Luca Pisani from Pisani Prints
Meet Luca Pisani - marine biologist by day and printmaker by night. Merging colours, his carving skills, and experimenting with linoleum relief printing, Luca’s creative process is inspired by his lifestyle close to the sea and his love for nature. But what are lino prints and what does the design process look like? Read on to find out more!
il-lokal: How did you develop your making skills? What was your learning path?
Luca: I was first introduced to linoleum relief printing in secondary school. We had a fantastic teacher who always encouraged us to try our hands at as many different materials and techniques as he could provide. One fine day he gave us each an A5 piece of lino, a small carving kit, and free reign to design whatever we liked – I decided to print a treefrog chilling on a branch in many different colours. I didn’t touch lino again until years later when my sister, who’s also a creative and went to an art school, came home with a lino project. Remembering my previous experience, I stole some of her offcut scraps, borrowed her tools, and started playing around with lino again. I’ve been hooked on printing ever since. Then one day I decided I should try selling some of my prints to cover the costs to upgrade my equipment, and the rest is history.
il-lokal: What would you say to someone intimidated by trying a new craft/creative discipline?
Luca: If someone was starting on something new, my best piece of advice would be to do away with any expectations. The creative process is one of discovery, and I believe it's important to give yourself the freedom to play, explore, and make mistakes. Having expectations will often doom you from the start, because at the first signs of those expectations not being met, you can easily be discouraged from continuing, and maybe even giving up a new craft altogether. Stay the course and enjoy the process, worry about expectations once you can say you've truly gotten the hang of whatever it is you're trying out.
il-lokal: Where do you find inspiration? What are your go-to sources?
Luca: My greatest inspiration is drawn from nature, particularly from the sea. I’m a marine biologist by day, so much of what I experience firsthand about the sea and its wildlife finds its way into my works. I’m also inspired by the incredible history and unique culture of our little islands, and I love to incorporate the mysteries and aesthetics of days long gone.
il-lokal: Can you walk me through your design process?
Luca: Once an idea has popped into my head I start by sketching out a couple of concepts and exploring the idea’s potential. This process is typically the most time-consuming, particularly because I like to take a break between different concepts and projects, so I can return to a concept later with fresh eyes and new ideas to flesh it out. When I’m happy with the final design I trace it out in pencil, flip the tracing paper over, and rub the inverted image onto a lino block. This transfers the graphite drawing onto the lino block, which I then outline and touch up with a fine marker to make it more permanent. Using small chisels I carve away at the negative space until I’ve essentially created a ‘stamp’ of my design. Now I can line up my carving, and using a small rubber ink roller called a brayer, I spread an even layer of ink across my carved block. From this point, I place the paper on top of the block, and either run it through my small hand-cranked press or rub the paper down with the back of my trusty wooden spoon, transferring the print onto the paper in the process, et voilà!
il-lokal: Do any of your designs hold a special or personal meaning for you?
Luca: One of my favourite prints is ‘Il-Grottlu’, which depicts Eriphia verrucosa, known as the warty crab in English or grottlu in Maltese, carrying the fortified skyline of Valletta on its back, as it brings back fond memories from my childhood. As a young boy, I was always fascinated by nature, but growing up in Sliema I had very few places to explore my curiosity. So instead of exploring the land, I took to the sea and spent much of my childhood summers with a small net and bucket in hand poring over the rich and beautiful wildlife that could be found in the rockpools and shallow reefs along the coast. I’d catch animals and put them in my bucket to get a good view up close and learn more about them, before always returning them to where I found them. Of the many species I used to catch, the grottlu was my favourite. With powerful claws and a feisty character to match, these territorial crabs would always flash their claws in defiance whenever I’d get too close, and I just found them endearing. With Sliema as my main hunting ground, I often had the Valletta skyline as the backdrop to my adventures, and one day the idea just clicked to combine the two.
il-lokal: Tell us about your workspace - where do you create and what tools do you use regularly?
Luca: Whilst brainstorming and working on concepts, I like to run around and draw in cafes, bars, or even during my downtime whilst working out at sea. When it comes to the printing process however I work mostly in my small home office/studio. I’ve got a nice old metal table which I had refurbished that gives me plenty of space to draw, carve, print, and generally make a mess. I’ve also got a handy pegboard so all my tools and inks are within arm’s reach and various filing cabinets and drawers to store all my larger materials like papers, lino sheets, and old blocks. Throughout the process of printing, I use a wide variety of different tools. From tablet, pen and paper, and rulers while drawing, to small wood-carving chisels, different-sized brayers (ink rollers), my trusty wooden spoon, and even a small hand-cranked printing press when it comes to the actual process of printing itself.
il-lokal: When do you work? Is there a time of day you prefer or something that helps you work?
Luca: I'm pretty flexible about when I work on my prints, but for the most part, I tend to draw and carve in the evenings and at night. I enjoy those peaceful hours that come at the end of the day when I know I don't have any other obligations left to do, and I can just enjoy my time working on my pieces and projects.
il-lokal: What are you working on right now? Do you have any exciting things in progress that you’d like to share?
Luca: I’ve just completed my latest print ‘Siren’s Song’, which depicts an old-school deep sea diver trudging out of the sea with a mermaid in his arms. It’s been my main focus for some time now, in fact, the original idea and sketches are almost a year old. I’ve got a few other potential pieces in the pipeline, but these are still mostly very rough sketches and ideas in my head at this point.
il-lokal: Are there any particular products/tools/mediums/techniques you'd like to explore in the future?
Luca: I’d very much like to work more with multi-block prints, that is prints consisting of different blocks inked with different colours and combined to produce one final multi-color print. I’ve tried this a few times before, particularly with my butterfly series, and slowly I’m managing to improve my results. The downside of this technique is that it’s much more time-consuming, as I first have to print multiple copies of one block before applying the next, and any hiccups, misprints, or misalignments can ruin hours of work, forcing me to start all over again. But when everything works according to plan, the end product can be truly fantastic.
il-lokal: Are there other creatives whose work/products you particularly love or admire?
Luca: That's no easy question, as throughout my creative journey I've been lucky enough to meet so many fantastic and talented local artists! But one of my favourites would have to be Rebecca Bonaci - I love her fine art pieces as well as the subject matter of her work. I even got my tattoos from her!
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