Physical submission, student lives in USA

Summary of video feedback 30 Mar 2015

• A submission of work demonstrating good engagement and hard work

• Stronger on technical side than visual side

• You have achieved an understanding of collagraph printmaking through your hard-work and tenacity

• Make clear decisions about colour: descriptive/functional or more for own sake?

• Your sketchbook is developing, but needs to link to projects tasks

• Your log is progressing well. Provide reflection your personal journey

Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Painting Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.  

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Project 11. Making a test collage block:

You set yourself up well with Mary Ann Wenniger book and the Romano and Ross print exhibition, plus the artist research.

Your series of six test blocks demonstrate hard work and engagement with the task. A varied, interesting and potentially useful vocabulary of marks has been produced. Print quality is generally good and you have explored working with different papers and with colour. Your commendable persistence with intaglio has produced some interesting results, too.

Project 12. Collatype collage prints:

Group of geese: good composition and interesting and appropriate use of textures, though some readability issues (larger scale helpful?).

I prefer the strong, bold image of the black and white print. The colours of the multi-colour prints don’t contribute much to our understanding nor are they gorgeous in themselves. We discussed approaches to colour.

Your prepared printing plate has the poetic flavour of Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) or Japanese prints.

You                                                      Bonnard

Abstract collagraph: The composition is rather random, lacking a focal point or structure. You explained why. We discussed the challenges of making abstract images.

As images demonstrating explorations, textural effects and the ability to lift a print, they are more successful.

This print demonstrates colour serving a purpose, bringing focus to the busy all-over activity:

You talk in your blog about the above being a ‘face’ shape; it would have been good to see some suitable-looking artist reference support this, e.g. Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985):

Single goose print: Your image transfer technique has been interesting to see, but with your good drawing abilities was it worth the effort?

The prints themselves are interesting in the relief textures produced but greater contrast would have helped readability. The image itself lacks interest (need more going on e.g. river bank or weeds).

Backgrounds need to appear to pass behind the subject, not end short of it

General evidence of hard work, exploration, tenacious problem-solving throughout the assignment submission. Well done.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

Some lovely things in here, especially the cats – intimate and well executed in a variety of media.

Line drawing of you cats: look at Andy Warhol (1928-1987) ink-line transfers from his days as an illustrator.

Coloured grounds interesting but over-used. Think of them as punctuation to give rhythm.

Need to support the project work much more e.g. drawings of geese would have been relevant. And I’d like to see linkage to artist research and also the pyramid of ideas/development we discussed last time.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

Your blog demonstrates your engagement with the assignment tasks and you take its upkeep seriously. Artist references, lots of information about the materials and processes, and well-illustrated.

Still insure of your likes/dislikes/motivations. You may find externalising this in written form helpful.

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

Variation in a sketchbook – big/small/colour/black & white/singles/multiples:
Midda, Sara (1990) Sketchbook from Southern France. London: Sidgwick & Jackson

You seem to like animals. Check out John Skeaping (1901 – 1980).
Skeaping, John (1940) Animal Drawing. London & New York: The Studio Publications.

To follow-up on the Warhol lead, you may enjoy:
Kornbluth, Jesse (1988) Pre-Pop Warhol. New York: Panache Press at Random House

Pointers for the next assignment

Part 5. Exploring printmaking and combination print techniques.

Work to your strengths. Select subject matter that is ‘you’. Support activities with research into artists who aid your visual ambitions – these don’t necessarily have to be printmakers. And remember the pyramid notion as you develop your ideas.

On a simple, practical note, ensure your chine collé papers are stuck down properly – loose edges wafting around look awful.

Task 1 (Project 11): Collage test block

I made my first collage test block on an A3 sized cardboard. I glued simple household materials in the 16 fields:

upper row: rice / burlap scraps / sweets foil / woodcut scraps / sand / linocut scraps / cotton thread / pieces of rubber band / flat ribbon

lower row: metal pins / Quinoa grain / Black Tea / Rice paper for spring rolls / glass noodles /  yellow lentils / rolled oates

I made prints on four different types of paper. For the assignment, I selected two of these. The first was printed by hand with a baren, on damp paper. I used plain white drawing paper. This print was executed as a plain relief print. I inked the plate thoroughly and tried to get as much ink on the paper as I possibly could. Using the hands, not the press, helped to transfer ink also from the more recessed areas of the plate.

The second print was printed with the press, on damp Arches Text Wove paper. Here I had the intention to try out an intaglio technique, and had wiped off much of the ink. I wanted to obtain an impression from the ink that remained in the recessed parts of the plate. This did not work out exactly as I had planned. It is actually more of a relief print with a lighter overall tone because the ink in the flatter areas had been iped away.

I did two additional prints from a collagraph plate I had made in 2012 using paper, strings and fabric. This time, I inked the plate with self-made dabbers. The plate size was a little smaller than A4. I printed on damp sulphite paper. The two-colour print in brown and blue looked quite interesting.

After these, I felt I needed more experimentation with collagraph and made four more plates using different materials.

First plate: Organza cloth, sandpaper, bandage and bristol board

The first print was made as a plain relief on dry rice paper. The second print was made as a relief print on damp sulphite paper, the plate wiped off after very thorough inking. Thus the ink got deeply into recessed areas and the cloth bandage held much more ink than the smooth bristol board. Consequently, tonal values are very different from the first print.

