What have I managed to churn out this time?
Yes! as previously mentioned in the last post, I have been working on my latest 3 images of scenery and in one image the still life of objects but may not work on this particular image.
Today… I have managed to get round to printing the second layering of my image called ‘The Family Circle‘ which I thought I would work on first. I have tried using the grey as the first layer on 3 pieces of paper to see how that looks in comparison to the 5 prints I done starting with the first layer of black. So today I wanted to try print grey layer on top of the 5 black prints and printing black layer onto the 3 grey prints. The reason why I am doing this is because I want to get a good overview of what works best with either black first or grey first if that makes sense?
Why again do I want to do the prints in this way?
I am trying to basically tally what works best in the order of the two colours but to be honest the second layer of grey works much better on top of the black than the black on top of the grey. I think in this case, it balances off the image very well making it look smoother and less sudden and sharp looking. So I think after all of this testing with the order of colours, I will definately use black first and then grey after as it works better and will carry on using this method with the rest of my images.
Also it works better in contrast because the grey helps blend in the white colour which is the paper ‘acting as the light’ and then blending this white into the black shadowing buy using this grey colour. Deep down this is really what I have been trying my best to achieve and really think this can be a continuous printing method to take up. I have see the way Glen Toner ‘the technician’ does his lino cuts of peoples faces and how he uses the colours of shadowing which is grey, white and blacks only. I am trying to change this in my own way by doing all of this through silkscreen.
What will I do next?
Now… that I know this experiment worked! I can now apply the same working method in other images to see what kind of reactional magic that I get out of them. I am hoping to surprise myself in a way that I cannot fully see in my mind my future image but hoping that it will be better than expected. I will carry on with this method with the other two scenery images tomorrow and shall keep you updated in exactly how they turned out in the end.
Please feel free to watch my short 3 minutes of commentary showing how exactly I have managed to print them with two layers!
Video pending…
What developments are there with making my latest images look less cheap?
Well… I had a very hard think to myself over the weekend in how I will go about doing my two layers to make my scenery image look less cheap and better… And… I have managed to come up with the way of doing this technique of layers. All I had to do was render the image more to make the last layer which will be known as layer 2 and will be printed in black. The second layer is the latest layer that I created over the weekend which has more rendered detail on it than the normal first layer I done last week.
So the first layer silkscreen stencil that I already made will be grey in colour so that you have the different contrast tones. White is obviously gonna act from the paper colour which will act as the light that shines on the surroundings. grey will act as the middle blending and black will be the shadows of the trees, buildings and anything else in the image.
Why am I wanting to do this?
Since the last post that tells you all about how my prints may have looked quickly churned out as in cheap, it has basically kicked me sideways and left me wondering what to do next…… So… I wanted to devise a way of not just making a one layered image but maybe two or even three layers if the second proves to be successful. So hence why I have mentioned the above with exactly what I am trying to plan.
Glen the technician has shown me some examples of his lino cuts with the use of white, greys and blacks colours in which he uses for his prints. I am trying to change that into my own technique through silkscreen instead of using lino cutting. I want to try to do my own creations in something that maybe has not been heard of much before and I wish to try do this contrast mono tone idea through printing my scenery images through silkscreen.
Next part of the process is…
To print the second layer tomorrow which will be the black as I have already printed out the grey layer and looks neatly done. Although the fabriano paper is not as flat as it should be in the student shop so this would have to act as the experimental prototype rather than the real finished print… After all I have treated this as an experiment anyway until I have perfected this idea and then I will start printing seriously!
So with any luck the second layer will align on top of the first grey colour well and will hopefully workout for me. It may seem all sudden quick process but I was the one who came up with this idea when I do not have to spend hours, weeks and months trying to cut into the lino when I can get exactly the same finish that I am looking for. If people do not like the way I do my processes quickly, they do not have to like the way I do my work because I have earnt my right to do it this way when I have spent almost 2 months trying to work this method out and finally I know how to now. I am sure it will pay in the end…
Task 1 – Complete Chairman Mao Print *Mandatory*
Yes… This week is mostly gonna be based on getting all the layers of my Chairman Mao completed and hopefully Glen the technician will be around to help me more. As last week he was not round much so therefore I could not get more layers done to my print. Hopefully this week will be a good week because if I cannot be helped much by the technician then I will have to talk with someone who is higher up. This is no joke for me at all as I must have full support in my work and surely I can be helped when I need it.
Task 2 – Complete Chinese and English illness sculpture *Mandatory*
Some day in the week I need to finish off some bricks which still need some more cutting but with any luck I can get it completed in good time for this week. I understand that I need to do more experimenting with some objects to go above it but will now have to wait until after Christmas… At least if I can finish getting the toilet part done, then it will look nicer than it is already.
