Monday, October 22, 2012

Printmaking



1.     Describe the overall composition of your artwork (balance, unity, rhythm and movement).
  I used balance in my artwork by trying to make the amount of black and white equal to make the drawing pop.  I tried to fill the background with coral and sea life to make the eye move around the page, but the fish is the focal point.
2.     How did you add texture and contrast to your print? Is this important? Why?
      Texture and contrast were important because there were only two colors you could have on the pictures; the paper and the ink.  I didn't want the print to look totally flat and lifeless, so the stripes and dark parts of the fish were kept, and I cut out the rest so the fish would pop out against the background.  I also tried to use a variety of thick and thin lines to add some texture.

3.     Explain how you used positive and negative space to show your image.
       Negative space is the parts of the linoleum that I cut out.  Most of the fish is negative space, except for the stripes and eye.  Most of the background is positive space except for the coral and seaweed which I cut out.  I think there was a nice balance within the piece of artwork.

 
4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your print. (How good the project is technically crafted)
   I think my craftmanship on my print is good because I chose colors that go well together, tried to be neat while printing, and have a satisfying final product.  Something I'm not happy with is the white splotches where the ink didn't completely cover the paper.  I also think that the drawing looked better on paper and kind of got worse as a print, but it still turned out pretty well. 
5.     Were you able to achieve depth by showing a foreground, middle ground and back- ground? Explain.
     I achieved depth by putting tiny pieces of seaweed in the foreground on the bottom, the fish in the middle ground, and a lot of coral in the background.  This created an entire scene, rather than just a drawing of a fish.  It was important to have details in the main object and the background.

6.     Explain your experience with Printmaking. What were the obstacles and advantages?
     I had a hard time getting my print in the registration marks and carving the little shapes into the linoleum.  An advantage was being able to not worry about making the cutting completely even inside the big spaces because it wouldn't show up on the print.  Overall, it was a fun project!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Print Sketch

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Texture is important to have in sketches because in printmaking, you have to have a strong textured outline rather than just a simple outline.  I want the animal to look as realistic as possible when I turn it into a print, so I have to add the fine details in to the sketch.  Since I can't use different colors on the print, I have to use texture!

 
 I want my animal and its habitat to look original, not like I copied it exactly from a picture.  So when I have several pictures of the animal and several pictures of its background, I can take elements that I like from each picture to create my own!  The background of my fish comes from three different references with different underwater plants.  I wouldn't have been able to do this without so many different sources.
 
I think my sketch with the fish and the deep sea background will make the strongest print because it fills the page and has texture.  My other two animals don't look as good and have a background that isn't very interesting.  When looking at all three sketches, the fish definitely catches my eye and hopefully it will do the same when I turn it into a print.


Interactive Chalk Murals

















My experience working with my team on the interactive chalk murals was great!  Everybody contributed, so the project turned out really well!  I think our idea for the mural was original, because nobody else had thought of it and executing it was kind of difficult, but it worked out in the end.  We had a hard time figuring out where to start on such a big space, so once we had everything sketched out, we were able to color it in and add value.  I think the values on the lockers really make the colors pop, so it was definitely an important element to add.

Collaboration is so important when you work on a team.  We all had to agree on what we were putting on the wall so that everyone knew what was going on and wouldn't be upset if there was something happening that they didn't know about.  It also kept us organized.  We usually all worked on the same thing at the same time because we had to color so many lockers.  I think this helped us stay together during the project.

I thought our project was successful because when we first decided what we were going to draw, we weren't even sure if we could pull it off!  Once we got everything going and got a little help drawing the backpack, everything was much easier.  The final product turned out so much better than we thought it would, so that's why I consider our mural to be successful.

 
I never knew there was such a thing as "interactive art," so I think having the whole school pose in front of our drawings is really amazing!  Several times I saw people who aren't from art classes looking at the drawings and figuring out how to interact with them!  Involving the school in our work was a good thing because it introduced them to art and may have inspired them to do some of their own!