Multi Block Print

For my multi block print I chose to print a local mosque. I made sketches from several angles:

All of these were drawn from life and are in my small sketch book. I was looking at the contrast of textures between the trees and the geometric shapes of the buildings initially.

I chose a viewpoint and did some more detailed drawings, also in my little sketch book:

Inspired by Mark Hearld and his experimental collages, and his  use of collage to learn about composition and working in layers for printing, I used these in combination with photographs to develop some collages of potential layouts:

In this design I copied the shape of the melody of the call to prayer to create the lines in the sky. I didn't find this very effective, its contours were too narrow. 

This colour example used the same lines in the sky and I developed the sun more. I had wanted to include trees like this but found that the scale did not work. I had just cut my palm tree single colour block and knew how hard it would be to get a suitable texture to make this work as it would involve too much detail. I didn't like the trees like this, they were too crude.

In this example I developed the buildings more. I used perspective to give them a more clear form which I found very successful. I began to cut this design in separate blocks. I used a jig made from plywood for registration and glued the lino to plywood blocks.

I reinforced the use of perspective and shadows by adding texture to the bottom of the buildings. There will be another layer over this, this is to show through subtly.

I added highlights to the domes. I learnt from my shell print the importance of creating these highlights and shadows to show the form of the object.

I wanted to develop this so went back to Mark Hearld. 

He has birds in many of his compositions soaring across the skyline, this creates energy and movement. I tried this out in my design. I photocopied it and then added birds:

I was really pleased with the energy this created. However, I felt I should do a bit more investigation before settling on the design. I drew some birds, from photos, the birds here are all hiding from the sun:

I drew these with promarkers, I like these because they are translucent and I can layer colours with them. This will be very useful for exploring layers. I then created another collage, trying to maintain the energy of Hearld's soaring flocks with birds based on my own drawings:

I traced the birds from my drawings and got more natural, less stylised shapes.  I added this to the sky block and overprinted some of my plain sky blocks as a small reduction detail. I also cut birds from the lower block. I inverted the upper birds when I cut them, an idea inspired by Hearld, and his use of tonal counterpoint. In this print where the birds are printed over dark blue they do not appear inverted, they only appear inverted when they are printed over white in later prints.

In this print I also didn't ink the purple over the bottom half of the block so the lower birds show up more clearly as they are printed against a white background. 

I cut a bit more away from the purple block for the final print as I wanted some white to show through to balance with the birds in the sky, which now appear inverted, however these did not show up well. I had to experiment with colour mixing a lot to get a colour for the bottom section which showed through the texture of the bottom block, although this is not very clear in the photo. I used a lot of extender to make the translucent layer.

What was successful?

In this print the use of perspective, including the underprinting of shadows of the purple on the buildings was successful as it gave the buildings form, making the image make more sense visually. The two colours layered also created depth.

The addition of the birds was also very succesful, creating interest and movement in the composition.

What was not successful?

Registration, as I do not have access to ready mounted cut lino, or a hardware shop that can cut wood really accurately, my blocks were not exactly the same size. It was really hard to transfer the image onto the exact position on the block. I transferred the design with acrylic medium and a photocopy, pasted on, then the paper gently removed. This left some residue on the blocks making it hard to get a completely even print.The wood blocks were also not completely flat making the blocks uneven so I had to burnish some areas really hard to get a good print. Possibly this design would have been more suited to the reduction method. The highlights I added to the lower birds did not show well due to registration problems and this affected the balance.

I should have had some purple in the sky, I think a fourth colour, yellow highlights would also have lifted this.  By adding some purple texture in the sky  I could have explored layering of the purple and blue. Yellow highlights across the design it would have unified it and accented the birds. I realise now how difficult it is to add details like this after cutting has begun, and how well developed the design needs to be before printing starts.

