Printing workshop week two; lino printing using constructed designs.

 In the second week of printing workshop, we used the templates that were created in the first week, to create prints. Using printing ink and a palette knife (however in our case we used cardboard, as mentioned in the previous it is cheaper and easier to recycle), we began to spread (lightly may I add) the printing ink onto the lino cut. As the ink is quite viscose also, we only needed a small amount. after spreading, using newspaper we rubbed the ink back off of the cut, and pushed some of the ink into the grooves. We made sure to push it all out, so it gave a neater print.

 

Then, Using the barren wheel, we placed the print onto some paper, over the top of some more paper for protection, and then sealed with more paper after. (Note; make sure to dampen the paper first by placing it into a tub of water, then shake off grabbing the corners, as it is easier to print on and gives a better result.) We then covered with a mat and rolled the roller over the paper. The reason we do this rather that just pushing down is because the barren wheel is strong as applies a lot of pressure, making sure everywhere is squeezed evenly. Once our paper reached the end we pulled it out to reveal an exact print of the cut (Displayed below, right hand side.) I repeated this process three times to get an average of prints, this way I could show my progress throughout using the wheel.

 

To make the pictures more interesting, we repeated the same process, however before placing on the wheel we added tissue paper, which we traced and cut into shapes to fit our cuts. We then placed then onto the cut making sure to glue them with the glue ON TOP and not on the bottom so it didn't stick to the cut and stuck to the paper. We then carried on with the process and ended up with the two samples below. I used two shades of pink and two shades of blue to be contrasting. Personally I prefer the pink picture but the blue one gives a cooler tone.

 

 We then went back to our initial drawings, and chose a second one (I Chose the spider.) However this time, instead of spreading the stop out onto the zinc plate, we painted our image on with a brush, to create the opposite effect. We then covered in plastic and put into the Nitric acid again (3-4 minutes) and then took out to reveal another cut, but the opposite way round, more like a stamp.

We then used this cut to make prints, however this time we used coloured inks, in red and green.(results showed below.) I like the way they came out, the colour really catches your eye compared to the black, however the prints were not as pigmented as the first lot, because the lino cut wasn't as deep as the first cut.

To improve, I should have left the zinc plate in the nitric acid longer, to make the cut deeper, so it would print better.

 

 

 

 

Printing Workshop week three; Constructing Collagraph Relief Prints.

In week three of the printing workshops, we studied some Collagraph  Relief prints, a Collagraph being an image, which is made up of layers of paper or card, almost like Decoupage.  The layers are stacked up, to make a 3D effect, which are then printed onto paper. However, before we could start any of the printing we had to make our own Collagraph piece. Shown above are my initial designs. We could only draw in Linear as we would be cutting gout in shapes, so there was no need for shading. I chose on doing my sister, as it fitted more into my project than the rest, Portraits being the last thing that we studied. 

On my original drawing, I marked out each shape, and numbered them in order of placing (1 being the bottom layer, 4 being the top etc.)I then traced my design onto tracing paper, so It would be more precise, and then with a large sheet of card, I drew out each layer (the first layer being the whole outline of the face and body), and cut them out, gradually sticking them onto the card, building up the layers. I used PVA glue rather than a prittstick as it is less viscose making it easier to spread, and also sticks card down better. Shown below is my design, traced image and final product.



As you can see the layers are numbered and then placed in order. We traced each section out one at a time to make sure they were done correctly, and to ensure I had every piece. Each of the sections had to be quite thick so we could cut them out; small details are too fiddly and are quite tricky to cut out, for example lettering and shading, hence why we stuck to linear drawing.

 

Anyway, after I had stuck everything down (remembering to check each corner to make sure everywhere is stuck firmly, or else they will quickly degrade) It was then coated with a layer of white emulsion to protect everything, and to make the edges smoother, less likely to peel off.

Drawing from Observation Project Evaluation.

Throughout the length of this project, we have studied various objects from close up and afar, and have drawn our interpretations of them using various materials and processes. On my blog I have included each piece of work with annotations on how and I why I did each piece. The pieces we had to do were;
 -x4 A5 studies
-x4 A3 drawings
-x1 A3 black paint and oil pastel scratching
-x1 observational sheet

The techniques we used were mainly drawing in pencil and coloured pencil, however each were done on various backgrounds. We also used bleach to create a negative effect, which i thought was a nice contrast to the rest of the work. The four A5 studies were drawn on black tissue paper, coloured inks, various papers and white emulsion. Emulsion being the only paint we used during the project, which was a nice change to just focus on drawing alone. I felt this helped me with my drawing skills and improved them for next year. I became more aware of how to use coloured pencil, and used different types of regular pencil, from 4H to 6B, which helped me become more aware of which pencils I prefer to use, and which densities of pencil make different prints.

