Frame Idea

I was considering putting ornate frames around my prints and wanted to see how it looked.  What do you think?  Does it take too much away from the image itself?  Does it help, hurt, do nothing for my image?

This Short Week and Break

Over break I really started to reconsider my thesis and the work that I had completed.  I was really excited about the prints that I was doing first semester, but after taking a break from them and looking at them all together, I realized they really didn’t relate to my idea of losing childhood memories at all.  This was a huge realization for me and somewhat disappointing.  I decided that I had been more excited about the printmaking processes and therefore disregarded the importance of my topic.  So over break I deeply considered how I was going to make images that relate directly to my thesis and started to think more along the lines of building blocks.  Wooden blocks are something that I played without all throughout my childhood and relate directly to my relationship with my sister and my memories of play.  I then started to actually play with the blocks; I organized them in different constructions and used different lighting to see what would be the most dramatic and appropriate image.  I took a ton of pictures over break and I think many of them are successful.  They really started to look like mysterious buildings with secret spaces and undiscovered corners.  I liked that they were so dramatic and I think that they show a sense of loss and solitude, which I want to begin to display.

After thinking about the actual image for a long time, I began to think about the layout of my final presentation.  I began to imagine a huge image of building blocks split up in to different woodcuts.  They would be displayed in different frames (which I have just found at Treasure Mart, my ultimate favorite store) close enough together that you could see the image when you backed away, but the spaces in-between would again address the issue of loss.  I am excited about this new idea and now I am trying to decide how many prints I can feasibly create by the end of the semester and my show!

(20 hours over break)

(4 hours this week so far)

Below, I am showing the first image that I am focusing on and I feel that the picture itself is very successful.  It is ominous yet sad and I have begun to break it down into different pieces.  I have sketched the images and I hope that I will be able to transfer these to a woodblock soon and begin to cut. 

I have also decided to focus more on the image before I lay it down on the woodblock and hopefully this will make me more successful.  I am excited about this week and I can’t wait to get carving! 

The Critique

Work before the Critique

This week went by in a whirlwind.  While preparing my presentation for Wednesday, I worked, simultaneously, to finish my duck prints.  As I continued to cut into my block however, I began to get more and more frustrated.  The duck wasn’t becoming clearer and I was about to give up.  However, I had printed so many ducks that I thought I should try to collage some of the prints together to make the ducks standout more. After experimenting with a couple different combinations, I decided on these two separate prints as the most successful.  Although this isn’t how I originally saw my prints, I do like the outcome and I think that it was the right decision at the moment.

IP Consultations Ideas

I got some wonderful ideas from my IP consultation and they have really started to push me towards a clearer ending.  Most importantly, I need to go home and play.  Quite literally, I need to take out my old blocks over vacation and try many different combinations and buildings.  After deciding on a couple different layouts, I will light them with extreme lighting and document, by taking pictures, sketching, and just observing the cast of shadows over the block.  My hope is to fill many pages in a sketchbook with these different combinations and experiments with different toys as well.  Luckily, I will have my little cousins to play with and hopefully I will gain some insight into how it was to play as a child. 

There was also a suggestion to look at the artist, Alfred Leslie, who works with different angels and lighting.  I find his nude paintings very inspiring and beautiful.  I hope that I can light my blocks in the same dramatic way that he lights his figures.

The suggestion that I found most interesting was how I could display my prints in my final show.  Jim Cogswell thought that I could display my prints in a grid like format and then to make it more dramatic, make it seem as if all the prints were lighted by the same source.  If the “light source” were coming from the bottom, then each successive print would have shadows as if it were reacting to that same light.  That way they would also look as if they were seated on shelves, which would create an interesting dynamic. I am very excited to started sketching new ideas for toys, and I am happy now with the direction that I have been pushed in. 

Over Winter Break…

I will take photographs and sketch my different combinations of blocks.

I will think about new toys that relate better to one another.

Sketch A LOT

Relax 

Rubber Duckie You’re the One

Saturday/Sunday

This weekend and week I spent all of my time working on my reduction block print.  I am really enjoying the entire process of carving and printing multiple times, and I think I am headed in a good direction.  Specifically during the weekend, I worked to print 10 copies of the second layer of my duck block.  I had previously cut into it and so all I had to do was mix colors.  This proved to be a little more difficult then expected, as I had to figure out how the colors would mix on my paper.  I ultimately decided to print a bright yellow and a turquoise color and was very happy with the results.

