CW2 Challenging Gender as we know it
Rationale
I have thoroughly enjoyed this print workshop and getting to explore screen-print and etching. I had approached the theme of self through the human presence I saw around the house from always being in an empty house with the pandemic, as well as documenting my own daily presence in my dishes or when i stopped and noticed my environment more and appreciated the possibilities of imagery. I started looking at the house in new ways instead of being bored with the same imagery as in reality it was constantly changing. While people were at work I was home, yet I could see they had used the towels or had breakfast so it was strange to be able to piece together their morning and get an idea of how they lived and themselves. I started to look at these when prompted with interior spaces and looked further, zooming in more to suggest a human presence as if a fingerprint of the self. While initially I had thought I wasn’t as interested in etching as screen-print, I have found that I currently prefer it for my work. Screen-print I still want to try more as I did love the ones I printed, I know that it will be easier to plan and envision the second time around. I really like the colourful inks and multiple layers, I can see a lot of my drawings translating well. My toast print I now prefer to the original drawing as its much more vibrant and cool, the colours add fun to seemingly mundane everyday as it isn’t boring when u interpret it in your own way. During staying at home the house can become dull so adding the colour and patterns to these helped add more life to them, documenting my everyday experiences and making them something fun. I initially approached the imagery with playful liveliness, bright colours and marks then during etching I toned it down and used more considered line and additions of colour. The etching process lent itself to this as the speckles I would get from the wear and tear of the plate as well as the process of etching my image showing my own certain viewpoint of my house marked onto the plate. I really like the clean lines and textures I get with the acid, especially using the aluminium as it’s a bit rougher than the copper. The white space and speckles i get with the etching works really well for my imagery and set the mood that I wanted for my prints. Chine-colle became a fast favourite to add minimal pops of colour to pieces, like the curtains print, as they didn’t overwhelm them though it can be a bit fiddly. I am interested in experimenting more with etching processes like sugar lift and spit biting if I get the chance.
Week 12 Printing
My plan for this week was to add aquatint to the curtains plate I had done last week, but I had forgotten the plate at home so instead I made a new plate leading in from the same style as last week. I had taken new photos for research through the week of cracks in my ceiling with the spotlights and different areas that I had saved for future possible etchings which I used as a reference. I used an aluminium which takes different times than the copper in the acid, and has .
Instead of doing hard ground and a line etch I painted on varnish which protects against the acid, leaving the lines and circle exposed which become the dark tones. I added in the long straight line to balance the image it felt like something else needed to be there there was too much of a gap from the square and circle. so I went back in with a paintbrush cleaning away the varnish which is why that line is wobbly and distorted and I am glad I did it that way I think it looks more interesting. I first put it in for one minute 30 seconds but it didn’t make much difference so I put it back in for five minutes which was a lot better. The acid began to break away the varnish which I let happen for another two minutes after applying the second layer to get my darkest tones, I hoped it would be similar to the speckled affect in the curtains and look deteriorated or aged.
I was pleasantly surprised by the proof, all the different marks and texture in the dark areas from the acid looked so interesting and my whites came through well. The print looked almost mechanical, you can see how the plate had been eaten away by the acid which I really like. Continue reading
Week 12 Sketchbook
Olivia Pratt
I came across Pratt while looking though Impact 11, specifically “The World Is A Handkerchief” of which she was a part of. The exhibit featured handkerchiefs decorated by numerous artists emphasising the nature of community and connections both in the art world and wider society which is especially prevalent today with the nature of Covid-19.
Pratt prints on waste materials, giving a sense of age while exploring empty spaces, there’s often deterioration in her prints of materials such as the waste, though not quite dilapidation more like the feeling of being left behind, or alone late at night in the eerie hours. Pratt seems to look at the absence of human presence in her exploration of empty spaces, her use of white space creates an openness as if waiting in a limbo. Though she draws from the mundane her compositions have an otherness, almost eerie due to the surreal imagery and blacked out areas which gives them simplistic illustrative feel. The above print is of a kitchen simply drawn with skewed perspective and illustrative line then heavy tone added in the wall and tile floor. I really like the composition of this print and the tones, the contrast in light and dark enhance the strange otherness to the print, truly like the feeling of being in the kitchen late at night as if you shouldn’t be there.
Week 11 Printing
Week 11 Sketchbook
In preparation of etching my copper plate I worked out the imagery in my sketchbook trying to simplify the curtains and see what I needed for the line etch and what to add in aquatint. To 
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Week 10 Printing
In the beginning of the workshop I was due to screen print but was absent week 6, on week 7 and 10 I was able to finish my set. I found screen print really enjoyable, the process was fun and so was the inking and I think a lot more of my work can be translated into screen print. I also think I will do more prints with this image too I’m really happy with how they came out after working out occasional specs that came through with each screen I was able to fix them. I had seven layers, I completed four in week 7 then finished the rest this week.
Next time I will mix my colours at once before I start to print, I didn’t in week 7 and instead mixed them as I needed the next colour which left less room to edit. The process just felt better and more cohesive when i mixed my colours first in week 10 making sure that they fit well together. I think this series of screen-prints came out really well,
