Assignment 4 - project 1 Portrait of a friend

Assignment 4 is all about portraits. The first project called for a portrait of a friend or relative.  I have drawn and painted Michael a few times, he is happy to sit for me, so didn't anticipate a lot of problems with the sketching preparation.  However, when I finished a couple of sketches I realised that I wasn't happy with them because they didn't represent his character or interests. He also looked quite severe and very serious without his glasses.

I decided to map some ideas in my sketchbook - his hobbies, what he wears etc.  Photography, writing,wine, maps,walking and his hat were all on the list.  I started to look at photos of him as inspiration.  Usually he is behind the camera so the choice was very limited.  I had taken a picture of Michael kneeling to take a photograph. It is a dynamic pose which I think illustrates his energy, he is wearing his hat - even though indoors - to shade the camera and his eyes from the light - anyone who knows Michael will always think of him in his hat, he is taking a photograph - so typical - he is never without one of his four cameras - and his concentration on what he is doing is absolute - again typical. This says everything about Michael - and is very recognisable to anyone who knows him - I have decided to use this as the image to start the project.

The next photo my son took and shows him smiling broadly directly at the camera again wearing the beloved hat - a very obvious choice.  I wanted to include the idea of maps and walking in the design so played around with the photos, pieces of map etc in my sketchbook.  I finally decided on a dry point portrait, a two plate lino cut, chine colle of the map and some bootprints walking over the print. This might not be a conventional portrait but it does show his interests and character.

I found an old OS map that we didn't want anymore and used that as chine colle with the dry -point, the printed the lino cut and finally the bootprints which were cut from individual rubbers and stamped on.  I wanted an uneven effect like a boot print of a muddy boot.

I would have liked to have included a reference to his interest and great knowledge of wines and his work as an author but didn't feel that they could be fitted with the rest of the images I had chosen.

The first proof of the drypoint and map was ok but I was concerned that the map was too large.  I next printed the two-plate lino cut and added the boot prints by cutting two small stamps from rubbers. 

I found that I had to adjust the lino cut and also cleaned more of the plate. I used Japanese vinyl for the matrix. This is a product I haven't used before but which was recommended to me for ease of cutting and the fact that it is economical because both sides can be used. I found it very easy to cut, but, perhaps because I do tend to cut deeply, I found that using both sides was not totally successful as the second plate was mostly cut away and therefore when printing the plate was evenly supported across its whole surface and this impacted both the inking and the printing process which in this case was hand burnished.

Reflections

• some of the prints where printed on Japanese Simili paper and others on thicker Fabriano Rosbina.  The thinner Simili made better lino cuts but the Fabriano was better for dry point.  I need to experiment with more papers to find the optimum for both techniques for the future.
• the map paper was too thick for chine colle and was difficult to lay completely flat - it would have been easier and made a better balance on the final print if the map had been smaller.
• I didn't spend enough time proofing the two plate lino cuts - I had to make further adjustments into the printing which meant that some prints were already spoiled
• I had taken time to set up an accurate registration system but didn't take enough time making sure the plate was properly placed - hence only one or two properly registered prints.
• the embossed edge of the dry point and the edge of the map paper interfered with the lino cut - creating white spaces in the print. The print might have been improved in the dry point had been printed after the lino cut.
• I am disappointed with the simple technical errors I keep making - uneven inking, registration and too little time taken in proofing.  Most of these are caused, I feel, by time restraints.  The prints I make for myself or in workshops show none of these errors, but because of lack of confidence, I delay the actual printmaking for the assignments to the extent that I am always rushed and make silly mistakes.

I realise that I stop working on my prints at too early a stage. I settle on a design and when I am disappointed at the print, I don't review and critical access it and try to identify what I can do to improve it.

In the light of this insight, I decided to review the print even though this would delay submitting the assignment. I do think the print represents Michael - his interests and personality - but decided that the design of the elements could have been improved with a different placing, with a smaller piece of map.  I cut out the elements from a print and rearranged them. I feel this balances better and also, it would mean that the lino cut was printed on flat paper, making the ink lie flatter.  This new design does have plenty of blank paper so there is plenty of space to include representations of Michael's other interests but I don't have the time to explore them with this print.

These prints are more successful

• the registration is better - I took longer over setting it up
• the inking is better - although the Fabriano Rospina printed the lino cut much lighter than the Simili - I presume because on the Simili, the ink is sitting on the top of the paper rather than being absorbed
• I think the final print is better balanced as a design

future development

• add one of Michael's photographic images from a walk - by gum arabic or emulsion transfer.
• try different colours for the lino cut - picking out of the colours from the map

Revisiting a previous project - collograph

Assignment 2 was all about abstract art. This is a subject I have never really been drawn to - liking a few abstract artist such as Rothko, Barbara Hepworth, Kadinsky, Ben Nicolson and Pollack but not really understanding what it was all about and without analysing why I am attracted to some and not others.

