Block Print
Planning/Concepts
Inspiration
My Inspiration with my piece was with symbolism painters Odilon Redon, and Frida Kahlo, As I am a fan of both artists, and the period as a whole, but what drew me in was the use of animals to express human emotions, and states of mind that could be described subtly with these amazing creatures. With the pieces that I chose to use as my inspiration, I found that they really were hard to analyze and I had to look into them to understand the deeper meaning, along with what they connected to in the human emotional state, such as regrets, sadness, and acceptance. Yet with my piece I wanted to put a spin on the usual symbolist pieces, as instead of conveying a sad emotion, I wanted to convey a happy feeling, the feeling of freedom. With that in mind One that inspired me was the Frida Kahlo painting "Wounded Deer" which represents fear and desperation. This piece was made by frida when she had suffered from a botched spine surgery, which left her sad and depressed when she returned to her home in Mexico, as the country had been worse off from when she left. Along with that piece Odilon Redon made 'The Crying Spider", I loved this piece as it conveys human emotion and thoughts, and how society is structured, it is said to convey that each regret, and bad moment is a building block of the life we live, like how a spider creates their homes from materials within. Which in a sense what I want to convey with my art. I love having hidden meanings in art, based entirely on characteristics of the human condition. I want the viewer to have a small idea what they are supposed to understand from the piece, but I also want them to convey their own message. For more symbolism and connections to the theme I decided to base the artistic design off of the Polynesian tattoos and mythological paintings, as they see cancer as a mythological signal of defense, and sadness.
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Planning sketches
The idea of the astrological sign cancer came well after I had gotten the idea for using symbolism to convey a message, and an emotion, but the idea came from what the description of cancer was, It was about closing up, not letting anyone in, and in a sense, low self confidence. With this, my message was to break that mold, and to do what you felt was right, which dancing was a perfect way to convey confidence.
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This concept was trying to figure out how to relate the actual look of the piece to the human emotions i was trying to show, as to give the impression that this was to make it about humans. But I felt that with the addition of the hat and the bowtie It increased the comical look and value of the piece, which was not the goal. Not to mention it lost the cancer and coming out of ones shell quality from the hat and bowtie being added, so I scrapped this idea.
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This last concept was my favorite as it played into the mythological ideas of the Cancer and also played more into the message with the cracking shell. The whole theme of the piece was shifted from a crab dancing to break out of its shell to express its human emotion, to being all that tied in with the moon and the freedom of space, and the freedom of the cosmos, which is similar to the feeling of what coming out of ones shell feels like.
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Process
ExperimentationI did four different prints to be sure I had options and to make sure I had the best one, to clear up all errors and issues. The first print was the least appealing as It ended up crooked and with ink spots on the white areas I wanted to look clean. so the next time I traced the block print onto the back of the paper, to line it up correctly and to get a nice even print. But this time the roller printed more ink into the areas I don't want them in, while also creating small white dots in the deep black outsides. This was not acceptable, so I decided to make sure that There was enough ink on the metal plate, by putting another spoonful onto it, and rolling it out more. Along with that I carved out more of the white area to make sure that no ink was going to show up on the bottom. So in the Fourth and final print I did the same as the second but I cut out more of the area that didn't print right to make it cleaner, and pressed down harder in certain areas to make sure the black areas were completely black.
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Process
First I took the final concept of "The Moon Waltz", then I covered the back of the paper with graphite from a standard no.2 Pencil, until the whole back was covered. I then placed the piece on top of the slab to start the transfer process, with the back covered in graphite, I traced over all of the lines that I had made for the last conceptual sketch to transfer the actual drawing onto the slab to be able to carve out the white areas for the block print.
With the final drawing on the slab now, I went over the more undefined lines to make sure I always knew where to cut and where not to cut so there was relatively no error in my method. From there I used a wooden table extension to make sure I was always cutting with enough power to get a deep and also precise cut into the slab. I mostly used a deep V shaped cutting tool, to make sure that I got out as much of the slab as I could, and to make sure that I glide through with each cut, instead of pressing hard and jutting forward. When I was done with most of the cutting, I went back in with a C shaped cutting tool to smooth out the cuts I made. This was to reduce the amount of lines that could show up in the white spaces, which was important.
Finally I started the ink printing process, this started with placing black water based ink, which was about 3 scoops with a plastic spoon of dark and thick black ink onto a metal sheet, then rolling the ink with a brayer until till it was thin enough so it didn't make any sticking noises, but also didn't leave a bunch on the actual brayer either. I took the brayer and gently rolled the ink onto the slab, making sure to not miss any parts of the piece, but also trying to make sure that I didn't get any into the white spaces, as there was a section on the bottom that was deeper than the rest of the cuts. I then repeatedly made coats of ink to ensure that there was enough ink. After that I took the slab covered in ink, and gently placed it onto the center of the printer paper I had left out for printing, ensuring that it wasn't crooked. Then and finally taking a baren to rub onto the paper for the ink to transfer. After 2 min of rubbing in sporadic and intense patterns to make sure no ink was left untouched by the paper, I removed the slab from the paper, and let it dry on the drying rack over night.
With the final drawing on the slab now, I went over the more undefined lines to make sure I always knew where to cut and where not to cut so there was relatively no error in my method. From there I used a wooden table extension to make sure I was always cutting with enough power to get a deep and also precise cut into the slab. I mostly used a deep V shaped cutting tool, to make sure that I got out as much of the slab as I could, and to make sure that I glide through with each cut, instead of pressing hard and jutting forward. When I was done with most of the cutting, I went back in with a C shaped cutting tool to smooth out the cuts I made. This was to reduce the amount of lines that could show up in the white spaces, which was important.
