While few can deny that painting and sculpting are art forms that require a great deal of time and care by the artists, printmaking takes the time and effort to a whole new level, according to Benicia artists Susan De Haven and Carol Brent Levin. The local printmakers are showcasing the splendid results of the long process in their new Benicia Public Library show titled “Sublime: Prints on Paper.”

Levin has been involved with art for more than 20 years, dating back to when she and her daughter took a mommy and me art class at Arts Benicia taught by Bonnie Weidel. After that, she had taken classes at all the local community colleges, including a screen print class in the summer of 2008 when she was taking a break from her job and an etching class about a year or two later.

De Haven became involved with printmaking in 2003 when she took a class at Solano Community College. Two years later, she began taking printmaking courses at Sonoma State University where she received her bachelor’s degree in studio arts in 2008.

“I started out with etchings at Solano and then I went on to Sonoma State to learn how to do lithography,” she said. “A lot of my prints are lithographs.”

De Haven has gotten back into etching, in which a strong acid is cut into a metal surface to create a design.

“If you use zinc, you would use nitric acid to etch your image onto the plate,” she said. “Then you put ink onto the plate, and then you wipe it off with tarlatan.”

“If you use a copper, plate, use ferric acid,” she added.

For one print, De Haven used a PVC plate and dremmeled all the dots using a device she purchased from Harbor Freight Tools.

Other forms of printmaking, such as lithography, involve drawing and printing off stones or other flat surfaces. De Haven and Levin also utilize other methods such as woodcutting. Both describe the process as long but very rewarding, as well as active.

“You can take one thing and make it look a lot of different ways,” Levin said. “It’s also an old process. To make the matrix block, you draw a picture, then you have to transfer the picture and carve it. It takes a lot of time. It’s a very physical type of art.”

“It’s a very long process, but it’s a lot of fun,” De Haven said.

Levin uses a community press in Walnut Creek, where she says she gets to work with other artists.

“You pick up things from each other and get feedback,” she said. “It’s a little bit like having a community.”

De Haven’s works mostly depict botanicals, as do Levin’s works. Two other common themes of Levin’s prints are the influence of technology— particularly smartphones— on the human race and how people interact with the environment.

De Haven and Levin responded to a call for artists to display their work at the Benicia Public Library, where they hope the show will be a good opportunity for people to learn more about printmaking.

“A lot of people don’t understand what printmaking is,” De Haven said. “Everybody knows what a painting is, everybody knows what a sculpture is, but when you say ‘printmaking,’ they don’t really understand that they are hand-pulled prints.”

Levin also hopes viewers will absorb the themes depicted.

“Some of my work has to do with invasive plants, and hopefully they’ll start thinking about the environment and the world around them and really appreciate the small things,” she said.

“Sublime: Prints on Paper” is on display in the library’s Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Gallery at 150 East L St. through Wednesday, July 26. The library’s hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and noon to 6 p.m., Fridays through Sundays. A reception will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, June 29. For more information, visit benicialibrary.org/gallery.