Block Print |
Exhibition Text
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Title: Two
Size: 22.86in x 15.24in Medium: Block Print Date: 10/18/19 |
Two the title of my piece was influenced by two German Expressionism works by Kirchner. The first inspiration being, "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner and the second being "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner. My piece is two pieces to create one. One image represents joy or happiness while the other represents doubt or despair. The piece is named, "Two" because we all have two faces one is joyful and positive, the one everyone sees while the other one is full of doubt or negativity, the one most people don't see.
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Inspirations
Head of van de Velde, Bright by Kirchner
“Head of Van De Velde, Bright (Kopf Van De Velde, Hell).” Art Object Page, https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.8105.html. Man's Head Self portrait by Kirchner
Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig. “Man's Head. Self-Portrait, 1926 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.” Www.wikiart.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.wikiart.org/en/ernst-ludwig-kirchner/man-s-head-self-portrait-1. |
There were two inspirations that influenced my work, both are German expressionism work. The first inspiration being, "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner and the second being "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner. What influenced my work from these inspiration were the formal elements of: line, balance, shape, form, scale and emphasis. "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner being my first influence."Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner depicts a portriat of Van de Velde. This piece influenced my piece with the formal elements of line, balance, form and shape. Thin and some thick line influenced my piece, while the balance, form and shape within "Head of van de Velde, Bright" emphasized the structure and detail of my artwork. "Head of van de Velde, Bright" is a very detailed, in which he uses organic lines to create organic shapes which influenced my piece. "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner being my second inspiration. What I took from this artwork was the formal elements of simple shape and line. Although this artwork seems and has simplistic elements, it also holds some detail part, like in the face. This is what I took the use of simple line and shape but added detail parts as well. The piece also holds the concept of expressing meaning through the use of simplistic line, shape and other formal elements. |
Planning Sketches/Experimentation
For experimentation I experimented with different amounts of ink I added to my bored and then printed. These two prints are experimentation of the image that represents joy. These two prints are experimentation of adding too much ink when printing. The one on the left, too much ink was added which ended up covering all the lines that were suppose to be white. The one on the right is also a result of adding too much ink but not as much as the one on the left.
Similar to the prints above, these prints were the result of adding too much ink to the bored. These prints are the prints of the image that represents sadness or doubt. The one on the left, too much ink was added which ended up covering all the lines that were suppose to be white. The one on the right is also a result of adding too much ink but not as much as the one on the left, you can still see white spots but too much was added.
Process of Carving Image
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The very first step in creating my block print was to first carve out my image. I did this by first picking the image I was going to use and then drawing it onto the linoleum block. After completing some of the image onto the linoleum block I then was able to start carving. The carving tool I use was a speedball carving tool, with large, medium, and small blades for me to carve with. For this process I drew a little detail sections and then carved.I did this because my image had small details with in certain sections which just worked better if I drew a little then carved. I first started with carving the head so I carved a oval to make the head. For this I used the large side of the blade. Next I carved the eyes and eyebrows. For carving the eyes and eyebrows I used the small blade because there was many detail parts I had to get to. Same goes with the eyebrows. After finishing up the details on eyes sections I moved on to carving the nose and lips. for the nose I used both the median and small blade when carving. For the lips I did the same. After carving the nose and lips I move to carve the different types of lines with in the face to create ether joy of sad setting. For the most part the caving section for both images was the same. The only difference was the setting or tones of the images they portray. One portrays joy and the other sad. When I was done I was ready to move on to the printing phase. |
Process for Printing Image
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After carving my image onto the linoleum block, I was then ready to start the printing phase. The first thing I did was prep everything I was going to use, which included: a mixing tool such as a spoon, metal rectangular plate, a baren, brayer and paper, and lastly the speedball water soluble block printing ink. After prepping everything the first step was mix the ink up to get it nice and ready for printing. Next was to set the metal plate and spread a line of ink on to it with the spoon. After spreading the ink I then used the brayer to roll out the the ink all around, but I rolled it in a certain pattern to have the same texture all around. I then placed my linoleum block on a large piece of paper and the used the brayer to roll on the ink all around the places that were not carved out. After that I then placed the paper onto the linoleum block with my image and then used the baren to put pressure all around so that all the ink would go on to the paper and have a good print. After that I removed the paper from the linoleum block and I had a block print. I did this many times until I had a good print. |
Critique
A similarity between "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner and my piece will be that they both use strong elements of line and shape to portray something. Kirchner is known for his use of simple line and shape to create meaningful art. A difference between by piece and "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner would be the meaning they hold. For example my works represent joy and doubt while "Head of van de Velde, Bright" is a depiction of a person named Van de Velde.
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A similarity between "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner and mine will be that both artworks use simplistic line and shape to portray an image that holds strong meaning in their own ways. Now a difference would be the meaning they hold. For example my works represent joy and doubt while Kirchner piece is a Self portrait.
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Reflection
Creating my block print piece was very fun, and I learned many new skills and techniques, when sketching, planing and then printing my block print. I learned to better my skills on using the tools: baren, speedball and brayer. I also learned how to create good prints by learning how much ink to add when creating my prints, because before I would add random amounts of ink. Caving my image was also a different experience because I never carved out face before. Carving facial features was a little more difficult as I never carved anything before with facial features. I also learned form my failures and grew to correcting them and making them successes. For example when adding ink, the first time I added to much and then to little, but at the end I finished out with a great print. Overall I say I really enjoyed creating a block print, messing around and learning new things and also bettering my skills with the already known knowledge.
ACT Responses
1)Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I was inspired by two inspirations by the same artist with the same median. Both were German expressionism by Kirchner, the first one, "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner and the second being "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner. For the most part both works inspired my piece in meaning through simple figures and line. They also inspired the formal elements of balance, shape, form and scale.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The over all approach the author has regarding the topic of both of my inspirations would be giving meaning through simple figures and line, through the formal elements of balance, shape, form and scale.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I've discovered while researching my inspirations would be giving meaning to simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
A central idea or theme around my inspirations research was really the idea of expressing or giving meaning to simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference that I made while reading my research was the idea of expressing simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.
I was inspired by two inspirations by the same artist with the same median. Both were German expressionism by Kirchner, the first one, "Head of van de Velde, Bright" by Kirchner and the second being "Man's Head Self portrait" by Kirchner. For the most part both works inspired my piece in meaning through simple figures and line. They also inspired the formal elements of balance, shape, form and scale.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The over all approach the author has regarding the topic of both of my inspirations would be giving meaning through simple figures and line, through the formal elements of balance, shape, form and scale.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I've discovered while researching my inspirations would be giving meaning to simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
A central idea or theme around my inspirations research was really the idea of expressing or giving meaning to simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference that I made while reading my research was the idea of expressing simple figures through the formal elements of simple line, balance, shape, form and scale.