Art & Design; Printmaking - Research

Anni Albers

Anni Albers was a German-American textile and printmaker, in the 70's her printmaking took a direction that I really like when she produced a series of etchings and lithographs which made use of geometrical designs.

Mountainous VI

Second Movement II

Triangulated Intaglio III

Again, I absolutely love this work, it makes full use of shapes and really ties in with my ideas for my printmaking pieces. It has inspired me to continue with my geometrical theme and it can work and the outcomes are extremely pleasing.

Art & Design; Printmaking - Artist Research

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol is an American artist who was one of the main figures in the visual art movement known as pop art. Andy had a successful career as a commercial illustrator but later found his way into different forms of art. He's been known for hand drawn work, paintings, photography, screen printing and sculpture.

Andy's screen printing really shows his past career as an illustrator, the illustration style really shows within his prints. A well known print of his which he created in 1962 was the Marilyn Monroe piece, this work really has the illustration feel, his use of vivid colours really makes it stands out and it's so well done it almost looks like it's been created digitally.

Coming from a digital art background myself, I really am drawn to his work, the illustrated style and the great use of colours is really refreshing.

These are some of the early attempts at screen prints by Andy when he was getting to know the process. He used his own drawings as the basis to create the prints.

Chuck Close (Charles Thomas Close)

Chuck Close is an American painter and photographer who found fame through photorealist work. Chuck is also famous for producing massive-scale portraits however he has spent a lot of time through-out his career as a print maker. The majority of his prints were published by Pace Editions, New York.

Title: Emma - Year: 2002

Title: Lucas - Year 1986

These are two of Close's prints, I particularly love the effect of the first one. Again I think this one stands out to me as it almost looks like it's been done digitally and that's my area of expertise. I also like the almost geometric look to the piece, the shapes really add an extra dimension to the work and this is kind of on the lines of what I tried to do with my screen prints.

Art & Design; Printmaking - Collagraphy

Collagraphy (collography) is a printmaking technique in which materials are applied to a board or piece of wood to create a raised design. The area is then covered with a layer of ink or paint depending on choice and placed onto a printing press. A printable material is then placed over your board and the press is turned, this then passes the work through pressing the inked design onto the material, this creates an impression of your design. This resulting print is termed a Collagraph.

Art & Design; Printmaking - Screen Printing

Screen printing is a printmaking technique that involves woven mesh material which is tightly pulled to fit a frame, this then is used to support an ink blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas where the ink will take to a printable material. In order to produce an image, a squeegee is used to force ink through the mesh, at this stage the ink hits the stencil, the blocked area will be left protected from the ink and the open areas will be left filled with the ink creating an image.

Screen printing first started in China around the 960AD, this was in the Song Dynasty. The process was later adapted by other Asian countries such as Japan, the Japanese improved on the technique by modernising the techniques to keep up with their times. Screen printing made it's way other to Western Europe in the 18th Century but wasn't largely accepted until silk mesh became available for trade from the East.

For this screen print I drew a profile outline of my face onto acetate, I then cut the shape of my face out to expose a open area. I then used a frame to attach the stencil to and continued to force the ink through the mesh with a squeegee to expose the free area to the ink. I also did a reverse of this, by using the cut out and just exposing the edges around the image.

For this next piece, after I'd tested the limits of the technique initially I decided to go for my geometrical theme, I drew out some triangular shapes onto the acetate and cut them out to create my stencil. I again then proceeded to expose the open areas to the ink to create the printed pattern.

Developing this technique again I decided to try and create a geometrical design on a little larger scale, I used the same process again and I really like the final outcome, it again strengthens my idea of using geometrics. I think the process works well with the geometric idea as it allows me to lay down solid shapes, it also builds up well when other layers are applied - this is something I can take forward and develop further.

Finally, I decided to add an image of a face into the geometrical prints to try and add the link to identity into it, for this I took a reference image on a geometrical portrait. As this image was rather complex I decided to try and layer up the design with different stencils to create the final outcome, firstly I created on which would be the shape of the face, the second stencil was then to add some details in. The third stencil (which I didn't finish) was going to be the geometrical shapes to pull it all together.

