Colour Tips

 RED  

ASSOCIATED WITH: Danger, passion, energy, warmth, adventure, optimism.
BEST FOR: Dining rooms as it promotes sociable and lively feelings and stimulates the appetite.

PITFALLS: It can be overpowering and lead to headaches. Either vary the shade, paint one wall red, or use it for accessories only. Don't use in a baby's room.

PINK

ASSOCIATED WITH: Love

BEST FOR: Bedrooms as it can be peaceful and restful. A hot fuchsia can introduce passion

PITFALLS: Can be appear to be very girlie and sickly sweet. To counteract this, introduce hints of dark charcoal or black. 

ORANGE

ASSOCIATED WITH: Stability, reassurance, warmth, and is thought to aid digestion.

BEST FOR: Living and dining rooms.

PITFALLS: Might keep the occupant awake when used in the bathroom. it can make a room look smaller because it is an advancing colour, so make sure the room gets plenty of light.

GREEN

ASSOCIATED WITH: Nature and energy, calming and restful, balance (halfway between red and blue) security, stability.

BEST FOR: Bedrooms, bathrooms, studies.

PITFALLS: Can look cold and unwelcoming. make sure it doesn't look too chilly by choosing a blue with a warm undertone. 

BLUE:

ASSOCIATED WITH: Calming and smoothing; promotes intellectual thought; believed to keep hunger at bay;loyalty, serenity, authority, protection, contemplative, prevents nightmares.

BEST FOR: Bedrooms, bathrooms and studies.

PITFALLS: Can look cold and unwelcoming. make sure it doesn't look too cold by choosing a blue with warm undertone.

YELLOW

ASSOCIATED WITH: Sunshine and energy, stimulated the intellect.

BEST FOR: Kitchens, dining rooms or north-facing rooms

PITFALLS: Not very restful for a bedroom. Yellow is thought to enhance feelings of emotional distress. 

LILAC:

ASSOCIATED WITH: Spiritual matters - suggests the misty area between the sky and heaven, feminine.

BEST FOR: Bedrooms and bathrooms to create a stress free sanctuary.

PITFALLS: Can be insipid. liven it up with black or silver, or both.

PURPLE

ASSOCIATED WITH: Creativity, fertility, joy, but also magic, evil, death and sex.

BEST FOR: Bedrooms

PITFALLS: Can be over powering.

      BROWN

ASSOCIATED WITH: Security, stability and very practical

BEST FOR: Living rooms

PITFALLS: Introduce a livelier colour for mental stimulation such as green or blue.

BLACK

ASSOCIATED WITH: Death, eccentricity, drama. It's a non-colour that absorbs colour and reflects nothing back.

BEST FOR: Using in moderation. 

PITFALL: Depressing - think of all those angst-ridden teenage bedrooms. use it to temper the sweetness of other sugary colours such as pink, but don't use it as a base colour.

I  have done this to remind myself about the colours and the way they can effect peoples emotions, since I will have to consider this when it comes to my final piece for my William Morris and company project as I will be creating my own pattern withing my self portrait. As I am taking inspiration from Picasso focusing on his blue period i will especially be looking at dark and upsetting colours like , black, dark blue, red, etc. 

William Morris and Pablo Picasso.

For this new project i will be combining William Morris's style with Pablo Picasso's. we should of been going to London for primary reassure on William Morris and also Picasso.




Unfortunately the trip was canceled due to lack of money, and people wanting to go. This of course was disappointing to all of us in the class however it cannot be helped. Instead I will try to go to an Art exhibition that is exhibiting William Morris and/ or Picasso, if not then I will try and find an Art exhibition that relates to the artists such as portraits, and repeat patterns/ wall papers.
Hopefully for my final piece for this project I will be painting a self portrait in the same media that Picasso used and paint a pattern like William Morris but my own style but also incorporate it into the for ground as hair, facial features,etc. I will be researching my two chosen artists and creating a couple of mode boards with the artists pieces that inspire me the most from there collections, and experimenting with there styles and different media on A2 paper and in my sketch book before jumping straight into my final ideas.
When i first heard about this project I wasn't sure which artist to choose from however my tutor helped me decided on Picasso. at first I wasn't bothered about researching him and using his style however as I have done the research I have found that I really do find his work interesting, and different. This is why I am glad I decided to keep an open mind when starting this project, and look forward to going further into it.

