The making of Ada Ada
To bring Ada Ada to life, Make-Ready founder Tom Murphy returned to his printmaking roots – crafting a multi-layered silkscreen entirely from hand-drawn films.
To capture both the unmistakable quality of Katz’s linework and the likeness of Ada in the edition, each shadow, highlight and tone was meticulously refined in graphite, with every ink mixed and printed by hand to ensure the highest quality and finish.
I considered every layer, and drew the films for all 26 colours by hand. On a personal level, the project brought me back to my roots. Some of my earliest prints at university were made with hand-drawn films, so working on this felt like coming full circle – a reminder of why I fell in love with printmaking in the first place.
Tom Murphy, Founder of Make-Ready
Go deeper
Discover more about Alex Katz’s most beloved muse – his wife, Ada – who he has painted over 250 times since their marriage in 1958, and who is the subject of our edition.