Task 3 – Update English and Chinese medicine and foods
I have witnessed that it would be best to have my foods in pairs for displaying in concealed frames with perspex glass. For example… I will put the chinese Coca Cola bottle with the English bottle inside a concealed perspex frame. Hopefully It will look nice as to say that these objects are couples that would resemble me and my girlfriend. With the Chinese and English medicine I will do the same but only I will have all the Chinese medicine separate from the English medicine. So I will work on this further from now until after Christmas time…
Task 4 – Update sketchbook *partially mandatory*
I have managed to update my sketchbook within the last week and will update it again this week with some more ideas and ways to making and presenting objects. Hopefully these ideas will lead to something great in producing some good art work.
Task 5 – Write at least 100 words equivalent everyday for Project Proposal
Yes… I have managed to funnily enough make a good start with my proposal in which I have finished the introduction and made a good start in the middle part. I am talking about Louise Bourgeois with her representated memories of objects and will carry on talking about her and leading up to Gonzales Torres. So I must keep updating this everyday to make it better and better and defining the object as representation. Hopefully I will make this better and better.
What updates are there with my chosen 4 prints for Pretty’s Exhibition?
Last Thursday I called into Lamden galleries in Ipswich to get 4 mounts made up to go in my 4 frames of my images. So on Saturday I took the time to travel to the shop to pick up my 4 mounts for my frames and thought they looked alright. It was raining outside so I just had to make sure they covered up nicely in a big plastic bag wrapped up with tape.
So once I made it back to my university, I then started to prepare my 4 frames ready to put my mounts and images inside. I placed the mounts inside the frames with the images laying on top and then I can align the images the other side making sure either side are even with the mount board. Once I done that I then secure the images to the mount boards by sticking some parcel tape on them so they do not move within the frame. Also I do this so that the image is in good alignment to the mount board and then I can make the addition numbers, title and signatures look better aligned.
What do I think of them now?
I think they look a million bucks better… ‘just a metaphor’ but really they do look so much better once they have been mounted and framed. I do feel quite pleased with myself in the way that I only had a month to do all of this in good time such as playing with images in photoshop and getting the emulsion right and making sure they are perfectly printed. I just feel relieved but most of all, I have enjoyed the fact of doing this process because process is quite important to me as its memory but also it is discovering something new!
I do feel I have discovered something new in the lines of printing through silkscreen and I want to develope my images more by making more than 2 or 3 layers with different tones of greys or another colour. I do have these ideas and thoughts in mind but as I have said before, I have only just learnt to walk rather than running ahead of myself in the idea that this is the finished product. It will not be the finished product because I am always trying new ways of experimenting with silkscreen so of course I will try do more with these images. Just look forward now to present these 4 images in time for the Pretty’s exhibition.
The Question is… is my work cheap looking?
Today in the group crit, I did get some positive feedback from fellow full-time and part-time classmates in which I thought helped me to think about developing my latest print work. Although… However I did get a comment from one of my tutors about my 4 prints looking cheap because of the way they look like they have been churned out for mass production. But I think that is what printing is all about isn’t it? Once you have the master plate or silkscreen you can then churn out as many as you want in additions of 10/10 or more. But wait a minute? artists have to survive and get paid for the hours and materials involved in making their work right?
So why is it so bad that I start churning out 10 of the same image in a quick range of time? If it means getting my shadow and light detail for my images to show more then I will choose to print through silkscreen instead of doing the old school etchings. I wanted to adapt to some new method and quickest ways in printing out high textured detail of sceneries and objects. This is what I want to do and I will adapt from here on and will not change my printing methods at all… My work is cheap in front of everyone that I know in the room so I guess I will now take a break from there a while and put my thinking cap on.
Reflecting back in the last post I have stated what I had to do to make these images become a reality and out of 1000’s of china visited photographs, I have had to go through selecting some of the most appropriate images for the latest Pretty’s exhibition… I am not a person to recognitionise myself that I have worked hard and did a great job for the work… It is not for the brits to give too much recognition to someone that has worked hard in the process so I do not expect that from anyone. but After all of the processes and waiting that I done for a whole month in planning this, it feels as though it is now a cheap production and a waste of time if that makes sense?…
What to do next?
Not a clue at this minute but I will think about perhaps playing with more than one layer of the same scenic image……I will still maintain to submit my work in frames for Pretty’s Exhibition in order to get some research and thoughts about my curative exhibition project.
Reflecting back to my old etching Called Chinese Venice
