James Powlan began his career as a Printmaker in 1977. James is an Aquatint specialist and perfected his Aquatint process at College of Marin in California. It was there that he came up with the innovative idea to use an airbrush to spray a resistant on the copper metal plates he works on.

Aquatint itself is the process of melting tree resin particles onto a polished metal plate to control how the acid eats into the metal plates. Every step is done by hand from cutting and polishing the copper to the inking and printing of the plate. Aquantint has been used for hundreds of years by famous Printmakers such as Rembrandt van Rijin in the 1600's, Goya in the mid 1700's to early 1800's and later Pablo Picasso.

Shades and tonal areas are etched in the Aquatint process. Microscopic rosin dust is melted onto the plate. Each tiny particle of rosin protects a surface of the plate. The acid eats around a field of these particles and cuts microscopic shapes. The ink gathers at the base of these in the printing process and prints a continuous tonal area.

James' prints are hand pulled and printed on handmade paper or Kimono Silk. The Kimono Silk is put together in the same traditional way Japanese scroll makers have done for hundreds of years. Only 25 images are printed off of each plate and each is done on a different silk, making them one of a kind.