prepared to print, brought amazing works, and shared words of wisdom with my printmaking class.”
Bill CassInstructor, New Hampshire Institute of Art
“Coordinating a call-for-entry with BIG INK went smoothly, they had something for everyone at the event (including smaller blocks for community members to print), and a nice mix of local and out-of-town artists visited our studio as a result.”
Priya VadhyarProgram Coordinator, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
Affiliations
