The Sea & The Soil
Todd Freeman
Copper Etching on Paper
8" x 11"
2005
The first image that really sucked me into Todd Freeman's world was an etching entitled ‘The Sea and the Soil’, that depicts a dead sperm whale and sword fish that have been beached alongside a burnt out forest. Digging deeper into the various websites that feature his work I found these themes of cataclysm and environmental decay continued, often depicted in a macabre and darkly humorous way. For instance ‘Six Occupied Iron Lungs' shows a barren and decrepit landscape littered with beached Narwhales kept alive in iron lungs. 
Other themes that appealed were Todd's interest in cryptozoology, that fringe area where animals from folk tales and myths, such as Yeti, live alongside creatures that seem to have mostly escaped the gaze of humankind, such as Giant Squid.
Wanting to dig deeper into what made Todd tick he kindly consented to the an interview from which the following account of his methods, intentions and influences have been distilled. My own background in fine art printmaking and etching meant I was interested in the technical aspect and a list of relevant links sits at the end of the interview.
Links are sprinkled liberally throughout but please take time to check out Todd's very tasteful website and also know that his prints and drawings are available at Gallery Hijinks.
Six Occupied Iron Lungs
Todd Freeman
Hand Colored Copper Etching on Paper8" x 11"
Influences & Inspiration
For a long time I've been interested in printmaking's use as a documentative medium, although it took some years to figure out how that would marry with my own work.
My earlier etchings drew heavily on Flemish prints and Persian miniatures and they were small, detailed worlds where every tree, cloud and pebble was represented.
2 Muzzles 1 fox paw (1562) by Flemish artist Erasmus Hornick
I've been passionate about natural history since early childhood, but it wasn't until a year or two after receiving my BFA that I became really passionate about naturalist printmakers from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Adopting the sparser, cleaner formats of those old prints felt like a really logical match for the kinds of stories I was interested in telling, and it opened up a lot of possibilities in terms of both content and overall design.
An example of a Persian Miniature Painting. Iran. Early 1800's. Fath-Ali Shah of the Qajar Dynasty, who ruled the Iranian Empire from 1797 - 1834 A.D., is seen riding his white stallion in a Royal hunt.
Natural history museum dioramas and displays are a major influence as well, I've always loved how they recreate moments as these idealised swatches or stages, and how that is not something entirely natural.
Prints grant a certain 'authenticity' to beasts from fables and local folklore, and I do as much as I can to ensure a sense of both believability and 'otherness'. So the prints allowed me to tackle subjects that I don't think would work appropriately in any other medium.
Sketchbooks, notebooks, ideas.
I actively take down ideas in my sketchbook, and I'm constantly editing and working through lists of candidates for prints. I used to be much more concerned that prints should be read as an explicitly related series, so the more supernatural or folklore type stories had initially been "off limits". However, as my style developed, the format and general style allowed me to cover a broader range of subjects and topics and still have them read as a ‘family’.
The great pictorial history tomes of the 19th century really opened up my approach to making work and I'm really interested in how that sort of comprehensive documentation can still have a very personal hand to it.
Printmaking
I was first introduced to printmaking at Grand Valley State University (Michigan USA) about a decade ago. I'd initially started my BFA in illustration, but was quickly captivated by etching. I've always drawn tiny, meticulously rendered things, but the capabil
ities of copper etching were just so unlike any other way I'd ever worked before.
The minute lines allowed by etching were instantly appealing and it took me a solid 2 semesters or so to really gain an understanding of the process, but I found the predictable nature of the Dutch Mordant bath to be the most appropriate to my linework.
Plates etched in Ferric Chloride baths tended to yield fuzzy, blown out lines, so I learned to carefully time the etching of my plates in the slower but "cleaner" Dutch Mordant.
For safety, I wear a mask and gloves while using the acid, as the fumes are very dangerous to deal with outside a proper studio setting.
Biome 1 proof
Biome 1 - Hand coloured
In the last couple years, I've shifted to relying on etched line exclusively in my prints rather then using other intaglio techniques like aquatint. That way I know how my lines will etch, and have a fairly informed idea of what the final print will look like before its even printed.
I generally consider aquatint too much of a gamble to use, as I don't want to compromise highly rendered etched lines that might have taken anywhere from 10-30 hrs to draw.
My attitude towards multiplate registration is very similar to my attitude to aquatint; while I have an enormous respect for those that can use it well, for me the margin of error is just too small and too frustrating.
