Storytelling

Looking for inspiration I went to see some art classes in the secondary school I teach in. The art teacher there is very strong conceptually and guides the older kids to make really complex artwork. I thought this would be a good source of inspiration for the linocut assignment.

I went in at the beginning of a new unit and they were starting on the new idea of storytelling and creating artworks that tell a story.

They were looking at some traditional art forms that do this such as shrines and retablos. I found some interesting ex voto retablo, including some by Frida Kahlo. They tell the story of a tragic event, with a picture of the saint that they feel saved them from this.

Sample Ex-Voto, artist: unknown, about 1960

My Nurse and I, 1937

I also found some old woodcut retablo images

Guadelupe Retablo

Inspired by this I began designing a similar image. I was going to use an image of my Dad in the hospital bed and Nina Simone as the saint.  I am not religous and her music has helped me through hard times. In the end I decided just to focus on Nina in the style of the wood block retablo.

I decided not to go any further with this as my source image was not very good. I may come back to the idea.

After this I brainstormed lots of ideas about my story and decided I wanted to represent my life as different identities I've had living in different places. Although I have not been completely different, each place I've lived have been very different to one another, and to some extent, I've been a different person in each place. 

This idea of multiple identities I later realised is very much a post-modern one. In traditional society and later in modernist times, roles were more or less defined by class, place of birth occupation or gender.  The beginning of the mind shift that changed these roles was Deconstruction from the late 1960's, developed by Jacques Derrida, based on the concept that ideas are unfixed, unstable, inter-reliant and inherently contradictory, and can therefore subvert themselves (Phillips, 2013). When this idea is applied to identity, and it is our own ideas that are unfixed, the multiple identities many of us experience can become in sharp contrast to one another.

I am aware that I am a person with a true post-modern, shifting and uncertain identity. The place where I grew up is in great contrast to this. There are many people there (the Isle of Wight) who live their lives on much more certain terms. They identify themselves as being from that place, some quite strongly. I have never felt this certainty in my identity as I never felt from there, being born in London and not having the same network of extended family around me as other people there had. 

The Isle of Wight is not a place with a lot of social mobility, there are not many professional opportunities there. For many they find a role that enables them to stay there, and they stay in that role. However, even as a teenager I was not happy with that and was taught to want and aim for more. While this, of course, I am grateful for now, it often set me apart from the community I grew up in, making me uncertain about my identity. 

My family were middle class, the Isle of Wight is not, it was not cool to be middle class in the 90's! This was another aspect of my identity which I would not accept and moved onto travellers sites, which defied social classes and lived outside of society for 6 years. This was a big shift in identity, perhaps could be interpreted as my search for an identity, after feeling uncertain about myself as a teenager.

I moved again after this, into different roles, different places in society and later different countries. I am now an expat, and feeling uncomfortable with this identity at times. 

I have explored this in more detail in other places and don't want to put too much of this personal exploration here.

However, it has put me onto a path of exploring this theme through my artwork.

An artist I have looked at who has created works juxtaposing a wide array of images and styles is David Salle. He rejected the coherent styles of the past. In this example he uses print, lithograph and woodcut:

Fast and Slow 1994

Postmodernism is a broad term encasing a wide range of art movements, including blurring the boundaries between high culture and mass or popular culture. Salle regularly explores many of these styles and mediums of art within one work, this piece, Fast and Slow, combines print techniques, and textures when juxtaposing images together, creating a truly post-modern image (Tate.org.uk, 2016).

As a starting point I decided to explore five relatively simple subjects that represent each place. I brainstormed a lot of different ideas and found a recurring theme of plants.  I also want to capture a bit of the character of each place as well through colours and style of composition.

This collage shows the subjects I chose which are all plants: a swiss cheese plant, pine trees, sunflowers, pink roses and palm trees. I've also included a few fabrics from the corresponding times of my life, giving a snapshot to my taste at the time and colours I may look at and pictures of my children.

References

Phillips, Sam, 2013. Isms, Understanding Modern Art. Bloomsbury: London

Tate.org.uk. (2016). Postmodernism. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/postmodernism [Accessed 31 May 2016].

Mark Hearld

In my research I have come across the artist Mark Hearld and am completely in love with his work.

I notice that in this print Geese and Fish he uses a second colour which controls the strong black and white contrast and softens the image. It is still not a colour print, but somewhere in between the two. This is a multiple block print, the lines are quite independant of each other.

St Jude's Prints have a page on Mark Hearld which contains this video about his process:

He doesn't talk about linocut at all but does talk about collage and says:

'It gave me the capacity to compose in a really strong way' and

'Collage taught me how to print because its about layering'

His collage work is absolutely stunning, a good selection of them can be seen here including these two examples:

 Autumn Partridges. Collage. image size 77 x 56cm.

