Silk screen print

Handprinting

It is important for me to address all the lines on the hand to create an effective print so I decided to use screen printing ink to do a direct print of my own hand. 

I am interested in the various levels of detail achieved when printing with different amounts of ink on the hand. By doing multiple prints without applying more ink there are a range of outcomes all of which have their own effect even though they are exactly the same subject matter. 

Monoprinting

To create this monoprint I first photocopied my hand and played around with the contrast and brightness levels to improve the image.

I then used this image to produce this monoprint in black ink.

Print project - petroglyphs

One of my initial ideas for this project addressed the idea of evolution being a journey of man. Whilst researching evolution in general I started to think about cave drawings created by our pre-historic ancestors, cave men, and how this can be considered the first art.

These images show some Pu'u Loa petroglyphs (carvings in rock) from the Volcano National Park in Hawaii. I have become increasingly interested in this type of obscure art that is often disregarded, moreso than any artists that relate to my project. The petroglyphs also fit in nicely with the Puebloan handprints that I have researched for my other initial ideas.

When studying these images I have thought about the way in which I could incorporate these into some sort of print. 

I am interested to do some experimental printing onto stone or bark and a woodcut print may work quite well. Experimenting with the natural materials that are used in the work seen here, however, is very important to me and I think by using these materials it will create a stronger visual impact rather than just a print on a piece of paper. This would also give me grounds to create works which incorporate both print and 3D. 

Painting Workshop - Contemporary painter project

Peter Bonde

For my painting project I was interested to look at a painter who is pushing the boundaries of what it means for something to be considered a painting. 

Within my own work it is vital for me to work outside of my comfort zone to create work that it fresh and experimental.

I find the work of Peter Bonde intriguing and refreshing. I have always preferred conceptual, expressive art that makes you think and I am a great believer in the process and idea being more important than the impact of the final works. 

I am interested in the way which Bonde creates his works with a number of different layers of both paint and lens-based media. He often starts on a photographic base rather than with paint which is something I would like to experiment with.

Influences for Print - Puebloan Handprints

While researching artists who may incorporate hand prints or prints of the human body in their artwork, I came across an interesting type of art in Anasazi Rock Art.

 This is the art of the Ancient Pueblo People who inhabited the Four Corners in the USA before 1300AD, now known as southern Utah, northern Arizona, north-west New Mexico, and southern Colorado. Early pueblo dwellers were named 'Anasazi' by the Navajo people, meaning 'ancient stranger or enemy' in the Native American language of Navajo.

The Ancient Pueblo people painted and carved a variety of different images into the cliff face with all of them believed to be deep and meaningful, although it is likely only the creators will ever know the true interpretations. 

It is the hand prints seen in the images below that are of interest to me and my forth-going print project. 

I am increasingly interested in the overall effect that the hand prints create on such a surface as this. I am intrigued to experiment with printing onto a range of different surfaces like this, paying particular attention to printing onto natural forms.

 

It was important to me to research this topic further to see what sort of interpretations there were for the meaning of the hand prints in the Anasazi rock art. I have discovered that the hand print symbolizes life, legacy, creative spirit and channelled energy. It was also used as a way for the artist to sign off, leaving a single hand print to immortalize themselves within the artwork.

An example of this is evident in the famous piece of rock art in the Chaco Canyon 1054 Supernova artwork.

While researching, I also came across this poem by Paul Young inspired by the rock art of Chaco Canyon and was interested to include this different type of creativity within my project. 

'Chaco'

Nothing is as it was 
all changed now as the land absorbs
the light of this new star burning
by day.

Always the heavens have directed us
homes and shrines in accordance
that we not live against the grain
of the cosmos that we become
integral part of pulse and flow
but this new presence shining above
what can it mean?

The people look to us but no priest
can explain. Concerned faces in the village
quiet confusion in kivas
fire messages blaze nightly and
runners run the roads.

Sandstone pressing
into my back I lie
on this ledge with my paints
record mysteries of the sky.
Below, the wash all appears
as it was but the
bright light brings wonder brings fear
will the rains continue to love
this place?

Sun, I paint
moon in crescent, fiery star
my palm into pigment pressed
against rock acknowledgment
Nothing is as it was.

Paul Young

A journey...

Life Journeys. Physical Journeys. Emotional Journeys. 

These are what I have been thinking about for my print project, the different types of journeys that people go through everyday, whether that be the journey of life as a whole or simply the journey to work or school.

My initial ideas explore the idea of the physical act of the journey. 

I'm interested in how toddlers use their hands to crawl and how as we grow, this progresses to walking and then possibly to driving a car. I like the idea of using prints of hands and feet and, furthermore, tyre tracks to represent this visually.

Evolution is an interesting concept to include with my idea of the progression of man. 

As well as thinking about the evolution of ape to man, I am interested to look at ideas of how man has made an impact on the world. The idea of the carbon footprint could possibly link with the my original thoughts about creating prints of hands and feet. Using a variety of mediums alongside print, I could possibly create a collage type piece exploring both these ideas.