Task 1 – Organise my 4 chosen stencil prints ready for Pretty’s Exhibition *(Mandatory)*
Yes… this is my task of the week to try and get all 4 of my chosen prints ready for the upcoming pretty’s exhibition for 14th December. I will have to probably put the sixth and seventh layers on hold for my Chairman Mao print in order to complete this deadline task in good time. With any luck after printing them out onto acetate I hope they will successfully show out nicely on the silk screen and then should be printed perfectly onto paper. Hopefully will work out for me well and hope I can be selected for the latest exhibition…
Task 2 – Re-shape bricks and organise more materials for Chinese and English illness sculpture
Yes… this task is partially mandatory too because it has been a week since I have last touched it but in that time I have managed to think of new ideas for this sculpture. New ways include reshaping the bricks so that I can make them more symmetrical looking and also reshaping the larger foundation bricks for a more even finish to the lower part of my sculpture. With any luck I can be successful in cutting them using the university’s machine and be able to finish my task in good time. If it don’t work then I will have to think of better ways to present this sculpture but I am confident that this will work.
Task 3 – Fourth and fifth layer to be completed of Chairman Mao print
Reflecting back at my disaster on last Fridays post, I have now had to wait to finish doing my fourth and fifth layers of my Mao image. Of course there has been so many delays and errors which has left me thinking will there be anymore? I certainly hope not as I would really want to get this image finished preferably before Christmas time at the very latest! I do not want to have to go through any other delay again with this image as I have already worked hard in organising the layers. And this time I should have my fourth layer more prepared which should not be over alignment.
Task 4 – More research for research methods
Yes… this is also partially mandatory to me as I should think about more in terms of research that contextualises my work and should give my work a bigger outlook. I will try to read some more books, take some notes and highlight any relevant information that will aid me in my project proposal and final presentation. With any luck I can find all the information I need to succeed even further as this is one of my weak areas within the artistic line.
Task 5 – Sketchbook work to be updated with more research and ideas etc…
I should be filling in my sketchbook with more ideas and information as I go along but has been a week since I last looked at it as I have had other issues to deal with such as my sculpture and Mao print. In future I will try to write down any ideas, information and sketches as I go along every week. Hopefully I won’t get any other distractions that will prevent me from updating my sketchbook…… Well hopefully I can complete all of these tasks this week so… good luck to myself. :-0
What has happened with my recent fourth Mao layer?
Well… It seems that last Friday gone I was attempting to try print out my fourth layer of Mao but something came up with this layer in particular… The size was out by 0.5 centimeters in width which seemed very strange to me as this was quite a considerable amount to be misaligned from the other layers already printed.
What seemed the strangest to me, was the fact that when I was cutting my layers out in Photoshop from my Mao image; I wanted to make sure that all the layers fitted together nicely making sure that when it comes to printing them out, they will all be well aligned with each other. I had even played around with different colours too to also make sure that the colours that I will be printing with will look good when ‘ALIGNED’. So not only this was all too strange to me but a wee bit frustrating as I did make sure my layers corresponded well together.
What will I do next as the best resort?
Well as this was all too strange knowing everything I done was in fact right, I will now have to re-analyse this layer carefully in photoshop to see what is going on. With any luck this will give me any answers that I need to know in Photoshop into why it seems 0.5 centimeters over the alignment. I can compare this fourth layer with the other layers recently printed and if it was my own error then I can accept that at the time and may have been tired and misjudged it. If however this error wasn’t my own doing, then it must be the technician’s instead so I will see what happens and will keep you updated in what I have found out.
Have I changed my mind about one print that I may show in Pretty’s exhibition?
I have had a slight doubt in one of my prints to show in the latest upcoming exhibition at the pretty’s solicitors in Ipswich and thought about changing one to a more stronger image.
Why did I have doubt about showing the ‘By The Waters 8’ image?
I think it is because I think I must have got the lighting a bit wrong on some of the trees within this image where I thought there was too much light on the one closest to the water. I can fix this error and use this image for another time but I guess this kind of gave me an excuse to use another slight stronger tone of image than this one.
What other image did I have in mind?
I called my other new image ‘China Wonders 2‘ as this image was taken in a particular old part of Huang Zhou in south of China and is a very old place that links to the long ancient shopping street. I call this image ‘China wonders 2’ because this image in particular out of over 100 images taken near the same area, stand out the most which is why I call this one of my greatest wonders that I seen in China.
It has this ancient feel to it like I am in the movies, this natural vibe that sends through my body with the rattling trees and old stone pathways with smooth white shrine buildings. When I decided to edit this in Photoshop, it gave me an even bigger natural ancient vibe to it the time I turned this image into black and white and created this very nice contrast with nice shadowing to it. This also is one of my most interesting memories in China and is another reason to why I should be using this image.
When will I print this image and the other 3 images for the exhibition?