We also used Biro pen, which isn't entirely new to me however I really  enjoyed using it, and Biro is very precise and you can really get into adding detail into a drawing, compared to pencil. I used water colour pencils when colouring in my drawings, So I could make my drawings softer; It really added a nice tone in some areas, and made lines less harsh. In the homework studies we were able to collage into one of the  pieces, something I had not done before.

For applying media into my drawings, I used fine liner, especially in the A5 studies to highlight certain areas, as I  sometimes feel colouring pencils can not be as precise and tend to smudge around the edges so fine liner did a good job of securing that. The white emulsion made a great base of texture for pencil in terms of media, I could really get into the creases of the paint and was a lot different to using regular paper; pencil smudges onto emulsion so I could blend the pencils and create a completely different effect to the other drawings. An old media form I haven't used in a very long time was scratching into black paint and washing up liquid, revealing the oil pastel under layer. Again this gave great texture, I would really use the fine nib of the compass to etch into the paint, and was much  more fun than regular drawing.  I added some oil pastel in some areas to fill areas out, as sometimes colour pencil does not produce enough pigment.

The four A5 studies I really enjoyed doing, as I learned some new techniques from it. Apart from using bleach already, I had not used water colour inks before, or drawn onto mixed papers. Overall I think all my pieces went really well; I really enjoyed  being able to experiment with media, and really getting into shading into objects, blending them into the backgrounds. With the mixed paper piece, It was interesting to see how the pigment of the pencil changed on each type of paper I drew onto,

 some areas standing out more than others. The white emulsion was plain, so i could really get into filling the square with different things, compared to the inks that were all different shades. I also enjoyed experimenting with the inks, tipping and flicking it onto the paper in various ways, and adding water, watching it disperse into the paper. The main thing I enjoyed about the project was really being able to be free and experimental with medias and being diverse with each sheet.

My four homework studies ( Linear drawing, Tonally shaded, Coloured pencil and collage and Biro pen) Were all themed on various places in my house. I appreciated the fact that we could really make this project our own, and base it on our personal favourite items. This helped me to be more motivated and be more experimental with the objects and scenes I chose. I spent a lot of time on each piece, Especially the kitchen cupboard, however I think I could have spent longer on the linear drawing and tried to be more proportional. With the collage I chose to use sweet wrappers as well as magazine to add more texture, however I could have spent a little longer on the drawing side.

From this project I think my drawing skills have increased. I really got into detail on the kitchen cupboard drawing and I  learned how to highlight, something I hadn't done before. It was a nice change than using paint all the time, drawing being something I don't tend to do as often. This project helped me be more aware of my drawing skills and I enjoy drawing more now, which is a plus.
I think I managed my time well and did everything that was asked to be done. Out of college I spent alot of time annotating my work through blogger, rather that on my work to stop it being spoiled. I could have maybe produced another black paper sheet, with the time left over, nevertheless I feel my drawings are done to a good enough standard. I could have worked harder on some of the home works however, proportion definitely being something to work on in future projects.  I would like to have explored more into using oil pastel maybe, or even graphite, something we have not explored as of yet.

Overall I really enjoyed this project, and it helped me boost my drawing skills.

Fine art lino printing workshop week one ;the basics

 

As part of the first week in the print workshops, we began by looking at lino printing,  and had a look at some examples that our tutor had produced. The lino printing process however, is started by making a plate, or template, which you then use to print your designs onto paper.

We were given a plate of zinc, ( Zinc because it is cheaper yet quite tough, also has a nice finish when done) and measured out three squares onto some paper, and began to draw out some initial designs. we were asked to draw linear drawings as you cannot shade into the zinc plate. I drew out some designs (displayed above), but eventually chose to do ballet shoes as my final design. (displayed below.) Before we began using the plates however, we filed down the edges of the plate using a large wide file, so they were blunt. After doing so, we were given some oil polish, to clean our plate before working into it.

After choosing my design, we went and put our zinc pieces onto a hot plate, and began to add some stop out. The stop out is quite viscose so with the aid of heat, it was then able to be spread on more smoothly.  We had to be careful not to burn our hands on the hot plate, as it got very hot. we spread the stop out on using cardboard, so it didn't stain if we had used utensils, and the cardboard could just be thrown away.