(6 hours)

Monday/Wednesday

I continued to print the rest of my second layer.  After completing the remaining 10 copies, 20 in total, I decided to print another block on top of my single duck block.  I was able to make 6 copies of this small image, but I am not sure what I am going to do with it in the future.  After finishing my printing I started to carve into my block yet again.

(8 hours)

Tuesday/Thursday

I finished carving my duck block’s third layer and started to mix colors.  Color mixing seems to be the most challenging part of the process for me and I tested to separate possibilities yesterday.  The darker orange I felt was too similar to my previous color and the lighter color doesn’t seem to standout enough.  I think I may try and mix a color in the middle of the two, which will hopefully be just right.  I plan on printing the entirety of the third layer this weekend and then cutting into the fourth layer as well.  I hope to have six layers in all, but this may change as I continue with the process.

(6 hours)

Coming week…

I really enjoy working with the dremel tool in the cold metals studio and I have decided to purchase a cheap one from Home Depot so that I can use it after graduating.  I am really attracted to the marks that it makes on my paper and I hope that I can find a reasonably priced one.  As I said before, I plan on printing the third layer of my block on the rest of my prints and then I will hopefully have time to start to carve the fourth layer this weekend.  Also, before my IP critique I would like to have another image started on my block and may research different toys this weekend. 

Back to School

Weekend in New York

During Thanksgiving break I was able to work on my IP Presentation.  I had compiled photos throughout the semester and I began to write an outline for the slides.  I decided to include most of my work, even the blocks that I was not excited about so that I could show my growth and talk about why I was unhappy with these images.  It was very beneficial to work on this power point and I felt like he self-reflection enabled me to think more clearly about the direction I would like to head. 

 (3 hours)

Monday-Thursday

This week, after returning back from New York, I was able to start to print and carve further into my duck block.  The print that I showed last week was a proof just to see whether or not I liked the color and the cuts that I had made.  I wanted to tweak a few things before I printed again so I returned to the dremel in the metals studio and carved out a little more of the surface.  After completing this step, I began to mix my colors and settled on a dark blue and a yellowish-orange.  I chose these colors because I could easily use darker or lighter colors on top of them for the following layers.  I really like how the combined image came out and it gave me the idea to print the duck image on its own.  I printed the duck image on a smaller piece of paper so that if I felt like cutting it out and possibly mounting it on chipboard I could do so in the future.  Also, after printing the first layer of the duck, I carved back into it and printed it again.  I am really excited about this print and I hope that I can follow it with similar images.

 (9 hours) 

For this coming week…

I hope to carve further into my wood block and hopefully print a second layer.  My ultimate goal is to finish this print before my IP review on the 15^th of December.  I would also like to start thinking about other images that I could start transferring onto my new blocks.  I received my grant information back and now I need to start compiling my receipts and figuring out exactly what I need to purchase for my final show.  Finally, I need to finish up my presentation and work on a few graphic details. 

Thanksgiving

Weekend- Cut duck out as seen before

            This week was full of printing.  I was able to carve the first layer of my duck print by using the dremmel in the metals studio.  It made the process go much faster, but still took me a considerable amount of time to complete.  The first carvings represent the lightest layers of my image and I have yet to carve into the cutout image of my rubbery ducky. 

            After cutting the duck image out, I decided to alter the shading on the image a little bit so that it can be more decipherable from the background of my block.  I will also be able to print the duck in different colors, making it standout further as well.

(4 hours)

Monday/Tuesday

            A majority of my printing took place the past two days.  I was able to get the studio all to myself and print some great images.  I first wanted to test print my duck block; making sure that the nose made form the dremmel didn’t overwhelm my image.  I decided to use a light purple, as the base color because I think it will complement the yellow from my duck nicely.

            Next, I printed y train image and I am very happy with how it turned out.  I like the departure from my other train and I like the stark difference between the white and black on the paper.  Another, “happy mistake” was my block after I cleaned it.  All of the cut lines filled in with black ink and now I think the block itself could be a part of my show.

(6 hours)

For this coming week…

            Even though it’s Thanksgiving, I hope to get a little work done over break.  I want to sketch more toys from my childhood when I go home, as well as take pictures for reference.  This will definitely help me think of a new idea for a block.  When I return Sunday afternoon I also hope to have enough energy to print a little before my thoughts are muddled by our ever approaching mid-year presentations. 

Pictures

Before

Cut

After

Rubber Ducky!