I think these pieces came out extremely well, although if I was to do it again I would have 100% pushed on to try and get the geometrics added in.

The process itself is very useful, it allows me to lay down solid shapes and build up layers to create a final image, the use of layers allows me to create complex design quite easily which means I can get more detail into the pieces. The process also allows me to produce multiple versions of the same design, this will allow a final piece to be mass-produced.

Art & Design; Printmaking - Mono-printing

Mono-printing is a one off impression of an image or lines, created using metal plates, etching or a wooden block. Unlike other forms of printmaking that allow multiple copies of a single image to be created, Mono-printing only has the capacity for a single impression.

Mono-print techniques can include collage, hand painting or a form of tracing where ink is laid down, paper is placed on top and the design is then drawn on, this transfers the ink to the paper in the style of the drawing. This last technique is the one I used to create my mono-prints.

The first mono-print I did was the one on the right hand side, for this one I was simply using different tools to create different marks. This was a tester to see exactly what effects I could come up with. I then moved onto a second piece, I decided to try and draw a self portrait on this piece, I think it came out quite well, I particularly like the amount of control you can have over the final outcome - this could come in useful once I come up with a concept for my work.

After testing out different marks and testing the limits of control over the final piece I decided to try and impose my own style onto the print. I have a fascination with geometric design, so I decided to try and add some shapes into the design, this worked out extremely well as there was still a subtle impression of the self portrait on the paper too. I'm very happy with the final outcome and wouldn't change anything about it, it's laid a foundation for me to build on and has now given me the idea to pursue a geometric theme will the inclusion of a portrait to link in the identity from the brief.

Art & Design; Printing - Promotional Poster

My promotional piece for our exhibition 'Fingerprints - an Exploration of Identity', I tried to keep it in-line with my geometric theme but also incorporated other elements to strengthen the piece.

I decided to try and make a strong statement so I chose the text 'Geometry is everywhere in life - but what is life without an identity'. Geometry itself ties in with the identity theme in my opinion, as my tagline/statement says it is in essence a fingerprint of life itself and for this reason and my mild obsession with geometrics, I decided to base my work on it.

The inclusion of an illustrated self portrait again strengthens the identity part of the piece, it also adds a little bit of 'personalisation' to the work.

I believe my concept will capture the interest of my target audience, and hopefully open their minds to how significant geometry is in life.

Art & Design; "Isms" Research

Cubism - Cubism is considered to be the most influential art movement of the 20th century. Cubism came about from the three-dimensional work of Paul Cezanne, objects are analysed, broken up and then reassembled in an abstract form. Objects are depicted from multiple viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context.

Cubist artwork by Georges Braque

Title; 'Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantlepiece'

Expressionism - Expressionism is the term given to an early 20th century style of art. Generally associated with Northern Europe and more specifically Germany, expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist attempts to depict subjective emotions rather than objective reality. Expressionism is very subjective, personal and self expressive.

                                                        Expressionism by Gustav Klimt

    Portrait of Frederika Maria Beer

Fauvism - Fauvism is a 20th century French style of art, that makes use of vivid colours. The style began around 1900 and continued for over a decade, although as a movement it only lasted a few years.

Fauvism art by Henri Matisse

Impressionism - Impressionism is a 20th century art movement that originated in Paris. Expressionism makes use of small, thin yet visible brush strokes, open composition and really emphasises light and it's changing qualities.

Impressionism painting by Monet

Pre-Raphaelitism - The Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was formed in 1848 as a secret group of artists, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti (his brother), Thomas Woolner, William Holman Hunt, Frederic George Stephens, James Collinson and John Everett Millias. The were rising up against the current art establishment and created art that was known for it's brilliance and vividness of colours.

Pre-Raphaelitism artwork by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Surrealism - Surrealism first began in the early 1920's and is probably best known for it's artworks and writings. Surrealist art portrays the unexpected and is often very fantasy like.

Surrealism by Rene Magritte