So instead, once the finished print is flat and dry, I'll usually build up color in light watercolor washes, being careful not to buckle the print. Copic markers and Dr Martins' concentrated watercolors are great additions too, as they can be applied with minimal liquid ever hitting the print.
Materials
For printing I use mostly Arches Cover, as its relatively affordable, widely available and prints well. I've tried many others, but I've stubbornly stuck to Arches for awhile.
I've grown to hate the look of many traditional drawing papers, and I like how the personality of an aged paper reacts to an image drawn on it. In many of my drawings I've been using a lot of old book pages and antique papers as dying or staining papers never seemed an option as they felt phony and forced to me.
I draw more cautiously on them, and approach making these drawings almost like working on a copper plate, so no false moves are allowed.
Selections from sketchbooks from 2005-2010
I use moleskins religiously though, and always work out my prints and drawings in many fast, sketchy incarnations before the final piece. I've also been working on a series of line drawings in my sketchbooks, that I eventually plan to release as zines or small books.
Editioning The Prints
I tend to print fairly small runs of my plates, usually between 10 and 25. By the time I have a finalized plate that I'm happy with, I usually know that image well and have no issue seeing it time and time again. I'll absolutely admit etching is one of the slowest payoffs ever, starting a new series of prints is a deep commitment that I have to reserve a large chunk of time for. Despite the labor, removing a hard ground from an etched plate for the first time never fails to feel a little bit magical.
Exposure
In 2010, after finishing up my website, I was featured on Booooooom.com and I was also invited to exhibit in a group show, ‘As It Was before’ with Gallery Hijinks in San Francisco.
Through the press for that I was picked up by the Hi-Fructose and the Juxtapoze blogs and I've been really fortunate to have received most of my 'high profile' press just by being seen at the right time. But I've also been promoting myself through shows locally, in Michigan, and through submissions to art & design blogs and groups on Flickr.
Sixty Foot Ghost
Sixty Foot Ghost was a one-off collaboration with my friend Meg Perec. It was created as an entry for ArtPrize 2009, a national art competition in Grand Rapids, MI. We spent about 5 weeks drawing the squid together on two 30 foot sections of Rives BFK paper, and it was painted with acrylics and watercolors.
A Collaborative Tribute to Architeuthis dux, the Giant Squid by Todd Freeman & Meg Perec
42" x 720" Graphite, acrylic, watercolor & marker on paper
The squid is easily the largest drawing either of us had ever attempted, and through its scales and the time we put into it had me re- what I thought I was capable of. I haven't made any large drawings since Sixty Foot Ghost, but if the right project presents itself I could see myself returning to that scale again.
Animation and film is another area of great interest, even though I currently have zero experience in either. I've pondered over someday creating animated versions of these landscapes, or possibly using them as projections to be shown side by side with traditionally displayed pieces. Something I may explore.
The Future
I have a huge library of field guides and animal books to pool through, and for a print like 'The Owlmen of Mawnan' I'll reference forms from several, existing animals to give an anatomical credibility to the characters.
'The Owlmen of Mawnan' Todd Freeman
Handcolored copper etching on paper12" x 16"
Much as I love these bizarre narratives, I don't want to be known for them exclusively, so in the last few years I've been trying to expand the 'world' of my to include geological processes as well as other phenomena.
For instance, while beasts and beings will definitely appear in upcoming work, I'm also planning larger prints which feature more of the landscape. I really like the idea of documenting processes that are too vast or too slow to really see otherwise so plate tectonics, volcanism, and oceanography have all really fascinated me in the last few years.
I've held to my comfort zone of those small prints for a long time, but I do have visions of making some large, moody landscapes or crosssections, similar to 'Torch Lake' or "Island Forming', but at a grander scale, and of course populated with lots of flora and fauna.
Torch Lake
Todd Freeman 2010
Handcolored Copper Etching on Paper
A main goal is to eventually release books or catalogues of my work. I truly admire people like Marcel Dzama and Nigel Peake who have put out so many accessible, well-crafted representations of their work, and I would love to put a collection mine out into the world.
Maps by Nigel Peake
I have several series of drawings going at the moment that are set for release as zines, and I hope to put out a proper hardcover book of etchings. I feel like my work doesn't function that well digitally or online, they're etchings that need to be held at close range, so making a book would be a great means to overcome that.
Links
Todd's website
Todd on flickr
Interview on Juxtapoz
Interview on Booooooom
Chicago Printmaker's Collaborative
Gallery Hijinks
