b'Makuuchis Iowa work is varied in terms of technique, which is only to be expected from an artist trying to find his voice. Because few impressions are dated and he had a habit of reworking earlier plates, it is sometimes difficult to determine precisely which works were made in Iowa. It appears that he was not very prolific, as only twelve prints can be dated reliably to this time. The shift in Makuuchis approach to intaglio during these years can be illustrated by comparing two similar landscape prints executed within a year of each other: the etching End of a RainbowBoulder, Colorado and the drypoint Linescape.End of a Rainbow (fig. 15) shows a use of shadow and texture that is similar to the early etching Snake River, although there is an increased use of line in the arcing rainbow extending from the upper left to lower right. Linescape (fig. 16) approaches a related landscape from a completely different angle. Here Makuuchi is testing his hand with the drypoint needle, playing with line thickness and density. Drypoint is like engraving in that the lines are cut directly onto the plate, but drypoint lines are often thinner, shallower, and more expressive. This is partly because of the burr associated with drypoint: the uneven metal edges of the incised lines which create a dense, fuzzy texture when printed. You can see this here in the small forked tree forms in the midground. Makuuchi also experi-FIGURESwimmer I CHECKLIST #8 ments with different ways of shaping space; the bend of the arcing lines suggests volume, and the white centers of the terminus points of lines seem to root them. The spiky tree forms and the energetic cascade of lines is more playful than year. 40Compared to etching, in which an acid bath carves drawn lines into thethe heaviness of End of a Rainbow. Although he would continue to work in both metal plate, engraving is a more labor-intensive process in which a sharp toolstylesheavy textural etchings and spare drypointduring his Iowa years, he called a burin is used to cut lines directly into the plate. Swimmer I (fig. 14) bearseventually chose drypoint as his primary medium. Besides the practical issues the inscription first engraving, marking this as the composition over which(etching requires acid, and thus more equipment) the directness and visually the young printmaker labored.spare qualities of drypoint were better suited to Makuuchis emerging aesthetic. Swimmer I, an image of a curled shrimp with antennae extending diagonallyLasansky did not share his own work with students, to discourage them from across the page, displays a delicacy of toucha high level of detailed form filledemulating their teacher. Instead, he encouraged them to study, as he did, in with textures built from lines. Makuuchis pride at this engraving is evidentexemplars of historical printmaking, such as Francisco Goya and Pablo Picasso. in its printing on a beautiful sheet of soft, long-fibered paper, which is very un- The influence of both these artists is evident in Makuuchis early work: Goya in the usual and was undoubtedly costly. Even at this early stage, Makuuchi displays hisuse of deep etching and heavy inking, in works such as John Yutaka Takahashis habit of positioning his figures as floating, without a distinct background. It isJourney (Pa), and Picassos early etchings in the spare, flexible lines of Grandma T as if the shrimp is suspended on a membrane that does not recess into space.(fig. 50; p. 131). Makuuchi wrote his masters thesis on a technical analysis of This print also shows his fondness for displaying the memory of the plate Goyas Disasters of War. The text is short and surprisingly dry, particularly when surface pits, scratches, and dings that result in printed texture. Throughout hiscompared with his later writings. In it he attempts to make connections among career, Makuuchi would often store his plates in haphazard circumstancesGoyas technique, compositions, and content, although he acknowledges in the (including the trunk of his car) which resulted in unintentional marks that heintroduction that it is probable that Goya himself was not conscious of the rela-would then exploit for his own visual purposes. This can be seen as an extensiontionship. 41Still, he asserts that Goya used his materials in [their] fullest extent of the interest in automatism he undoubtedly absorbed from Lasansky. to express his most impassioned diatribe against war. What follows is a listing of 30 31'