Frutti Di Mare. Collage. image size 101 x 81cm

I am inspired to try some collage for my next design.

He also says in the video that the lithographic process unifies a design, I wonder if the same could be said for lino through the flat colour and relatively simple marks.

Linocut First Inspiration

I have been looking at prints by many artists for ideas. A recurring idea which I find fascinating is how so many printmakers effortlessly move from black subject on a white background to inverted white subject on black background.

The first print I found that does this is by Picasso:

Toros en Vallauris, 1954

I think this composition is strong and striking for many reasons. The viewers around the outside looking in, the lines leading in or radiating out from the centre, the balance of black and white with the largest areas of solid white bordering the main subject. 

Looking at this I am aware how the strong contrast of a one colour print requires careful planning. To be able to distribute the areas of black and white evenly it will be useful to move the subject from black to white.

In this print by contemporary artist Mark Hearld he effortlessly moves between black and white subjects, including within the same plant or animal.

Rooster

This is a really exciting print, lots of lines giving lots of energy. Like in the Picasso print, the white areas stand out, in this print it is the ducks, looking up and leading the eye to the rooster. It uses two blocks, one blue one black. the blue block appears to have independant lines, suggesting this is a multi block print.

In contrast to this, I have also been looking at prints by Matisse:

Dors, dormeuse aux longs cils

He has taken a completely different approach, drawing in white lines in a very free expressive style. The immediacy of this really appeals to me. The Picasso and Hearld prints would have involved careful planning and development, unlike this which could have been drawn from life straight into the lino. In this print the face stands out because it has the biggest solid areas of black, quite the opposite to the first two prints. However, although the eye is drawn to the face it doesn't jump out, creating a calmer composition.

Reflection on Feedback from Assignment 1

There were some aspects of my feedback which I expected. Primarily this was my use (or lack of use) of a sketchbook. I submitted a range of drawings taken from different books. Some of these were detailed some were quick sketches and I knew they were not organised enough and did not give opportunity to show how my designs developed. However, at first I was surprised that my most detailed drawings such as the drawings below were described as preliminary and that more investigative drawing was required. I spent much time on these drawings but now when I look at them I realise they are only the beginning, I have not really investigated, just drawn and transferred to print.

Regarding the prints, my tutor described this first print (which was not in my final 4) as being more successful than this one which I did put in the final 4.

The first print was on thin Japanese paper and I was pleased with the smooth even colour and interesting interaction between the shapes. The second print is on stiff cartridge paper which means the mask has left a white edge around each shape which my tutor says makes it an unsuccessful print. I liked those white edges and the emphasis they made and was a bit disheartened that unexpected results like this are deemed unsuccessful. I chose the second print because it had more depth with the texture variations and was a bit more experimental, maybe next time I should choose work to submit that is more conventionally 'correct'?

Regarding my other final prints I very much agreed with the comments made including many positive points. This print could have been refined if I had practiced more, I did it 3 times but did feel the drawing could have been improved, I just ran out of patience.

She also said the colour choice was not very exciting, which I also agree with.

My tutor liked this print of the plant, I was worried this was not successful from a technical point of view because it had multiple layers of monoprint which took forever to dry. Thankfully it did dry eventually. I was much more confident by the time I did this which I think shows.

She did not comment on everything, but was overall very positive about my experimental approach.

From this I will take on the following for my next assignment:

• Use a sketch book with detailed drawings of all my subjects
• Record different layout ideas for my prints
• Keep a clearer log on my inspiration and research
• Think carefully about colour choices
• Be meticulous about printing technique
• Explore different papers

Assignment 1 Final 4

These are the four prints I chose for my final task of assignment 1.

This print was a combination of masks and texture. I used fabric and bubble wrap for the texture. I drew several studies of coral to generate the shapes for the masks. This meant I had lots of shapes to choose from and was able to get a good balance of complexity. The paper was medium weight cartridge paper and computer paper for the masks. The masks left a white edge around the shapes, which I think adds definition. I was particularly pleased with the strong flat colour in contrast to the paler textured background. I think this is strong technically, with good control over the surfaces. I also think this is a good quality outcome as the print is clean and clear. This print is my most developed idea and I think shows the best supporting work and developed creativity.

This print is a contrast to the first print as it was much more improvisatory. It started as a painted print. I added 3 layers of prints over the top of each other then a mask, I did two layers of the mask to create some depth and then another layer for the bottom half as it looked like it was floating in the air. That was a lot of ink and it was slow to dry. The mask and the painting did not line up well, I like the unpredictable and uncontrolled aspect of this. I have created some good texture through the painted layers, some of which contained some texturing by removing ink with the brush handle. This is framed by the mask effectively. I did a brief supporting sketch of this to get some shapes for the mask. I think this is a less strong example of my skills, and the print is less neat. If I had been less impulsive and let the ink dry between layers I may have got a better finish. I think this is a strong example of showing my creativity through experimentation.

