Being a part of printmaking for five years at Cerritos College, fine arts major Sonia Hernandez’ passion for the program allows her to grow, not only as an artist, but keeps her on the track of learning new things.

“It’s keeping the art alive. It’s like a baby; you’re curious to see it evolve and you’re always trying to supplement it the best way that you can.”

Hernandez’ recent project in the class is mono-printmaking, which is a different type of style where she is working on cloth instead of paper. Her end result is going to be a pillow that she’s going to make on her own.

Stenciling is what intrigued Hernandez to start out in printmaking, but as she got more into the program, she then started to work with many different types of printmaking.

Her classmate, art major Christle Leonardo, came into printmaking with a background as a photographer and artist. She’s been a part of the class since 2007, with the desire to learn how to make t-shirts, but Leonardo soon began combining her photography with printmaking.

“I’ve grown a lot as an artist in the fine arts,” Leonardo explained. “Before, I used to take pictures and paint, but screen printing has allowed me to go into what I really love, which is street art. I’m able to express myself in ways I couldn’t have done before.”

Students such as Hernandez and Leonardo have experienced the wide range of artistic approaches that they’ve never tried out until they got into printmaking.

Printmaking instructor Jazmine Delgado emphasized that going into the program with no knowledge of how printmaking works shouldn’t prevent you from enrolling into the class as a beginner.

“I teach a lot of students that don’t necessarily have a strong, fundamental art background,” Delgado said.

“I have a lot of students that come in and say that they can’t draw or never took an art class. I give them different examples that show them how to take a photograph and translate that into a drawing that can be used with a basis for a print, which is exciting.”

Learning about printmaking is the process that many of the students continue to progress in.

Former student and current teacher assistant, Anna C. Javier got into the program with a strong appetite for trying out a different style of art.

“I see things differently. I see art as if we’re painters; you paint a picture, but there’s only one. I can spend 20 hours drawing a print and end up with one.

“With printmaking, not only does it incorporate all of my technical skills, it also incorporates my drawing, painting, color and 3-D,” Javier said.

As soon as she finished her foundation courses in art and design, Javier was impacted the first semester she enrolled into printmaking. She then took the opportunity to take the position as a teacher assistant when it was available.

Students like Javier, Leonardo and Hernandez are in the class with the passion that they’ve found for printmaking. But Hernandez doesn’t disregard the fact that she keeps on learning and is able to grow from each method she experiments with.

“The biggest benefit is discovering yourself – discovering what you can produce and being able to show it to others and get their reaction on what it makes them think, along with the ideas that come with the end result.”