Lino Printing

We were supposed to be carrying out a task that included using the printing press but there was a fault with it and it wasn’t working. We were therefore given a different brief. We were given thick pieces of plastic sheets (lino) which were either A4 or A5. We were asked if we had a photograph or picture that we would like to re-create. I picked an image of Mick Jagger from a magazine as I thought the lines would be easier to separate what needed carving from what didn’t. We each used a carving tool which had a round/curved edge. The technique to not slipping and carving into yourself is to carve away from the body. You can carve out either the outlines or the shading to create a stencil with the lino. When carving out your stencil you need to make sure that you carve deep enough into the plastic. This is so that when you roll paint over it, the paint won’t set into the places you don’t want it. Below shows my thought process. I decided I wanted to use a permanent marker to draw the outline so that I knew anything without marker on was the areas that I needed to carve. This gave me quite a safe way of being able to carve the image with a decent amount of accuracy.

After I had created my own stencil which was A5 I went into the printing room where we rolled out a thin layer of paint onto the stencils with rollers. I decided that I would create 3 different coloured prints of green, black and white. After the paint had been rolled onto the stencil I placed a sheet of paper over it then rolled the paper onto the stencil so that the image transferred evenly. I would like to do some more of these prints onto black paper as the white stencil didn’t show up well. I would also like to create more images with the oil based paint as the tutors have recommended trying it as they think the end results would be good.

I have since doing this, created another stencil. I created the stencil based on a pop art image of Marylin Monroe. As of yet I still need to create the painted image of this. I will insert the pictures of the work once I have done it.

Collage

We were told by the fine art tutor that we would be creating collages out of magazines, post cards, other cut outs and using paint. I started off not being quite sure of what I wanted to do and my first attempt was not very good.

Then I found a book that had been taken out of the library as it is old. I found that the content of it were pictures that were themed around pop art and were in a comic style as well. This appealed to me more as I have always been keen on pop art and works by Roy Lichtenstein.

I have created these as a collection. The first one of these that I painted was the mushroom. As they are often portrayed as being red in illustrations I decided that I wanted to paint it red too. I used red gloss paint for the images as it is a high shine paint. I thought the red was also a very good colour to use as it linked to the illustration of the elephant as they are killed for their tusks. I therefore wanted to paint the tusks red and then drop paint from the tusks to make it look like they were bleeding. The next illustration was of the ‘clown’ and as everyone knows-they tend to have red noses. On the last illustration I just felt like adding it to the group as It reminded me of the Haribo eggs and as the yolk is usually yellow or orange I didn’t think it was a far stretch from the truth.

Walking task

For the photography roundabout we had our previous tutor-Shaun McAllister.

We were given a walking task brief which would include us being split into groups. Each group would then be given a map which would have a route mapped out for us to follow. Each group had a slightly different route to follow so we didn’t all have the same photographs. We were told ‘to record’ our walk by either creating drawings/sketches or by photographing our walk. We were told to have a set of images by the end of the task documenting our walk from start to finish. Shaun wanted us to pick a set of at least 10 good strong images from our walk that we could put on our blogs showing the journey. We were given two and a half hours to complete the walk. We were also told that within our photographs we had to include a portrait of a stranger and a photograph of something we found such as a plastic bottle etc.

We have also been given a group of photographers to research. These happen to be the same artists that we researched for the same walking task in first year of photography. I will still include research about them below.

I have created a set of 12 images. I managed to get a photograph of a stranger although I don’t think it’s very strong. I don’t like the fact that I haven’t centred the image which I think makes it look unprofessional. I also managed to capture an image of an object (the sign) which I photographed up close to create a more abstract look. The overall group of my images I feel have been composed well with correct exposure and through using the rule of thirds or golden mean.

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is one of the artists who’s work I admire the most. I find that the consistency of his work is strong throughout most of his images. The images all have a depth to them that makes them exciting and interesting. I also noticed quite a while a go that his use of the golden mean and the rule of thirds is prominent throughout. The rule of thirds and the golden mean are aspects of photographs that I aim for in my own images.

Up-Cycling

We were asked to bring in any pieces of material. I have decided to bring in an old perfume bottle and some matches. Shaun has said that we have to pick one item and photograph it so that it doesn’t necessarily look the same as when we picked it. I have picked my perfume bottle. Shaun took us over to the studio over in the stem building. We were told to give him a few ideas of how we wanted to photograph the subjects. We soon settled on an idea of each person going up one at a time and placing whatever object we had picked onto the projector so that it would be projected onto the wall in front of it. We then photographed the image that was projected onto the wall.

I find that these photographs remind me of previous work that I have done where the photographs have looked sepia toned. Sepia toning is one of the effects that I find most appealing. I also find the grainy texture appealing as well as it gives photographs an aged vintage look.