 

 

 Once it had dried, we copied our design onto tracing paper, and then transferred it onto our piece of zinc. We were then given a scribe, and etched out our design, and then added in any extra shading, using the crosshatching method. After I was content with my design we covered the back with laminate and placed it into Nitric acid for 3-5 minutes. The nitric acid burned into the etched parts, and after the time given revealed a lino stencil ready to print with next week. 3-5 minutes was a reasonable time, as it took away the zinc plate just enough, but not too much so that the grooves began to widen. The plastic is put onto the back of the place so the plate is protected, and not eaten away. We took the plates out (making sure to use gloves, so our hands don't get irritated), and used the same oil polish again to remove the stop out. we then rinsed with hot water to remove as much as possible and then with cold water to cool.

 

Visual recording; Observational Drawing using mixed media.

The  main focus of this project ( as mentioned) is to draw and observe objects, so to show this in a different way, We constructed four different A5 drawings using various mixed media.

 

 

1) Brown black and parchment paper, with coloured pencils-

2) Thick white emulsion with pencil

3) Inks and coloured pencil

4) Black tissue paper and bleach.

 

 

1) To begin, I gathered together various types of paper (this time I used Black card, brown parcel paper and white parchment paper), and ripped them up into different sizes, then stuck them down randomly onto my paper. Doing this gives a good foundation with plenty of texture to work from, varying in colour and pigment as you draw along it. My theme of objects for this picture was 'small' and 'pocket sized' objects, things I would find on my desk. I drew each object out and coloured using coloured pencils. At times I did find the paper hard to work out as it would occasionally rip when colouring, so to improve I would use thicker paper of stick them down better, however I gave a nice effect overall. I tried to make shine with the spoon, by adding highlight in and using my fingers to smudge it together to appear smoother.

2) To prepare we had some white emulsion, and I let my stand a while to thicken up, then lathered it onto my sheet and drew into it using the end of  a paintbrush to create some texture. Once dried I collected some objects ( this time with a metallic theme), and drew them using pencils, from 2H-2B. The chain of the necklace was done by using circling motions, and repeatedly going over certain areas to show the light and texture of the metal rings. Although I did find the pencil to smudge over the emulsion, I was pleased with the result, the texture really stood out, however to improve I could have added more emulsion to give a little more texture.

3) This time I had some water based inks in Blue and Pink, and dripped them onto my paper. I wanted the effect to be quite messy so dipped in my paintbrush and flicked little areas also so it all blended together. I also added some water and a bit of yellow so the inks could disperse in some areas so was less pigmented than other areas. There was no theme with the objects this time, although all the objects had the same colour scheme of blues and purples to match the background. I used coloured pencils again and worked quite quickly so the result was messy ( although not rushed) to match my background. To improve I could have chosen objects that had a theme to fit in nicer.

4) The final piece I stuck down pieces of black tissue paper randomly, some areas some and others crumpled, and once dry I drew on my images. I then went over in some bleach (being carful to not get any on my hands as can be very irritant). The bleach creates a nice contrast to the black paper and almost a negative look. I then outlined specific areas with a fine liner to create more detail, and then added white pencil for highlight. I especially think the shell gave a lovely effect; I worked quick and mixed some of the bleach with water so it didn't come out as harsh. The bleach however really made the shell look lifelike as it gave out a lot of colours, just like a shell.



 

Observational Drawing Studies on black card.

 

Observational Drawing.

 

Here I studied some objects from home; I aimed to chose objects of various shape and texture. None of the objects had any relation to each other either. The candle was formed of glass for example, so I focussed on light and shade, whereas the hairbrush and feather clip were very textured so I could really work on experimentation with the colours. For the feathers I started off with a white ( all pictures drawn in coloured pencil by the way), and outlined all the stems of the feathers, then using a less pigmented white, grey and a black I added the feathers using short, sharp strokes to look lighter. I also used white oil pastel in some areas to make the feathers appear more dense.

When drawing the hairbrush I used a mix of browns and reds, with yellow ochre as my highlight colour. Here I used thicker, more blunt marks to create the bristles of the brush. Obviously when drawing an object, black and white came into a lot of use for darkening and highlighting areas, depending on the way the light was at each time. For example each curve of the shell was hit by light so the white was used to show this.



Overall  I feel I drew the objects well, and gathered a fairly well collection of mixed objects. To improve I could a spent a little more time on some of the objects, and maybe included a few more to fill out the page a little better.