Tour de France evaluation

Tour de France evaluation.

At the start of this project I had visited two art exhibitions that where based around the tour de France. The first was the Civic in Barnsley and the Millennium museum in Sheffield. I took many photographs to use within my work, as well as browsing the internet for ideas and inspiration. I also took my own bike apart and used the parts I thought looked interesting to me and drew from observation. At the bike show in the Civic I really enjoyed seeing all the different shapes and colours of the bikes and all the drawings/paintings framed on the walls. In the Millennium museum in Sheffield I rather liked the tour de France countdown clock and all the yellow shirts hung down the hallways from the ceiling however it wasn’t as big and spectacular Is I had hoped it would be, it sempt to only be that hall way and the clock. For my artist research I chose Bleck Le Rat, Miki de Goodaboom and Alister Colley. I found that I really enjoyed looking at Alister Colley’s work as I likes his simplistic, cartoon feel he gave when drawing the Yorkshire country side, I loved this so much I used his style in some of my work, and used this style for my etching print. I found I used Bleck’s style on my development sheet with the gargoyle creating a silhouette just like Bleck’s work and also used Miki de Goodaboom’s style within my sketch book on one of my pages. The techniques I have used within this project aren’t very new to me as I have used them previously in my first year. however I did prove to myself that I have gotten better at some style prints such as Lino and Screen print, however some I found that they weren’t my cup of tea, such as Etching and Collagraph as I couldn’t get the hang of putting the right amount of ink on, etc. because these prints were relatively familiar I thought I would experiment with my prints. For example one of my Lino prints I decided to print onto black card with white ink, and for another I stuck tissue paper down onto white cartridge paper and printed with black ink which I thought gave a really nice and fresh look to my prints. I also experimented with different fabrics and colours for my screen prints, and printed on parcel paper for my etching. I feel I managed my time really well which I feel really proud of as it is one of the first projects I have stayed on track with despite a few difficulty’s with my sketch book at the start. I must at mite at the start and most of the way through I wasn’t interested in the Tour de France, however I did manage to find things that related to the project that I was interested in, I feel a lot more confident about getting a new project now because this one has shown and proven to me that there’s always something you can find that you can get interested in and work with. It has also build my confidence up as I know I can do an acceptable amount of work within the set time. I feel most of my prints went rather well however I do feel I struggled and perhaps tried again on my etching however I did like the effect of the sides as it was felt in the acid over the weekend by mistake.

This year is the first year I have managed to create and use my blog, I felt this was very useful to look over my techniques and point out more easily where I went wrong and when things went right. At first I found my blog confusing and thought I was going to do terrible but after a while I got the hang of it and found that it isn’t as difficult as I thought. However I have just thought to spruce things up on my blog and to help me a little I could video my self-doing the practical work and explaining it as well as giving a quick rundown in bullet points under the video.

At first I thought the task of filling a full sketch book was pointless and daunting however I did relies once I got back to college that it came in useful for ideas and refreshing my memory with things.

Screen Printing for my tour de France project.

Until the 1930's Artists didn't think about the potential of screen printing. as until then it had only been used for stenciling patterns onto fabrics and even shoes. Screen printing isn't as old as other printing techniques such as lino and etching. although it has been said that it was introduced to Europe in the 18th century mostly being used in France. Back then it was rather different to screen print then it is nowadays. as back then they would stretch materials like Organdy over wooden frames to hold in place while printing or stenciling.where as nowadays. As the 20th century rolled in, only then did screen printing become more widely used for making, packaging, posters and shirt, as it was a quicker much easier process especially now with the use of machinery helped to speed up the process of making the screens.  

I will be making some screen print samples and hopefully using one of them as my final piece. I will be looking at the Famous screen printing artist Andy Warhol. Using his colorful and bright prints as inspiration.

MY SCREEN PRINTING PROCESSES 

This is my first time trying screen printing. At first I was unsure about this whole thing, but as I got into it I found it rather fun and relaxing. This process is much simpler than I thought. There are some slight HEALTH AND SAFETY rules to  follow when printing.

