In 1968 and 1969, the final year of his graduate program at California State University, Long Beach, Cline made a group of viscosity prints. These works articulated an approach to image making that he has continued for more than four decades. As he notes on his web site, “For me the very first act of making a mark, which could just [be] a dot, a line stroke, or just a doodle…is the most important act that starts my method of making an image. I accept all marks until I have covered most of the surface, then I delete or destroy some and re-create (them) until all feels complete.”

Moving toward the millennium, Cline’s “imaginative landscapes”, as he calls them, became more airy and brighter lithographs. While his landscape references may seem recognizable, the origin of some of the imagery is from a less obvious source. Cline likes to fish and has done so competitively. Using a sonar fish finder, Cline reclaimed images of fish, submerged logs, underwater land formations and more for his prints.

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Following what Cline communicated when he stopped at the AP/RC during a road trip during the summer of 2014, the imagery in his intaglio prints was created through “instinct and intuition”. These prints merge a variety of techniques: collograph, shaped plates, etching, and photo intaglio.  He inked each plate with multiple colors using viscosity methods and printed the image in one press run. Cline worked obsessively on the plates, constructing layers upon layers of ink to vary the viscosity printing.

Cline developed the compositions and imagery of his lithographs (also reproduced here)  using Adobe Photoshop as a drawing tool. As he explored this image-making software he continued to print his work as lithographs rather than using an inkjet printer. Cline wanted to experience working with a “digital toolbox” without relying on digital printing. He separated the colors of his Photoshop compositions, printed each as a transparency, and finally printed the work on his lithograph press.

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Clinton Cline; Or-data, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 610 mm x 450 mm

Clinton Cline; Window View, 1972; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 605 mm x 446 mm

Clinton Cline; Shebeli, 1967; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 600 mm x 448 mm

Clinton Cline; Delilah, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 598 mm x 447 mm

Clinton Cline; Shamash, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 601 mm x 448 mm

Clinton Cline; Virago, 1969; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 602 mm x 448 mm

Clinton Cline; Queen, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 602 mm x 445 mm

Clinton Cline; Meccia, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 600 mm x 450 mm

Clinton Cline; Slice from the Right, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 605 mm x 449 mm

Clinton Cline; Zo, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 600 mm x 448 mm

Clinton Cline; Pinsid C., 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 605 mm x 450 mm

Clinton Cline; Mary Ann, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 453 mm x 324 mm

Clinton Cline; Electra, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 600 mm x 447 mm

Clinton Cline; Lorelei, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 603 mm x 450 mm

Clinton Cline; Mer-Mad, 1968; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 600 mm x 452 mm

Clinton Cline; Submerged, 1992; Viscosity intaglio; Image: 604 mm x 450 mm

Clinton Cline; Soft as it go’s, 1998; Lithograph; Image: 510 mm x 390 mm

Clinton Cline; Five Over, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 405 mm

Clinton Cline; SPS. R&B, 1998; Lithograph; Image: 348 mm x 457 mm

Clinton Cline; SPS #6, 1998; Lithograph; Image: 457 mm x 365 mm

Clinton Cline; Yellow 55Pi, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 382 mm

Clinton Cline; Left Meets the Right, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 380 mm

Clinton Cline; S.D.S, 1998; Lithograph; Image: 457 mm x 348 mm

Clinton Cline; Yellow, Yellow, 1999; Lithograph; Image: 501 mm x 385 mm

Clinton Cline; Running 510, 2001; Lithograph; Image: 509 mm x 406 mm

Clinton Cline; Sky Table, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 406 mm

Clinton Cline; Cross Over, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 381 mm

Clinton Cline; Dark Passage, 1999; Lithograph; Image: 533 mm x 406 mm

Clinton Cline; SPS5, 1998; Lithograph; Image: 457 mm x 348 mm

Clinton Cline; Gray not Black, 2000; Lithograph; Image: 508 mm x 406 mm