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California artist Merv Corning depicted his home state in many of his works. He would frequently ride around on a motorcycle with his wife Tula and take pictures of scenery that he would later turn into artworks, such as this abandoned gas station.
In 1973, Corning was approached by Circle Gallery to create original lithographs. He was inexperienced with the technique and decided to take a printmaking night class to learn how to do it himself, rather than rely on an outside artist.
For "Cabins," Corning created 11 plates by drawing onto mylar with a variety of mediums such as ink, lithographic pencils, and liquid tusche. The 11 mylars were then chemically transferred onto emulsion-coated aluminum lithographic plates at The American Atelier in New York City. Corning preferred working on Mylar rather than stone or metal, as nothing is drawn in reverse. For every color used there was a separate Mylar drawing and lithographic plate, so aligning the drawings with the plates was tedious and had to be close to perfect. From these plates proofs were pulled, corrected, approved, and signed by Corning. When the final edition was printed, the lithographic plates were destroyed.
“Lithography is a pure art form, an intimate expression of the artist. People know little about lithography. But it’s your (the artist’s) drawing; you’re making the plate, selecting your own colors and working like the old time lithographers. You may achieve effects not possible in any other art form.”
- Merv Corning