• Remember to use latex gloves and an apron when printing, as the ink can stain skin and cloths.
• Don't mess around while using ink's for diy. as it wont be very healthy if you inhale any of it.
• when grabbing bottles of ink/ die remeber to grab the bottle by the middle not by the lid. because if the lid wasn't on properly as it could fall and spill making the floor slippery or ruin work.

First i drew out a design onto a piece of normal printer paper, before using the photo copier to print into tracing paper as this is a quicker, easier and more accurate. once I had finished that I then gave it to the textiles teacher along with the rest of the class and it was then put it onto a screen.


This photograph shows my first design that I drew on normal printer paper. I did have a little less time than most people in my class as I missed the first day we began. because of this i didn't wast any time and dove straight in. I quickly looked over my development sheets and thought about what looks good and what would go together as an interesting pattern. I still think I could have put more on to fill the negative space. The places that are black is were the ink will show when printing. (keep in mind if your lines are too fin they wont show on your print.)





This second photo shows my design after I had used the photo copier to transfer it onto tracing paper. I then handed the tracing paper to my textiles tutor and she then put it onto a screen.




(As I forgot to take a photo on my screen I found a pic on Google images of what a printing screen looks like before anything has been out onto it)






After my design was put onto a screen, I then chose the materials I wanted to try out my print on. I decided to try a few number of fabrics. such as, Cotton velvet, Muslin (cream), Habotai silk, Heavy vase linen, Calico (medium) and White cotton.  as i wanted to see if there was any different in the print on the different materials.



After that stuff was over with, it then came down to the fun and messy stuff. In other words making the ink for my prints. I really enjoyed this part as it was something new to me and I was able to get stuck in. This photo shows the binding mixture which is the base of the inks. although it looks white the mixture is actually clear this just helps to thicken the ink making them brighter and easier to print with.



After filling a plastic cup with the appropriate amount of binder that I need, I then grabbed a small wooden stick (almost like a tong depressor.) I then grabbed a bottle of ink dipping the tip of the wooden stick into the ink as you don't need a lot as the colour takes so well to the binder.  (each colour has its own code on the bottle so you know which colour to use against if you want to use that same print again.)



Once I had made my colours and made a note of the inks i used i then lines my fabric up under the screen before putting ink onto the screen and then dragging it across with my squeegee before dragging it up again to make sure enough (but not too much( ink was pushed threw my screen to create my print.








After I placed my print to dry, I ended up with this. I used multiple inks. This is just one of my many prints i did, Here are a few more pics of my prints...




This print was done in one colour, as it was one of my first prints. I decided to use turcoyse as it was a nice colour and i wanted to see how it would look with my pattern.




 this print sample was actually chosen to be remade as a final piece for my project. This is the reason I wrote down the colour and its code so that I knew which inks to use again when it came to it.





I was quit surprised when the ink stayed in a straight line and in columns. However i was quit hoping for a more mixed look with the colours.



For this one i made a back ground before printing with it. i made the background using Prosium die and a paint brush. Before printing over the top once it had dried. I am quit happy with the out come as i think it works really well and looks interesting.


I thought i would show this as it shows that sometimes when your not careful when printing in case your screen slips while your dragging your squeegee across.Also i don't think the material i used was very good as it looks like it bled as well slightly.




This whole experience was new and interesting to me. I didn't relies how fun and simple screen printing is. I defiantly will consider this style of art in later projects.

Here are my two final pieces chosen by my class mates for my project.

 I did this first final Print on Calico (Medium) and used black BM and purple made from turquoise MXG and red MX2R

 This second final print was printed on Cotton Velvet with the previous Purple (MXG + MX2R) Turquoise MXG, yellow 2E, Orange made from Yellow 2E and Red BB and Pink 5BTL I really struggled to get the same effect as my sample print as the colours weren't the exact shade ad before and didn't print the same.

 This has been my screen printing blog hope you enjoyed it. :)

etching printting for the tour de rance.