As they have now increased the time to submit artwork due to christmas circumstances I do not have to now submit my work until the 14th of December at the very latest. Hopefully my work will be chosen to be shown and if so, it will be the case of choosing a day some time next week to get them printed off and ready to put on screen. Once this is done, I can then organise my finished prints in nice mounted frames. The time all this is done it will be a relief and I will certainly look forward to good responses from viewers.
What printing works have I chosen to exhibit in Pretty’s?
Print 1 – By The Waters 8
- Now the reason why I wanted to include this image as my first choice, is because I have had so many moments by the water on all my travels around China. This scene in particular was my first by the waters scene in China that I went to visit with my girlfriend called the West Lake in Huang Zhou. I wanted to edit this in photoshop in a way that it looks like a fading memory trace.
- The sunlight catches the water and trees nicely after it has been edited and looks like a fading memory trace in a way that it looks like the image is vanishing away. This was exactly how I wanted it to look and because I have done scenes before using black ink, I want to be able to go back to my old printing ways again when I done that Chinese Venice.
Print 2 – The Family Circle
- I chose this image in particular because of how this archway within this scene gives off a narrative which is also symbolic. The archway gives off a clue into family like of how Chinese families are bound in this type of circle shape and is something that it widely known in Spring Festival time.
- Spring Festival is the most celebrated Chinese time in the year where family come together for a while and eat a lot of snacks and dinner together around a very big marble or wooden table and therefore is like The Family Circle. So because I have experienced this time many times, I wanted to add this image as this means alot to me in a way that it just symbolizes home and Family around a circle spending time together.
Print 3 – Pots, People And More Pots
- I was on my travels in the countryside when I came across some mysterious looking wine urns made from terracotta. There were so many of these terracotta urns that it reminded me of so many people bundles together which also reminded me of so many Chinese people drinking together. I thought that this image had a good patterned approach to it and is like a narrative of many people drinking together so I had to include this image as my third choice.
Print 4 – Chinese And English Tea Party
- I had to include this nicely lined almost like abstract style image which a memory trace of me and my girlfriend’s family having a tea party. This tea party consisted of English style tea bags with Chinese milk and we drinked it using a Chinese rice bowel so hence why I called it Chinese And English Tea Party. I thought that this image would be very ideal as my fourth image because of the way it gives a great abstract feel to it which is perfectly in good contrast of black and white.
What will I do next?
So now that I have chosen my 4 prints very wisely, I will now try to see Carol Grant who is our arts curator of the university and will show her what I want to exhibit. Once I have done this, she and other people will assess everyone’s work and choose what ones will be most acceptable. With any luck they will accept my pieces of work to be shown for the Spring and Summer seasons and should also have the chance to make some more cash. There will also be a cash prize of £100 for the winner with the most appropriate piece of work to show, Fingers crossed it will be me although I am always a confident person so eager for success!
Task 1 – Print fourth layer stencil of Chairman Mao Print
Yes… reflecting back from my last successful third layer was quite successful in the end so I want to be able to prepare the fourth layer as soon as possible. Hopefully by monday at the earliest I will tell Glen Toner – the technician to prepare me my fourth stencil and then get him to use my photo emulsion to transfer the image on silk screen for me. Hopefully my fourth layer will be as successful as the last third layer was and then should be able to start my next printing process by late afternoon Monday or early Tuesday.
Task 2 – Group Crit discussion reflection to Re-organise my Illness sculpture and improve on it by collecting more materials
Reflecting back from my last group crit, I have had a lot of negative but also some positive feedback from fellow classmates and tutor. Now I want to be able to use their comments to guide me in trying to refine my latest Chinese and English illness sculpture by doing some more experimenting with it. I will keep on trying out different ways to present my meaning behind it by collecting more materials and also changing my current sculpture idea to make it better. Hopefully I can be much more successful this coming week and should be close to deciphering my latest illness sculpture idea by trying out different methods.
Task 3 – Choose what artworks will go into the Pretty’s Exhibition for this December.
This is an opportunity that I would not like to miss and will choose my pieces of works wisely to what will go in this spring and summer time exhibition at the Pretty’s Solicitors in Ipswich. I am thinking about adding 4 of my new images that I have played around on photoshop and eventually will screen print these images to exhibit and hopefully sell at the end of it. These new 4 images are memory traces of what I have experienced in China and will try print these the English way so that in a sense, there is still these two cultural connections with each other. I think they look great at the moment but will try to refine them even more on photoshop and will make a separate post for these to explain these images in greater depth.
Task 4 – update my sketchbook work
Now that most of my ideas and thoughts are on here I would like to try use my sketchbook more to do some more sketches about my illness sculpture and other ideas that I have in mind. I will also write down some more notes in my sketchbook too as I cannot remember everything that someone will tell me like in the lessons or seminars so I will try to keep my sketchbook and ideas more upto date. Will take more interesting and helpful notes for this coming Thursday’s presentations to see if any relevant artists or references spring into mind that will help me on my further artistic analysis.