This print is a combination of a painted print with texturing. I used a cotton bud and paintbrush handle to remove ink. It was taken in one layer. I was really pleased with this from a technical point of view as the areas where I removed the ink to create the lightest values were very effective. I wanted to show the light reflections and I think I did this well. I did a preparatory sketch on black paper with a white pencil which I have sent in but unfortunately did not photograph. This was my third attempt at this print. This does not show very much creative flair or personal voice.

This last print was taken on my gelli plate with acrylic paints. I made practice background textures and practiced painting the plant first, these are below. I like that this shows a very different approach to a painted print. It shows a much freer style because of the different medium which I think shows my technical abilities in a new way. The background is textured using leaves to reflect the textures of the plant and the colours allow the yellow highlights in the plant to stand out which I think is effective. This print is more expressive in its loose relaxed marks.

Overall I think I've demonstrated good technical skills and shown a good range in this area. I don't feel I have achieved so highly in the other areas. I wasn't sure if there should be a connection between the works but I do not feel I have developed a personal style or voice yet. While I feel I have developed creatively and been imaginative in my use of processes I have not got to a stage where I am communicating or expressing anything significant. I also feel that although I did some research this did not make much impact on my work. 

For the next assignment I need to be more consistent in keeping a sketch book. The supporting works I sent in were taken from many different sketch books. I will use this to develop my ideas further and show connection between research and artwork created.

Painted Prints and Gelli Plate Experiments

As I've been reviewing my work to wrap up assignment 1 of introduction to printmaking I decided I needed to add a bit more to the painted prints tasks and try combining this technique with masks.

In this print I used water based printing inks and took the print in two layers. This was a happy accident really, the first layer was quite unimpressive so I just decided to add another layer. I didn't try multiple layers with my first painted prints so I was really pleased with this, I think it has depth and that I've used value effectively.

Inspired by this I had another go with more layers but this was less effective. I tried to add some texture into this one which could be effective but I think I just got a bit carried away and it lacks clarity. The final layer contained some white ink which was too thick and has made some big splodges which was not the effect I was hoping for.

In this print I used the same techniques as before, this was also a bit overdone with too many layers, I then added a background using a mask. I did the masked background in two layers to create some depth. I really like how this has created contrast. The biggest problem with these prints is that they took forever to dry. Printing ink, even water based, is not intended to be used this thickly. I should have let the ink dry between layers.

I am now the proud owner of a gelli plate. I used it for some texture experiments which I wrote about in my last post. I wanted to try some more painted prints in combinations with masks. I thought this was a good use of the gelli plate with acrylics, as the paint would be easier to work with, and I would get a good transfer of detail from the gelli plate.

These 4 prints are all based on a photo taken in Petra, Jordan, from inside a cave looking out onto the dusty landscape. I was not able to paint in half as much detail as I imagined so these were not effective. I think a more gestural style of painting would be more effective. It is very different working in acrylics.

These are quick gestural painted prints in acrylic. This is a much better use of this medium. I got good clear brush strokes in these prints

This is the ghost prints from both of the above prints layered into one print. I added some extra dark at the bottom as the two plants did not line up so the back print was higher making it look like it was floating.

I used a sparkly whites acrylic with blue to create this background and then pressed leaves into it to create a background. I love the shiny white paint, it created a great background. I then did another painted print over the top.

This was the ghost prints from the two layers. I prefer this, it is more subtle and delicate. The gelli plate is a total game changer for monoprinting. I already found this quite a broad assignment so this opens up even more possibilities. I think this print really shows a more fluid style of working which I enjoyed, but it is also harder to control.

Texture

Here are a few of my early texture experiments. I found it hard to make much impression in the ink.

This was a piece of heavy mesh and lines drawn with a comb.

This was lego, toy fishes and a plastic sieve.

I tried a thinner layer of ink to try and get a better impression, it came out a bit patchy, this was broderie anglais fabric.

For this print I used a cotton doily but this was disappointingly fuzzy.

The next few experiments are made on a gelli plate.

I used yellow blue and green acrylic paint applied directly to the plate and rolled together to create a blended variation of colour. I made the texture with a plastic lid and a shell rolled in the ink. The results were much more striking than with a traditional plate.

I added another colour without cleaning the plate giving a really interesting surface. I pressed leaves into the ink. This is a bit too busy but interesting to see how the bottom layer shows through when you take the print.

For this print I kept the red bottom layer and added green over the top. I used leaves again but this time they exposed the red ink rather than leaving a white area.

It is very different creating monoprints this way. It is harder to control. I think this is as much to do with the acrylic paint, which is wetter than printing inks, as it is the gelli plate. I also found that when I tried to use multiple layers the paper began to wrinkle as it was not heavy enough for the paint. This needs different combinations of paint and paper which will require some practice.