Etching originates from the German word "Atzen"  which means to eat in. Before the image can become a print it must first be etched onto a copper or zinc plate, with the help of acid. This is a process that has been dated back more than 500 years ago.



I am going to attempt an etching print as part of my experimental prints. for this print I have decided to etch a landscape in the style of "Alister Colly" a Yorkshire print artist however to help me understand etching a little better I have chosen to look at printing artist "Matthäus Merian" as his prints are mostly based on landscape (with some exceptions).



From looking on the internet and previous experiences within college I have picked up a few facts about this printing method.
etching is mostly done on Zinc or Aluminium, and is usually placed in  Copper Sulfate. in the past as print makers have tried to adapt traditional printing methods to make them more effective and safe the only real change has been in acid. As the traditional acids used where Nitric or Sulfuric acid that presents obvious health and safety risks towards the etcher. this is why Copper Sulfate is a much better acid to use as his will not burn holes in the metal or etches cloths when being used.


Health and safety.

• When placing the etching plate into acid keep in mind that Copper sulfate is known to be an irritant. so always wear latex or rubber gloves when placing the plate into acid. (if the acid comes into contact with skin wash thoroughly with clean water and lots of soap)
• Do not put fingers near your mouth after touching the acid with gloves as Copper sulfate is poisonous and must not be swallowed
• Wear protective eye wear such as goggles and always avoid splashing the solution.

How I made my print

Firstly I cleaned my sheet of Zinc with normal hand soap and water before sealing the most scratched side up with parcel tape (bearing in mind duck tape can also be used) 

I then warmed it up on the heating block. Once it was warm enough I then placed "Hard ground" onto my Zinc plate and spread it out using a roller. this will protect the unscratched parts of your plate from the acid later on.

after it had cooled down and the hard ground had settled I then used a scratching tool. some places I scratched deeper than others and also scratched lines closer and further away to try to show light and dark patches like the work of my chosen artist.

This is my end result after I had scratched into my plate and placed it into acid. However I found out later one that the acid I used was weaker than I had expected. this meant that once I had cleaned the excess hard ground and begin printing it was only then I realized the acid was week, as my print didn't show. 

A few days down the line and I a still struggling with my etching I have gone over my scratched surface once again with hard ground and scratched into it again. This was rather hard as my scribe kept slipping into the previous scratches, after sticking with it I had finally finished and placed it into the acid once again.

I am sorry to say i forgot to take a photo of my zink after taking it out the acid however my plate had definitely been left in the acid long enough this time as it was accidentally left in the acid over the entire weekend which is what caused the edges of my plate to crumble and fall off.

The picture on the left is one of my first prints I did. i do like the outcome of this print however I used too much ink as I was having an impatient day after finding out my plate had been left in the acid. however you can still see the design i had scratched, which is why I like it.

On the right is a photo I took of my very first print from my etching. I do like this however there is too much ink on the plate as I didn't take my time to clear the excess ink off before printing. I found the ink was very stubborn to put on and take off the plate as it is so thick, this is one of the reasons I had too much ink on my print however i was also rushing a little as well.

This print is a little bit better however, This time there isn't enough ink on the plate as I ran it straight back through the printing bed as I wanted to see the effect I would get. I do like this effect, As I think it looks like an old fashioned photograph, I only wish I had printed this in black to make it look more like that. 

I am quit disappointed at this print. I tried printing this in two colours blue and green. However I completely for get when it came to wiping the excess ink off. As I was wiping the two colours merged together in places. There is lightly too much ink on however not as much as my first.

I found some parcel paper in the cupboard in the class room and decided to try printing on it. As it seems i cannot get the hang of having the right amount of ink on my plate.  

As a whole it is clear that i still need a lot more practice on etchings. I have done them before but that was last year and on a zinc plate the size of a credit card, which surprisingly makes it easier to get the right amount of ink on as it takes a lot less ink to put on in the first place. I began my etching print optimistic and confident.however as it didn't work out the first time when I placed it in the acid I started to second guess when I had to scratch back into it, And then of all things my plate gets left in the acid over the weekend which made me FREAK OUT! majorly. but I decided to give it ago since time was running out for my samples. As a whole I'm glad at the out comes of my prints as they tort me that just because something goes right the first time I try it doesn't mean it'll go right all the time. (This is one thing I would like others to keep in mind when they try any printing style)

That's all from my etching blog hope you'v enjoyed it. :)

lino prints for my Tour de France project

Linoleum was invented and used for floor covering in the late 1800's. When print makers where using wood blocks to print they where looking for an easier and cheaper way to print. eventually lino became a cheep way for poor, amateurs to print and also was helpful as a teaching product in school's. Lino's popularity only grew once famous artists known as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse began to  use them.