  

Observational drawing; using coloured pencil and collage

 We were asked this time to create an A3 collage of some clothes. I Chose some of my clothes that had a similar colour and pattern scheme, so they fitted together better. I began by using watercolour pencils to shade in half of the drawing. With the cardigan I began with a red pencil and added in brown and plum to show the creases in the sleeves. With the dress I layered different colours to create the netting effect, and added a darker colour afterwards to show the creases in the skirt. As the dress wasn't all one colour, I used a few different colours as the dress looks different in various lights, so aimed to create a mix of those, with quite an abstract feel. I then did the other half using collage. I began with the bed sheets, and used different pieces of spotted paper to create a similar effect, However, I wanted to bring across a more abstracted feel again, so stuck them on in different colours so it appeared different to the original picture. I also used sweet wrappers in bright colours, and layered them with pieces of magazine to create some texture, again not wanting the image to look how it did in the original. I layered different colours together, to show that same abstract effect that I did with the colour pencil. For the tights, I used black pieces of magazine, and sponged little bits of pink
and green paint over the top to make the flowers in the tights. I like the way the second half of the image looks and feels, as it being totally different to the first half. However you can still work out what it is. I realised I had not blended the two together and had created a harsh line in between the two types of media, so to improve I should have blended them to show a contrast, rather than it looking really harsh.

Observational drawing; line drawing

We were asked to compose a line drawing of some shoes for our next study. I decided I would use my dance shoes, as dance is important to me. As it is only a line drawing, we were unable to show light and shade, however proportion and precision is important. Using a HB pencil, I drew sturdy lines, to outline each object, and then added various other lines, (for example on the ribbons) to make it appear more curved and loose. On particular areas such as the end of my pointe shoe and the inner I used more pressure to create darker lines to show shade, rather than shading it in.

To improve I could have chosen some more interesting shoes to add in some more detail, however I love dance and I thought I would chose a set of shoes which all fit together, rather than various types of shoe. Also, I could have worked more on proportion in the tap shoes as they look smaller than the rest of the shoes.

Overall I am pleased with my outcomes and feel I have portrayed the scene well.

Observational drawing in biro pen

I drew an interpretation of my room in Biro pen and fine liner, which I drew from a live study not a photograph. I enjoy using Biro as it is excellent for creating detail, and you can really get into drawing an object, being more precise than with a pencil, as pencils lead tend to widen the more you use them.
Nevertheless, I used various techniques when drawing my room. To begin I chose this corner of my room as I wanted to include my wallpaper, and I have a few interesting things on my shelf that I thought would be fun to draw.
When drawing the cushions in the corner I used short sharp strokes to make it look like animal fur. When drawing the wooden shelve I made long softer strokes in different directions to show the shadow on the shelf. I also used more pressure  to make certain things look darker, such as my speakers, and cubby holes. To show rounded objects I used the crosshatching method, lightly on plastic bottles, and darker on the cables. To finish I got a fine liner and outlined any areas that needed extra detail such as the union jack pillow and shelf objects.
 To improve however, I could have been more precise with the sizing of the flower background, and could have added more detail elsewhere, although  I feel I have used a variety of techniques.

Fine art workshop week 4; painting in the style of Pablo Picasso

  Being the final week of the Fine Art workshop, We did a self study based on Pablo Picasso's work.

Picasso was a Spanish Cubist, more famous for his studies of his mistresses. One of Picasso's most famous pieces was 'The Weeping Woman, 1937' Which showed, as it says a weeping woman, from different profiles, all blended together. This piece was one of our main focuses of the lesson, and were asked to produce a self portrait based on this painting, and the rest of Picasso's work.

 

The way we came about producing this was by looking at ourselves through Funhouse mirrors and smashed mirrors, which were then stuck back together. I chose to use the funhouse mirrors as I liked the way it contortioned my face compared to the other. I began by turning the mirror around in different ways to get different shapes, and drew down what looked most interesting to me, I also looked at the different profiles of my face (side and front), and drew down exactly what I could see. The aim of this was to try and not think  too much into what I was doing, proportion still mattering but not as much as it would if I were to draw my portrait normally. From drawing in this style I have noticed Picasso painted this way to show emotion clearly; Through a cubist portrait you can really capture emotion from all angles.

 

After drawing out my design, I used watercolours to paint. I used watercolour because it is softer than acrylic, and I wanted to be able to blend everything together without there being any harsh lines. I stuck to quite neutral, Autumnal colours, using brown for my background because it is soft and I didn't want any attention being paid to it. I used a brighter blue for the irises so they stood out. After painting I used a fine liner to finishing outlining any areas, particularly the eye area, and around the clothes. Here I did use harsh lines unlike the face, as I wanted a contrast. I really like the way it turned out, I feel I managed to show myself through different perspectives, however I feel some areas are a little flat so to improve I could add in some darker shades, or maybe blend in some pastel so the effect is still quite soft.