For artists and illustrators spending too much time in their studios, Pratt Institute's third annual Big Damn Prints event might be the way to creatively blow off steam. Over 40 artists and professors from Pratt's printmaking department will create more than 40 woodblock prints measuring 4 x 8 feet each. The blocks, which are too big for any local printing press, will be proofed right there on the street, using a steamroller - that's right, a steamroller! - to make the impressions.

The steamroller project was conceived by printmaker and Pratt instructor Dennis McNett, who has worked on editions for such artists as Chuck Close, Jeff Koonz, and Alex Katz. For McNett, the idea of printing big is about pushing printmaking beyond the medium's perceived boundaries and getting students engaged in collaborative work. I caught up with him by phone and asked if he had any advice for first time printmakers. "You have found the medium of the people," he replied. "So strap in and hold on because if you pursue printmaking you will soon meet the most flavorful characters, and develop a severe ink habit." He invites everyone who thinks big to "get inky and stinky, and have a blast."

The event takes place at Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, April 11^th from 10am to 5pm. (Rain date: Wednesday, April 18.) This year's guest artist is Martin Mazzora of Cannonball Press. There will be T-shirt printing, print sales -- and live music by the God Dam Rattlesnake, Brainstorm, and Roletta Flynn throughout the day. For more information contact Dennis McNett at 201-892-6850, or mcnett@howlingprint.com. Photographs above, from the 2006 Big Damn Print day, show how it's done. Courtesy of Dennis McNett.

If you'd like to see printmakers in action but can't get out to Brooklyn tomorrow, put April 19th in your calendar. The Lower East Side Print Shop is hosting an open studio tour in conjunction with the opening reception for their Spring 07 group exhibition. Artists will be on hand to answer questions and demonstrate a variety of printmaking processes.