Some sit at a table, knife in hand, listening to music on their headphones while meticulously carving a sheet of linoleum; others are dressed in aprons, applying paint to a roller. These students are neither attending a sculpture class nor a painting workshop, but are part of a printmaking class.

Developed centuries ago, this artistic process allows the production of prints, or multiples of the same work of art, based on one original surface.

For 21-year-old art major Aaron Lee, who designed a print of a monster, carving is the hardest part of printmaking, but he loves it nonetheless.

“I love it. It’s totally cool,” Lee said. “I had never done printmaking before. It’s a lot different than painting and drawing.”

Although some of the tools used in printmaking are similar to those used in sculpture and painting, the approach and result are very different.

Mario Laplante, who has been teaching the class since 1996, said printmaking is a very slow medium. From inking to cutting, it requires a certain kindness when tearing paper, an ability to appreciate the finesse of the lines and a sensitivity to the thickness of ink and to the pressure applied on the printing press, he said.

Printmaking is about dupli-cating, something Laplante said people have always wanted to do. In the end, he added, it achieves a democratization of art.

“Everybody has a chance to own a work of art since they can be printed in more than one copy,” Laplante said.

Casting a sweeping look at the studio, Laplante said he is amazed at how far his 20 students have come after only eight weeks of class. The entry-level class meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:10 to 4:55 p.m. in the Fine Arts building, room 251, and is open to everyone regardless of their major.

“Being able to do this kind of stuff, to me, it’s really remarkable,” he said.

Lauren Bruce, 21, an environ-mental studies major, has spent hours after class working on her piece, a scene from the book “The Arabian Nights.” The tricky part of her work is that she had to ink in opposites, in order to make the background come out as black, and not white, as it was originally.

For Laplante it is much more than just a class—it is also an experience in community building during which students work toge-ther sharing a space and tools. And after years of teaching it, he noticed that students learn a lot between themselves, much more than when he himself is addressing the class.

Chihiro Imamura, a 25-year-old design and merchandising major from Japan, inked up a roller during class to run it across a piece of linoleum depicting a woman smoking a cigarette, which was part of an ad she found from a video store on Valencia Street.

“It’s not easy. It takes a lot of work,” she said. For her, printing is the hardest part.

Historically speaking, print-making is connected to all kinds of movements as it was used throughout history to make posters for rallies and demonstrations. According to the Philadelphia Print Collective, printmaking was used heavily in the 1930s by both pro and anti-Communist propagandists through magazine covers and handbills. That same decade, many artists turned to printmaking as a cheap but effective form of expression according to the book, “Radical Art,” by Helen Langa.

“It gives a voice to social events that are important,” Laplante said.

Thomas Li, a business major, said he likes the fact that the class is very hands-on.

“Messing with paint, getting physical with lino carving...it gives you a good workout,” he said, looking at his Homer Simpson print as it dried on a rack. The 19-year-old added that although the art requires a lot of patience, essentially “it’s a labor of love.”

Works from other SF State printmaking classes will be on display in the Fine Arts Gallery later this semester. Their debut date has yet to be announced.