Second plate: Different kinds of tape with rough and smooth surfaces

Here I wanted to explore further the tonal effects of different surfaces, and the intaglio effects which had occurred on the edges of the bristol board. The first print was made as a plain relief print on dry, rough, medium weight paper. After some experimentation, I had made at an intaglio print that consistet almost exclusively of outlines. I overprinted it after re-inking the plate with dabbers in three colours, which created interesting transparency effects in the final print.

Third and fourth plate: Textured plates made with joint compound, textured with a plastic card vs a bamboo skewer.

I did various printing experiments with these plates. One technique I found most interesting was to create a coloured background layer by inking the plate with a dabber, then making one impression on dry paper to take off ink from the relief surface, and then re-ink the plate in black. The print from this plate would combine relief and intaglio effects and subtle colour mixing. Both prints were made on heavy-weight printmaking paper, and I consider them the most successful of my collagraph test prints. Actually the left print is larger than the right one, but the blog software does not let me adapt the image sizes accordingly.

Blog posts

Making a test collage block: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1199
Further experimentation with collagraph: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1243

Task 2 (Project 12): Collatype Collage prints

As my subject, I chose a group of geese on a pond. I worked from photographs I made during an out-of-town trip. From several sketches I chose the one that depicted the group of animals, because I liked how they seemed to enjoy each other’s company. I made the collagraph plate from stretched stockings (wavy water), acrylic modeling paste (geese bodies, background bushes), black tea (leaf textures) and cotton (geese necks).

Initial single-colour prints were a bit pale but after some experimenting, I achieved deep tone. Multi-colour printing was not easy either as I often got patchy areas which did not support the motif. The most successful print was one with a green background layer and black texture printed on top.

I also experimented with gray paper, printing white and black ink on top. They are quite interesting when looked at from close. I liked the one with white on top of black best. The ink layers create a slight 3D effect which is interesting. As an experiment, I made a final print with a coloured underprint from a perspex plate, then a single-colour black impression from the collagraph plate.

As a follow up, I did a series of abstract collagraphs. I experimented with printing colours and black, using masks, and printing reversed layers. I think these prints are good and I felt much more comfortable with abstract shapes as this permitted me to play around with effects without the need to create a representational image.

Finally, I went back to my geese sketches and made another collagraph plate, this time choosing the single goose sketch as a source. The plate was made from cotton bandage, rice noodles, acrylic modeling paste, and cotton cloth. The problem of differentiating figure and ground returned, and I tried to achieve the effect by using different colours and working with masks.

Blog posts

Collatype collage prints: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1355
Abstract collagraph: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1431
Figurative collagraph: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1488

Sketchbook work

During part 4, I continued to wirk in the A5 size ringbound sketchbook. Over the course of Part 4, my use of the sketchbook has changed from making neat sketches to being more experimental and trying out ideas as in a visual diary. I’m quite glad about this development and when I look through the sketchbook I think it’s now more exciting and contains nice surprises. The blog article presents the pages made during Part 4 with some comments about ideas and processes.

Sketchbook blog article: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1594

Reflection

When creating the plate I had assumed the textures were distinct enough to separate the geese from their background, but unfortunately this was not the case. So the prints turned out less well overall than I had hoped.

Checking my work against the assessment criteria

 • Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills – materials, techniques, observational skills,
visual awareness, design and compositional skills

I think that my work for Part 4 is strong in approach and I have demonstrated technical skills when creating the plates. I also see some progress in print quality as I’m experimenting a lot until impressions are good, and begin to use quality paper. I’m less happy with the visual qualities of the outcome. I created appealing texture effects but was less able to combine these into producing strong figurative images.

• Quality of Outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent
manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas

I take a lot of effort into presenting my work and associated processes in the blog. Sometimes I think it is too time consuming and I’d better spend the time improving visual skills. But then again, blogging skills might become valuable when some day I’ll be presenting my work to a broader audience. I also hope that with time, I’ll become more efficient and to the point with less digression into purely descriptive content.

In his feedback for Assignment 3, my tutor recommended I’d take some time to reflect on my motivations and visual interests. I feel he’s right in pointing out something that’s missing or hidden in my reflective comments so far. Otherwise, if I’m able to set aside some time for it, I think I’m quite good at communicating ideas.

• Demonstration of Creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a
personal voice

I may be somewhat disappointed from the outcome of Part 4, but I think that I’ve made some progress on the creative side. For one, I discovered my sketchbook as a place where I can try out things. It is not yet related to actual coursework but I’m quite certain that ideas will begin to feed back into printmaking projects.

During Part 4, I also experimented with Suminagashi, Japanese water-based paper marbling. It was quite interesting because I likened it to printing of a coloured water surface. I described it in this post: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1230

To the extent that I let myself explore ideas, I think there’s also more potential for developing personal interests and ultimately a personal voice. I’m very aware that I’m only at the beginning of a long journey but it feels like I’d made first steps towards the right direction.

• Context – reflection, research, critical thinking (learning log)

From the feedback on the last assignments I became aware that my blog does not reflect that I’m actually constantly researching and digesting visual information, because I do not write it down here. Since a few months, I spend about an hour daily sifting through various online resources, following up recommendations by fellow students or co-members of online printmaking groups. I’m going to revise my current practice and will see that I’ll include pointers to these little bits. It might make it easier to trace down my influences. On the other hand, there’s a real need to keep all the note-taking to a manageable level because otherwise I’ll end up with no time left for actual practice.