Finally I started the ink printing process, this started with placing black water based ink, which was about 3 scoops with a plastic spoon of dark and thick black ink onto a metal sheet, then rolling the ink with a brayer until till it was thin enough so it didn't make any sticking noises, but also didn't leave a bunch on the actual brayer either. I took the brayer and gently rolled the ink onto the slab, making sure to not miss any parts of the piece, but also trying to make sure that I didn't get any into the white spaces, as there was a section on the bottom that was deeper than the rest of the cuts. I then repeatedly made coats of ink to ensure that there was enough ink. After that I took the slab covered in ink, and gently placed it onto the center of the printer paper I had left out for printing, ensuring that it wasn't crooked. Then and finally taking a baren to rub onto the paper for the ink to transfer. After 2 min of rubbing in sporadic and intense patterns to make sure no ink was left untouched by the paper, I removed the slab from the paper, and let it dry on the drying rack over night.
Compare/Contrast
Similarities
Differences
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Reflection
I think that with my inspirations I have captured the Human like emotion aspect that I was striving for, while Frida Kahlo and Odilon Redon, had very difficult and harsh emotions to deal with in their pieces, such as disappointment, resentment, acceptance, and even death and sadness, mine captured emotions and conveyed them well, but different ones. Ones that are harder to explain, happiness and freedom and being one with ones mind and soul. Which is a theme I want to explore with all of my art work, expression, emotion, and character development, even if the picture is just a scene or a landscape.
With my personal critique of my work and its connection to the artists I have chosen to base off of, I didn't use techniques or art styles to my advantage, as I felt like I wanted to do my own art, not basing the creation on what they made, but my own and what I like, which is why I decided to make my connections based on symbolic messaging, Hence the art movement choice Symbolism.
My techniques were basic though in my opinion, I was just sketching, and didn't really have a technical basis to what I was making, but I do like how the actual print came out, as it looks just how I imagined it when I first had the idea. The balance in the contrast of the black and white when it comes to how the print looks is fairly even, there isnt a part of the piece where I see too much black or too much white, I enjoy the repetition in my own piece, with the use of stars and moons and other astrological parts, such as the North Star as the center of the Piece.
With my personal critique of my work and its connection to the artists I have chosen to base off of, I didn't use techniques or art styles to my advantage, as I felt like I wanted to do my own art, not basing the creation on what they made, but my own and what I like, which is why I decided to make my connections based on symbolic messaging, Hence the art movement choice Symbolism.
My techniques were basic though in my opinion, I was just sketching, and didn't really have a technical basis to what I was making, but I do like how the actual print came out, as it looks just how I imagined it when I first had the idea. The balance in the contrast of the black and white when it comes to how the print looks is fairly even, there isnt a part of the piece where I see too much black or too much white, I enjoy the repetition in my own piece, with the use of stars and moons and other astrological parts, such as the North Star as the center of the Piece.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
symbolism artists use certain looks images and actions in their art to convey certain messages and feelings when the viewer looks at them. My piece shows dancing and the cracking of a metaphysical shell, symbolizing the "coming out of ones shell" which is symbolic in nature. Along with the black and white astrological patterns of Polynesian art and tattoos, which was the look of my whole piece.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Symbolism as an art movement is to convey hidden messages within ones own experiences and emotions through the use of visual representation, whether that is action, look, or emotion. which both authors conveyed an emotion and a state of mind with their pieces.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Symbolism is a very odd and subjective art movement, that is hard to analyze without knowledge on how to do so, its like the poetry of art, where you need to dig to understand the piece.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central idea of my piece was self expression and confidence, as will all of my art work for this year, as I was not confident in my self and my ability, until I met people and acted out of my comfort zone.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The people who were artists in this short lived movement had many emotions that they had to deal with, and break through, and using symbols was an easy way to express these ideas.
symbolism artists use certain looks images and actions in their art to convey certain messages and feelings when the viewer looks at them. My piece shows dancing and the cracking of a metaphysical shell, symbolizing the "coming out of ones shell" which is symbolic in nature. Along with the black and white astrological patterns of Polynesian art and tattoos, which was the look of my whole piece.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Symbolism as an art movement is to convey hidden messages within ones own experiences and emotions through the use of visual representation, whether that is action, look, or emotion. which both authors conveyed an emotion and a state of mind with their pieces.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Symbolism is a very odd and subjective art movement, that is hard to analyze without knowledge on how to do so, its like the poetry of art, where you need to dig to understand the piece.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central idea of my piece was self expression and confidence, as will all of my art work for this year, as I was not confident in my self and my ability, until I met people and acted out of my comfort zone.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The people who were artists in this short lived movement had many emotions that they had to deal with, and break through, and using symbols was an easy way to express these ideas.
Bibliography
“The Crying Spider – Odilon Redon.” Widowcranky, 29 June 2018, https://widowcranky.com/2018/06/29/the-crying-spider-odilon-redon/.
“The Wounded Deer, 1946 by Frida Kahlo.” Henri Matisse, https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-wounded-deer.jsp.
“The Wounded Deer, 1946 by Frida Kahlo.” Henri Matisse, https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-wounded-deer.jsp.