Looking at abstract paintings and prints with a more critical eye, I found it easy to identify that colour and texture appealed to me but still found difficulty in understanding what makes a good composition in abstract terms.  I have a little experience of painting abstract art from a short workshop which looked at how emotions and colours and lines are linked in our memories. This however didn’t help with the starting point for the imagery.So, I had no idea how to start this project

I have “Art of Abstract Painting” by Rolina van Vliet on my shelves and for one image she had used an aerial photograph as a starting point . I have often used imagery fleeting seen on the TV, through car windows, in books or captured in photographs as a starting point for a doodle but have never taken the idea further to try to develop it into a piece of work.   This assignment would give the opportunity to explore this to see how far I could push it. I searched through photographic books for images that had some potential. In “The Earth from the Air – 365 new days”  I found an image of the river Lippe in a flood near Olfen, Ruhr region and felt that it had possibilities.

I chose one image to work on in more detail to test whether my ideas would transfer to an abstract image. I worked one of the little thumbnails up to A4 using coloured pencil to play around with colour. I liked the colours of the earth shown in the original photograph and decided to use the same palette of colours in all three images. I then completed a quick watercolour to give the colour in the image more depth, and took the opportunity to make more generous curves than more original drawing. I made adjustments to the image and decided that, for balance the image would require some white – reserving the paper – for more interest. I then tried making the lines more geometric and finalised a design for the print based on blocks of colour, deciding on a multi-plate lino cut.

I had great difficulty with the prints, the plates were not cut well and did not register although I felt the colour was clear and reflected the landscape that the design was based on, the image is not successful as a print or as an abstract. I didn't enjoy the process at all. After a very bad - deserved - critique from my tutor, and a period of despondency, I eventually decided to revisit the image as the failure felt like unfinished business.

I  bought a little book - "starting with Abstract Painting" by Kenneth Jameson - in a second hand bookshop which was very helpful.  The book reminded me of the keys to successful design whether  realistic or abstract: 

colour:tone:texture:line:balance:form:pattern:rhythm:harmony

I used one of the ideas from the book  - cutting a photograph into uneven pieces and using one of the pieces to lead the design. This is a similar process to using a viewfinder and focusing on isolated elements. I decided to use the same source material as in the original print, and to explore some of the ideas using the image as a starting point with the intention of incorporating chine colle and/or monoprint into the final print.

I took an element from the cut photograph and started to experiment with shape and colour - one drawing leading into another drawing.

I also used collage to produce a piece to introduce a textural element. Certain strong shapes emerged in the collage that looked to provide possibilies for the print.

The textures in the collage suggested a collograph as the dense coloured texture element I wanted in the print could be achieved with quite coarse sand. I had the drawings and collage in front of me together with the original inspiration from the photograph, but I wanted the plate to be a further development rather than trying to precisely adhere to a drawn/collaged piece, so used them as inspiration rather than copying them.

The plate as made from mount board with gesso roughly spread on varying thickness on the plate and a palette knife used to create marks inspired by the previous works. Before the gesso dried I scattered rough sand in a focused way, trying to place it in specific places and shapes where I wanted certain elements of the design to be and intentionally varying the lightness and heaviness of the spread in places.

After sealing the plate, I proof inked it using ink left over from a previous print run. This was a darkish green and I used a dobber to apply it to just the raised textured part of the design. I had pre-prepared some paper so that it was damp and ready to use but the first two runs through the press required adjustment of the roller to ensure the right amount of pressure without the danger of the very sharp sand piercing through the layer of tissue and newsprint into the blanket. 

I then thought of Barbara Hartill's collographs - http://www.brendahartill.com/Brenda_Hartill/Welcome_to_Brenda_Hartills_website.html

 

She uses quite strong colour which produces some delicate effects on the print which I like so decided to apply primary red and primary yellow to the plate in a considered way first with a dobber and then later with a brush. The results were varied and I realise that I need to really push the ink into the textured service to ensure that the intaglio is inked thoroughly. After inking various plates, I wanted to try the effect of adding chine colle before putting through the press.  I took photocopies of a couple of prints and used oil pastel to imitate the effect of chine colle

I liked this effect so added chine colle - tissue and thin hand made paper stained with acrylic inks in various colours  -to the next few plates, continuing to vary thickness of oil and mixing colour on the plate with the method of "rubs" that Barbara Hartill uses. I also tested out various glues to attach the chine colle - Nori paste, pritt stick and finally liquid PVA applied with a brush. The final results are interesting and provide a good basis for further experimentation.

The textures have potential but I will use carbonundrum rather than sand in the future to achieve a denser more even texture and so that there is less danger of the paper being damaged by the sharpness of the plates.

Some of the marks on the plate are too considered - for instance the radiating lines at the top and bottom are not pleasing.

I think using gesso to produce a lightly texture background emphasised in places with sand has worked and will repeat this next time I experiment

 The addition of chine colle has been effective - giving an almost watercolour effect especially on the lighter prints.

I prefer the prints that are the result of much lighter inking, the dense colour not being as attractive or giving the feel to the image that I wanted.

This set of prints are more successful than the linocuts but I am still uncertain as to whether they work as abstract images.

The assignment has been an uphill struggle from the first mark I made.  However, I have enjoyed this revisiting of the work and have allowed myself to experiment with technique, colour and a new style and will be revisiting it again to see how far I can push the image and where it takes me.