(Mark Andrew Webber lino piece)

To help with my lino I will be looking at the lino cut artist Mark Andrew Webber and his prints as I will be hoping to create an abstract print, with the Yorkshire rose in the middle.


USING A RANGE OF TOOLS.
As I began to make my lino cut I discovered there was quit a range of cutting tools. (shown on the photo to the left) V-gouges, U-gouges, large and small. Each tool will make a different mark. for example when I used the V-gouge it made a fine line when you use the tip, however when I carved deeper it made a thicker line.

CUTTING AND MAKING YOUR LINO PATTERN.
I found that drawing my image didn't show up very well in pencil. so I drew out my image in pen so I could see where I needed to cut. I found it nerve racking drawing straight onto my lino in pen as I am the kind of person to use a rubber a lot. however I found it wasn't as bad as I thought as I could find ways around if I drew a wrong line.

While cutting into my lino I found that I control the tool by the angle I held the too. The steeper the angle I help it the cutting edge went deeper, and the shallower the angle brings the cutting edge up.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Before I began carving on my lino I learnt that there are some health and safety I needed to follow.

The main rule for lino cutting is to always carve away from yourself to avoid cutting yourself, as the tools can be very sharp.
also it is better and safer to use a cutting block to stop your lino slipping meaning you don't have to use your free hand to hold it still so much also making it less likely to hurt yourself..





 MY LINO PIECE.
This is just the start of my print. so far I have only used the V-gouge and made my lines deep. I am planning on smoothing the lines on the petals for a smoother print later on.
I chose the Yorkshire Rose as it is a well known symbol of Yorkshire which relates to are current topic tour de France/ Grand de part. later on I will be attempting to make a some what abstract back ground including spokes from bike wheels, the dots for red poker-dots.





This images on the left is how my Lino looks previously and the blank bits that I haven't yet carved out yet I will continue to use the poker dot theme to fill them and give my lino a sort of abstract background, this has given me chance to experiment with different cutting tools and styles/textures and relate to my artist research.





Before I put ink onto my lino I first had to roll it out onto a surface, so that it isn't too thick on the lino.


This photo shows me rolling ink onto my lino. I found this to be a relaxing part of printing as it is ease and simple to do.The only problem I had was when it came to wanting a different colour as I had to keep rinsing my lino and roller so the colour's wouldn't mix with each other.



          






After I rolled ink onto my Lino I then grabbed a piece of blotted paper
place onto the printing bed and slowly role the bed so it would have an even amount of research all over it. I found this part to be relaxing and slightly exciting as I didn't know how the print would turn out.




Once I had finished rolling it threw the bed I then carefully grabbed the corner so I didn't get ink around the white frame that had been left around the actual print.







 I then stretched them onto a bored with gum strip so that they didn't wrinkled while drying. (it is not important that you do this however it just gives it a flatter more professional look.)


once they had dried i ended up with a nice collection of prints including a print on black card with white water based ink and a print on white paper with tissue paper glued down before printing with black water based inks.










I found this whole experience very relaxing and fun. From carving my lino to printing with it. I know this technique isn't for everyone whether its the carving lino or actually printing it, all I can say is stick with it and you will get the outcome you want. I have done lino printing before and am used to it but i did struggle at first.






















My Final prints for my project that was chosen by my class mates for my project.

This print was chosen by my class mates for one of my final print for my project. it has been made with black card, and white water based ink.

This print was also chosen for one of my final prints

it has been made on white catrige paper this tissue paper

stuck down onto it and then black water based ink printed over it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmLd4O2ROJo  I watched this video in class with my class mates and also a few others hope you enjoy :)