Task 1 – I have selected 3 prints (7, 17, 19) that I feel show my best efforts in this exercise where I have tried to relay the vision of a pannage pig enjoying a snooze in the autumn sunshine.
Rejected prints include those where there is poor registration and / or print quality. (At the suggestion of my tutor I have included a few more prints for her to look at).
My notes for this task have been updated in my learning log and the relevant supplementary sketches / sketchbook submitted to my tutor. https://billydooprint1.home.blog/project-8-reduction-linocut/
Task 2 – I have submitted four prints from my experimental mark making, each print is different in some way, different inks, paper and lino were used.
My notes made have been updated in my learning log and the below written statement sent in hard copy.
https://billydooprint1.home.blog/project-9-experimental-marks/
Printmaking 1 – Assignment 3 – Task 2 (project 9)
Which tools and why used thm to make my experimental marks?-
For this exercise I have used a selection of tools to create varying marks, as a comparison I tried two different types of lino, hessian backed and easy cut, having worked with both, I had, as expected varying results.
There was no method as to why I chose any of these tools, other than they were all to hand, and potentially looked like they may give a good result.
How wrong could I be, some tools worked, others didn’t. My attempts to create dents with a hammer head weren’t successful and I had varying success with the wire wool and sandpaper, the easy cut lino marks were more prominent, but I could see that they’d have possibilities for textured background or toning.
There was a marked difference in the way the tools needed to be held to create marks and cut the lino. Most of my chosen tools were pulled towards me rather than pushed away while the screwdrivers needed pressure from the top of the handle; depending on the amount of pressure used I could make smaller or larger marks, good for a star effect.
Jagged edges were created by using serrated items such as a hacksaw blade and steak knife. A metal dental pick when dragged down the lino gave both a cut line and a raised edge, this was a bit difficult to ink up, but gave a great result of lines and dots. The putty scrapper gave sharp clean marks be they line or dots.
Kate Bruton
Task 3 – Written Task
A 500 word study on the influence of Hetty Haxworth on my work can be found at: https://billydooprint1.home.blog/project-10-written-task/
Reflection
Demonstration of technical and visual skills – My sketchbook is still my ‘Achilles Heel’ though I do feel that having taken on board tutor comments it has begun to grow. Some of my work is on loose sheets, others in a book. I have taken the plunge and committed myself to using not only better-quality oil-based inks but also to trying out a printing press, learning (or not) all of its little nuances as I’ve worked. On-line research has pointed me in directions for registration of my prints when using a press. I have also attended two printmaking courses at a local FE college in order to try out new and different printmaking methods. I have struggled a bit with my cutting, some lines are to fat, others to thin and working with different lino has been a new challenge as well, easier to cut into, but also to inadvertently mark where marks are not required. I have found using watercolour for sketchbook ideas enables me to see through the opaqueness of each layer of colour, but have realised that this has not translated to my printed colours and I need to work on this.
Quality of outcome – Again I have planned my work, something that I believed was important for a project with numerous stages. However, I don’t think that the quality of the finished product is as good as in previous parts of the course. My ink coverage has been quite blotchy at times and my registration has been a bit hit and miss, though I believe that in part this was due to too overuse of my easy cut lino. I don’t think is particularly suited to 120+ passes through the rollers of a printing press with a learner driver at the wheel. Looking back, I also believe that I took on too much work for the time I had available, and complicated things with my eagerness to add layers rather than think of quality. Less is more!
Context –I have recorded the elements and research of my chosen ‘theme’ and then developed my findings through photo, sketch and colour to arrive at my finished print which I believe reflects my chosen subject and that what I set out to achieve. My chilled out ‘Pannage Pig’, lazing in the warm autumn sun surrounded by fruits of the forest.
BILLYDOOPRINT1 