- Preparing the work area; placing newspaper down and using masking tape to secure the 'working' plate, onto which paint is applied and rolled with one of two rollers (the 'wet' roller).
- A piece of paper of matching size (A5) is placed over the plate and the 'dry' roller is used to press ink thoroughly into the paper.
- Various effects can be achieved with marking off parts of the plate or placing materials under the painted area, ie: tissue paper/paper towels etc, for emphasis or texture.
- The effect is repeated onto multiple sheets of A5 paper, with differing effects each time.
The main objective is experimentation, but there is a knack to not over-working the prints, as very quickly the paint mix can become muddy and indistinct, and the prints cease to have the detail that they may have just had previously. Knowing when to stop is a key point.
With my prints today, I had about 6-8 A5 pieces, of which around half were of reasonable quality, however I did overwork almost all of them and this unfortunately reduced the quality of my results. With this in mind, I have decided to do more at home, but some additional materials will be required. This doesn't bother me too much because I suspect this is a technique I will enjoy utilising in the future, as I will the other forms of print making. There is an interesting contradiction that can be achieved through print making, which is the contrast of perfection of lines with the imperfection of paint being displaced. Impressions are made, and this is the key word I would use to describe printmaking in general, at least for me. It can be a strikingly versatile tool, also, for a variety of purposes and styles of working. It lends itself to experimentation in it's nature, too, with it being a somewhat unpredictable method (at least for a novice like I am). It is, basically, fun.
Greg talked to us about preparing our work for assessment later in the year, and talked us through how we can mount our work so far that we have done in Fine Art. We will need to use three A2 size pieces of card to place our work, including the drawings based on the 3D work and the matchbox drawings, the collage work we did yesterday and now also our print making experiments today. Greg strongly recommended that we aim to complete this process by the end of Tuesday next week, before our next stage of studying begins, which is Visual Communication with Ian. I have an additional piece to mount (chalk piece from Tuesday 26th, A2), so I will need four A2+ pieces for presenting my work later on. Greg also reiterated what Ian had discussed earlier in the day about presenting work for interview, ie: portfolios, which everyone who is considering University should be preparing for.
Work for the weekend:
- Complete collage colour theory pieces (need another three)
- Complete additional mono-prints (materials required, possibly inks although I will research alternative materials I may already have available at home that would be suitable)
- Re-attempt matchbox drawings, or at least complete additional sketches relating to this exercise.
- Gather A2 card (college shop apparently provides this for a decent price)
As for presenting A5/A6 pieces, I may use two pieces of card per 'slate', cutting appropriately sized holes for each piece of work, so that these may be A) better presented, in a neat fashion and B) more secure. The card itself, if it is decently secured, should be more rigid also and look better. I recall Will's efforts with this earlier on in her time on the course last year - we found A3 size childrens 'colour in' cards, with a variety of themes including The Simpsons and Snow White. These were reversed obviously but ended up being perfectly usable for the task, and were very cheap. Will also had fun in colouring in a few of them that were left over.
