3/5/11 Rolling in the Print

So my original idea was to do something based around historic architecture. I wanted to capture its value and importance but at the same time it’s old, un-used junk side, creating different perceptions. Then I started looking at the locations of the architecture, how this might create a different scene or mood, I could of experimented more with this but I got stuck with one of my etchings which then evolved into my screen printing, so I might as well carry on using this landscape seeing as the deadline is next week.  

I mentioned I wanted to experiment with etching and screen-printing so I have picked out a few of my rough prints to play around with. Also I will start looking at different grounds to print onto, for example nick whites magazine prints. I’m hoping this may help me relate the project to the brief in a better way.

Once I have done this I will be able to develop and produce my final idea. This week will be tricky because I do not have a laptop (broken) to do research and print off of, so I am a little bit handicapped.

1/4/2011 Just So Exciting.....

Life is just far too busy at the moment but being organised helps a lot. But anyways it's time to share my screen prints from last monday! I'm not going to lie, i was extremely excited when i woke up on monday morning, i'd never done screen printing before so i was itching to get started.


The print studio wasn't even busy, those slackers who are on my course made life in the studio sooo easy. I set up my table with inks and air vacuum with tape and paper, retrieved my silk screens and started printing. I started with one colour just to get to grips with the technique and then i got more confident. I started producing massive amounts of prints and may of got carried away. I showed caroline my days work and she told me to be careful and not churn them out like a robot and start to think about different moods and colours. So i slowed down and started to think more about what the ink was doing and how to apply it to the page. Below are the masterpieces.... annoyingly i only managed to get photos of them rather than scans.

These photos just show the applying of the ink to the screen. 

27/3/11 Favorite Printer

I have a few artists that i keep track of and i found this guy when i was on my foundation. I really liked his work because its so contemporary, effective and dramatic. 

I present to you, the work of......Eelus.

26/3/11 Silky Milky Printers

Thought it was time to get to grips with some screen print artists just so i can get a good idea of how the technique works and what results can be achieved. I found it difficult to find the artists I wanted but i'm tired. so deal with it.

Arthur Okamura

I like tut detail in this print and the colours.

Kate Gibb

Robert Rauschenberg

Nick White

I love these prints by White, they remind me of my idea of using two different mediums and putting them together. The old magazine paintings work so well with the detailed prints on top which is something i would like to play around with. Maybe use photograpghs, screen printing and etching all together?? How exciting!

21/3/2011 Smooth and Silky Printing.

Been a while since my last post but we have come on leaps and bounds and it's time to blog it all and note it down. So after playing around with etching i'm pretty confident with the technique now. I need to do a few more etchings relating to the brief because i have a very good feeling that etching will be involved within the final piece. 


Back to the studio to play. Today i decided to try a different print technique and hit screen printing. I have never done it before even though i have always wanted to. I used to think it was really confusing and tricky to learn - turns out i was wrong. Caroline showed us how everything works and what to do, i honestly cant believe i'm just getting into screen printing because i have seriously missed out, but hopefully this can be the start of something big. 


Once i understood how everything works, i sat down to decide on an image and what to print to play around with. This was fairly tricky as i was thinking too much into what and how i wanted it to look, so i needed a small push. A helpful hand from Caroline suggested that we could actually scan in one of my metal plates which had been etched into. From my previous prints i hadn't washed the plate so the ink was still visible and dry, it looked pretty cool and an added bonus was the dirty marks which we decided not to wash off as this will the scan an interesting element. 


I played around with sections and different shades, shadows, colours and contrasts for a while on photoshop, just messing about with my scan. The original scan came out surprisingly well. The colours are so strong and the marks on top of the etching and inked up areas add to the image, they could be clouds, a storm or waves, they just add some energy to the print. 

I was pretty happy with some of the photoshopping i had done to my image and i was slowly getting towards the right print to use for my screen printing. At first i was playing around with just sections of the plate, sadly i don't have these because Graham logged off the computer without saving them but i do have the original experiments printed out in my research folder. Once i was happy i decided to make a large sequence of the plate. Obviously the plate is too long for one A3 piece of paper so i needed to chop it into three parts on photoshop and print them separately. Below are my final images saved as bitmaps.

My screen prints are now ready to go and i will finishing my printing and experimentation next time i get into the studio. Whilst I was in the studio today i came up with a new idea which i need to play around with - I'm thinking of using screen printing as a background, like landscapes or something and then using etching over the top. I have a good feeling that this will work and i can play around with my etchings that i have already done but i will do some fresh ones so that i can get closer to a final piece and develop my work. Slowly getting there. 

8/3/11 The One That Got Left Behind

8/3/11 Printed All Over That Paper

Yesterday was an epic day in the print studio, as usual long and tiring but well worth it. We had a mid project review in the morning which i got some good feedback from. Mainly start focusing on the idea and experimenting with prints. Before today i didn't have many prints as i haven't been able to get the materials and the time to produce some, but today I got some more pieces of zinc to work into. I decided to do a different format and try out different composition. I have also taken some plates home with me so i can start working on them in my spare time and then come into the studio next week and bash out some prints and play around with colours, shading and other techniques.


I pieced a thing things together and worked on a scene from my head but as i got carried away with what i wanted to draw it didn't relate to the brief very well. I am playing around with different locations but my image ended up looking like a 'holiday illustration'. Next time i will start to play around with architecture and other ideas that correspond to my idea and the brief. But whilst I'm still getting used to etching and printing this print has been a good experiment and very enjoyable.


I have scanned in some of my best prints and worked with them in photoshop to enhance them and just given them a little bit more bite and aesthetic appeal.

7/3/11 Sketchbook Catch Up

I have decided to have a little catch up and show some of my sketchbook drawings. It's good to look back on your drawings and from this i have decided that i need to do more sketches and observational drawings. Just quick roughs of anything should do the trick even if they don't look appealing at all. 

Artists Artists Artists

To get a feel for my new idea i started looking at etchers that may relate to buildings, architecture and landscapes. I rifled through pages and etchers and managed to get a good primary list of etchers who really caught my eye. I tried to focus on old, destroyed, quiet and ancient scenes as this relates to my thoughts and ideas.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Kerr Eby

John Taylor Arms

Thomas Moran

Arthur Millier

Axel Hermann Haig