Through printmaking, Christopher Forsythe has learned to view his artwork in reverse. Like all printmakers, he must create each of his images backwards, because they will be reversed during the print process. 

The first time the paper is pressed against his newly created printing plate, he will experience either a pleasant surprise or a terrible disappointment. Printmakers, no matter how experienced, can never be completely sure how the finished project will turn out.

“To be a good printmaker, you need intense patience and focus,” says Forsythe, who earned an MFA in printmaking at the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History and a certificate from the Center for the Book in May 2012. “You can’t get frustrated when things don’t turn out the way you intended, because they seldom work perfectly the first time.

“I have a pretty large aptitude for patience, and printmaking helped grow that.”

When Forsythe completes a project, there’s almost no other feeling like it.

“Completing a work of art can give an intense sense of satisfaction. Like skydiving, you get a rush of adrenaline,” Forsythe says. “For me, creating art is a similar addiction, but it’s more sublime.”

Forsythe, who studied studio arts at Colorado College as an undergraduate, came to the University of Iowa in 2009 based in part on the printmaking program’s strong national reputation. U.S. News and World Report ranks Iowa’s graduate printmaking program third nationally among public universities.

“The University of Iowa’s reputation and the fact that it has such strong programs in printmaking and book arts sealed the deal for me,” Forsythe says.

At the UI, he studied printmaking with art faculty Anita Jung and Robert Glasgow and did his Center for the Book certificate work with Center faculty members Tim Barrett and Julia Leonard. He also minored in graphic design.

For his certificate project at the Center for the Book, Forsythe researched which paper is best for use with water-based screen printing. Plant fibers react differently when exposed to water, and the manner in which they dry after exposure to moisture can affect print quality. He concluded cotton paper was the best choice for his prints.

“Paper is at the heart of printing, it is the foundation for your ink. You cannot achieve great results without choosing a suitable paper,” Forsythe says. “In making a print, all of the different materials influence one another. You can’t do one thing extremely well without knowing something else about the other materials you use.”

Currently, Forsythe is an instructional service specialist at the Studio Arts Building. He serves as a lab technician who helps maintain the printmaking facilities with an emphasis on safety.