Looking back over my past blog posts I realise I have not discussed in much detail how my 22 etching series was getting on.
I have now completed all 22 prints, although some will definitely need re-printing. Some of the images I used also don’t work as well as I’d hoped within the print format and so I need to revisit the photos from this particular time in my life and select another image to create an etching print from.
I believe I am getting into my stride regarding how I approach my etchings and my mark-making techniques. There are a few prints which are quite heavy with marks and the image is more difficult to read. I think I prefer the prints which are slightly more simple and thought out in terms of how they are executed.
Pictured in this post are all 22 etchings on my studio wall, as well as a few close examples of a few of my favourite prints.
It has been a couple of weeks now since I had my last crit and I have been so busy etching away that I have not yet had time to reflect on it. I definitely think that in the last 2 weeks I have been thinking in greater depth about the best ways to further my work, both the print and paint aspects.
At the very beginning of my use of anaglypta wallpaper in my work I had always thought about printing onto it. It is only now that I have felt it is the right time to do this. In previous posts I have reflected on my worries about my etchings being too illustrative and did not know how to solve this problem. Printing onto anaglypta seems to make perfect sense in this situation to take my prints more into the realms of fine art.
In terms of my painting, I am unsure about the strength of the drip technique and relevance to my subject matter. A part of me feels that the painting just on its own is not working for me and that this is the time to start to bring the print and paint elements together.
I need to start thinking about the combination of paint, print and the anaglypta paper which I want to remain a strong presence in my work. I want to experiment with applying paint to the anaglypta in a variety of ways and then printing on top of it. Perhaps I shall start by creating little pieces to try a few things out and then see where it takes me.
Now that the majority of my ‘22′ (2014) series is completed, I have decided that my next big series shall be named ‘Every photo we took at the beach’ inspired by the seaside cabinet at the Museum of Childhood as well as my trips to the beach as a child. I have already begun etching plates with these images and am still compiling a file with all these types of images in. At the moment I believe I am at around 50. Needless to say this next series will be over double that of ‘22.’