Ideas to be developed:

Next time I do a multi block print I will choose a design like this one by David Salle where the blocks are of completely different images:

Untitled 1991

First Linocuts

When I signed up to introduction to printmaking, I was most excited about linocut and totally baffled by monoprints. I love the graphic simplicity of artists like Edward Bawden and the early 20th century aesthetic they created with their prints. So, before I had got into the habit of starting a learning log, or a sketchbook I did quite a few test prints. I had a few different kinds of lino so it made sense to try them all.

The first was EZcut. I had a big block and basic speedball cutters. I tried to create as many different textures as possible.

I was really pleased with this, found the block easy to cut and print. However, I did find the block quite stretchy so if I was trying to cut a detailed design it might get distorted.

Next I decided to cut up the block and use it as a stamp to make these prints. When cutting the EZcut it was very stretchy and was hard to get clean edges. I discovered very quickly why the course material specify putting the paper on top of the ink, not stamping with the block, as the transfer of ink is not as good as I couldn't burnish the paper.

 Not deterred by this I cut another couple of small blocks to use as stamps in a more planned print. I took more time and got better transfer of ink and really enjoyed exploring overlapping colours and textures in this simple print.

I took my little flower and cut something a bit bigger next. This was also EZcut. I wanted to cut something more planned so I could see how accurately I could transfer my drawing to the block. The curved lines were harder, and creating lines that overlap was also hard as it required a lot of accuracy. This block is possibly too easy to cut, the cutter glides through and can be hard to control. Despite this my print was quite close to my drawing and I learnt a lot about the process.

 The following 2 blocks are a different kind of lino. The large one was a black rubber block, but it is much harder than the EZcut. I found this harder to cut and print with. The second is another soft rubber block similar to EZcut. I don't know the brand names of these as they are offcuts from school.

This last test block was battleship grey lino. I liked this the best as I was able to get the most accurate and detailed cuts and it made a clear even print. I used this kind of lino for all of the rest of assignment 2.

Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition

Living in Saudi Arabia, and not being in a city, I have very limited access to art galleries. Recently I saw an exhibition of Arabic calligraphy advertised and thought this would be an interesting opportunity to see some traditional artwork. However, unfortunately it was not hand written calligraphy like I hoped, it was created digitally.

This was titled La Liah Ella Allah, it was not completely clear, I think it means 'There is no Deity Except God'

This was not titled

This was titled 'Names of Allah'

This was titled 'No Refuge Except to Allah'

There was no artist details.

The calligraphy itself is  a reproduction of a handmade process, layered over a digital background. The backgrounds are ethereal in their textures and colours, supporting the sentiment of the words. The lines of the text are active, image 1 contains strong diagonal lines sweeping round to sharp points at the top, this is in strong contrast to the background soft textures, giving the words more impact.

Christian art more often relies on symbolism and imagery to convey its message, which are not allowed in Islam. However, I can see clear connections with this painting and the calligraphy above:

The Coronation of the Virgin by Velázquez – Oil on Canvas / La Coronación de la Virgen de Velázquez, 1641-1644

This painting is also ethereal in its background textures, with shimmering light glimmering through hazy cloud-like textures of soft colours. It also uses strong lines in the composition, giving emphasis to the symbolic images of Mary and the Holy Trinity, which are arranged in a bold triangle shape. 

Baroque art, such as the Velázquez painting, reflected 17th century religious tensions;  the Catholic 

Church's desire to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation (Visual-arts-cork.com, 2016), thus this artwork had a politically charged message despite not having any words to express this message.

The difference to me is that I think an image gives you freedom to make your own opinion, despite the fact that the Christian symbolism may be pretty well drilled into those of us who have grown up in Christian countries, including on deep subconscious levels, so that interpretation of the image may not be as free as we like to think. Words can be more definitive and specific, instructions are

given in words and symbols in all cultures. 

After viewing these I did some research into other artist's that use text in their work.

A contemporary artist who uses  calligraphy with a very different effect is Shirin Neshat in her series 

Women of Allah, 1993-1997:

'The calligraphy is Persian poetry about themes such as exile, identity, femininity, and martyrdom...The words that are written on the women's skin demonstrate the literal and symbolic voice of women whose sexuality and individualism have been obliterated in public by the veil.'

("Teachartwiki - Shirin Neshat, Women Of Allah Series")

The script itself - Being in Arabic it has cultural connotations and, especially to many Western viewers, is connected to Islam.

The content of the words - exile, identity, femininity and martyrdom, all politically charged subjects

Placement - By placing it on parts of the body which are normally covered in Iran it is connected to the veil.

All of these are of course interrelated reinforcing the bold political statement of the work. I am interested in what the impact of these works would be if patterns of lines and shapes were used instead of words to represent the veil. If they were instead lines, bold straight or curved like the script the effect would have some similarities, in mimicking the veil, bold lines making a statement about the veil in one form, delicate lines making a different statement. If those patterns of lines were connected to a culture such as Islamic tessellations what would the impact be then? How significant is the content of the words to the impact of the work?  The words themselves are small making neat lines, difficult to read unless seen up close, they are a symbol as much as their content is significant. In comparison, the decorative calligraphy from the exhibition is more elegant and ornate, representing grace, the meaning of the words is clear. 

Taking this back to printmaking I found a contemporary Australian artist who uses text in linocut, Angela Cavalieri 

Photo taken from Sydney Morning Herald

She created a linocut of words swirling in the air between the mouths that spoke them:

Tell Tales 2010

She has also taken the music and lyrics of Monteverdi and created visual representations using the words:

Ragionando

 (2015)

'As I had been using ‘text as image’ in my artwork, I found an affinity with the idea of ‘word painting’ in music, that I discovered while researching Monteverdi. As well as looking at the original poetry that was used to create the madrigal, I also looked at musical scores and listened to recordings. From this I visualised how the scene or sound would look. This was my response to how I imagined the madrigal could be created visually rather than aurally.' ("Ulysses Is Back: And This Time He's Got Pictures")

Being a music teacher I am familiar with Monteverdi madrigals, they are secular rennaissance vocal works, often complex pieces of many independent parts. 

Word painting is creating sounds that mirror the words, a common example is descending passages on the word 'descending'.

In the artwork Ragionando above the text is Italian, as is Cavalieri. She does not live in Italy but proudly explores her Italian heritage through this artwork. The language does not have the same initial impact to a Western viewer as the Persian or Arabic script as it is not instantly recognisable, being a Roman alphabet. Closer investigation reveals the origin of the words. I am interested in the shapes she has chosen to represent the madrigal, I would have interpreted it as being a much more complex structure with more variation in the lines. There is overlapping and twisting of lines, but the four rows of text moving together to me suggests that the music would do the same, which is very much not the case in a Monteverdi Madrigal, unison or homophonic sections are only a small part of the texture, more often the parts move independently in polyphonic movement. The pieces are often through-composed, the circle form to me suggests something that moves around and returns to its origins, a madrigal does not do this. So I wonder if she has taken this interpretation from the meaning of the words. Which brings me back to the artworks examined above by Neshat and the Arabic calligraphy; does using text diminish purely visual (or in this case musical) concepts? By using words does the more subtle symbolism of visual language get drowned out?

References

Visual-arts-cork.com. (2016). Baroque Art: Definition, Styles, History. [online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/baroque.htm [Accessed 31 May 2016].

"Teachartwiki - Shirin Neshat, Women Of Allah Series". Teachartwiki.wikispaces.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.

"Ulysses Is Back: And This Time He's Got Pictures". Limelightmagazine.com.au. N.p., 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.

Palm Trees

When looking at ways of telling my story through art after gaining some inspiration from watching some high school art classes I decided to represent different stages of my life with prints of plants that remind me of those periods. The first one I chose as it is the most readily available is palm tress, representing my current life stage, living in Saudi Arabia. I drew some pictures of trees to start with:

In this drawing I brought a large leaf inside and drew it. This leaf was a bit damaged and had some interesting bent leaves and overlapping lines.

In this drawing I was interested in the shadows created by the trees, and was thinking this could make an interesting exploration of tonal counterpoint.

Here I tried laying the outline of the broken leaf over some patterns. I made a background of half arabic shapes and similar traditional patchwork shapes which would represent my background in sewing. The bent leaf is interesting as all my other drawings, including some others not included here I discovered how uniform palm trees are. They all have very neat leaves with little variation in shapes. I think this almost unnatural uniformity reflects the landscape here which is largely artificial and man made. This design, in particular the bent leaf, shows my occasionally scatty and unpredictable personality in combination with this rigidly ordered place, however, it became too complicated to print in a single block, and I may revisit this later as a multiple block print. I also felt I needed to do a more detailed drawing for the foundation of this design.

I decided to simplify this and make a print of just a tree, as a practice of cutting and printing a more intricate design, I may develop this later. I wanted the design to be an energetic composition so I used diagonal lines to create energy. I tried out some compositions with my camera

I decided including the trunk of the tree made the image stronger and the leaves coming out upwards had lots of energy. I drew this directly on the block from life and then traced it onto a second block so I could cut this in positive and negative.

I cut the negative block first. I was able to get a clear print of this by using thin Japanese paper or banana tissue paper and caligo inks. I also tried printing it in a light colour on dark paper but this was less successful. There were places where the leaves overlap where I was cutting lots of overlapping lines. Unfortunately the lino crumbled when I did this leaving some white spots. I like how the trunk came out with its variety of lines it is clearer and more interesting.

The positive print took forever to cut, and I realise now I have missed a couple of lines in between the bottom of the branches. I really like the energy of the small lines in the large cut away areas. I wanted to make a lively composition to reflect the busyness and energy of this period in my life and I think this really reinforces this.

I found some cotton rag paper with inlaid flower petals which I tried for printing and it soaked up so much ink giving a much darker image. The top pint is the back of the paper without the petals showing, the bottom has the petals on this side. The petal moved when I removed the paper but this gave me an idea to try using this deliberately with petals as masks on a later print.

What was successful?

These prints were very useful cutting exercises. I learnt how much detail is possible, and how well this detail transfers to different papers.

The texture of the trunk of the tree was successful due to its diverse lines and textures.

What was not successful?

In the negative print I lost some detail when the lino crumbled through try to cut detailed textures of overlapping leaves.

The image was quite 2D, creating an image of overlapping leaves was very hard in one block.

Ideas to be developed:

I would like to take these shapes into a more adventurous  composition which expresses a bit more about what the trees represent to me. I may explore:

• A new compoisiton also based on these trees using multiple blocks to show overlapping leaves
• A piece created with a combination of these blocks 
• Dab printing with them. 
• Printing them over a different block or monoprinted background

Exploring Black and White shells

Following on from my earlier post about artist's who use inversions of black on white and white on black I did some drawings of shells on white and back paper:

This one has unfortunately been drawn on by my daughter

I wanted to cut this out of lino, the top half black on white the bottom half white on black. However this didn't really work. The black was supposed to be the table but it didn't look right.

It looked like it was floating, not sitting on the table. Also, I cut too much away from the shadowed side of the shells and needed to add more light on the light side.

I cut off the background and added a bit of white which improved this. The shell on the left still did not have clear shadows and light.

I needed to add a lot of white to get this to make sense visually. I realise now that trying to make the bottom half of the shells darker didn't make visual sense and I should have been more true to the shadows and contours of the object.  This finished print I used caligo safe dry inks on thai banana tissue paper. Reducing the contrast from black and white to dark red and cream also softened the image. 

What was successful?

I am pleased with this finished print, particularly the textures. I found it a very interesting learning experience. I did learn some important points on this, most notably being true to the image and its form and shadows or it wont make visual sense, an important lesson to take into my next project.What was not successful?I didn't achieve an image that shows much in the way of experimenting with black on white / white on black,
Ideas to be developed:
Next time I attempt to recreate an object like this I will be much more selective about the lighting. I would like to try using lamps to create strong shadows giving me more contrast to develop in my print.

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].