evaluation

FMP evaluation.

For my FMP I decided to go with mental illness as my theme however as the theme is very broad and can sometimes be extremely complicated at times. With the help of my tutor I narrowed it down and decided to do it based on my “personal journey” which consisted of anxiety which developed into depression and then into agoraphobia. At first I wanted to take a darker approach to this topic and try and raise awareness for this issues and show what can happen if left too long, however college felt that the ideas that I had could be too dark and could strike back bad memory’s for people.  Which honestly left me in the dark for a while as I had been planning what I was going to do for months however I began to get into my artist research and looked at “Salvador Dali”, “Van Gogh”, “Edvard munch” and Picasso. These artist I found suffered from different types of mental illness such as depression, schizophrenia, etc. The once this I noticed was the use of vibrant colours such as yellows, oranges, etc. However as well as artist research I also went to an interview with the local charity team called “The immortals” which are a creative recovery group to help with people struggling with things such as mental illness, drug addictions and alcoholism, they do things such as camping trips, live music/poetry nights, bowling etc. they work to support people and introduce people to others that maybe suffering from the same problems and help people not feel so isolated. As this project was based on my personal experience, I decided to take more inspiration from the artist Picasso and van Gogh who did portraits. I started by taking photos of myself so that I could draw them. I also took a quick look at landscapes in my local area and take my own photographs looking at the abandoned barn at the back of my home, and in the local church graveyard and woods. As I was hoping to do a few surreal landscapes inspired by Dali however through lack of time I didn’t have chance to try any ideas/samples. I also decided to dabble in ceramic workshop making masks as I thought about how my mental illness made me feel like I had to hide behind a mask, however I decided to do a range of them from a normal looking one and also creepy demonic looking type one’s. As I was drawing from my primary photos of myself I ended up trying out different Medias, such as wall paints, chalk pastels, fire, pencil crayon, etc. I also decided to try and merge  two different photos that I took and liked what I saw and decided to try something a bit different and merge the three main emotions I felt while going through my troubles which was fear, sadness and also how I felt like I had to hide it behind a smile. This is what kick started the rest of my ideas into the three featured faces that progress through my project in my samples. One piece in particular came to me when I was having a rather bad day I decided to take it out in my artwork so I grabbed some Indian inks, red and blue. Which I felt represented how I felt at the time a mixture of anger and sadness with something that was effecting me at the time. I then drew a black outline version of my three faced merge painting I did and I found that I was quit taken with the piece of work as it was something I felt had my raw emotion in it.  I believe that if it wasn’t for lack of money I would have tried a lot more things such as jewellery, screen prints, and done more in the ceramic workshop I would have also bort myself newer paintbrushes as I feel that mine where frayed and made it difficult to paint with making my paintings consume more time also restricting my time as well which I felt also held me back as I started to try my hand in Photoshop but with the time limit I felt I didn’t have enough time to learn it and had to leave it in order to finish off the samples I was doing previous. I feel that these constraints influenced my work as I realised I needed to stick with something I was sure and comfortable at in order to get the best out of my FMP. As I already knew I was comfortable with Lino printing I decided to try and make it slightly more challenging but not so much that it would take too much time up. I decided to try printing words with my lino this was difficult as I had to make sure that each letter/word was carved out of the lino backwards. I also decided to try printing with not only water based inks I also experimented in ceramics using glazes trying out all the different colour oxides and the two different glazes. This I found interesting and different however I feel that I still have a lot to learn and develop on in ceramics however that doesn’t put me off as the bits I did do I loved and found relaxing. If there wasn’t a time constraint I would have defiantly experimented in all the workshops and carried out some samples for an idea I had but couldn’t go through with it as I didn’t have enough time. I would have also taken a more relaxed approach to this project so that I weren’t getting too stressed throughout. My final piece at first was extremely disappointing for me as it wasn’t what I had in mind at all. However I came to this design from my lino prints and self-portraits. I liked the black outline version of the three faced merge on the Indian ink backgrounds and decided to try the same style over the top of some of my prints. I felt that this was the way to go for my final design, however I noticed afterword’s that it looked more pop art style instead of any of the art styles I looked at, at the beginning.  I tried experimenting when printing with my lino as I decided to print over the top of Indian inks and also used black acrylic paint instead of water based ink that I usually print with, with lino. I’d say that using black acrylic didn’t work as it dry’s a lot faster than the water based inks making it rip and stick to the paper I tried to print with. I think my masks could have gone better as there not smooth around the edges and I wasn’t sure what glazes and oxides did what, I feel that I would defiantly try ceramics again and try get more of a professional look instead of it being rough around the edges. I would also use a wider range of printing such as screen printing, collagraph or etching. I feel that I didn’t manage my time as well as I would have wanted but I wouldn’t say it was terrible. I think what too most time up was staring some pieces in the jewellery workshop and deciding not to go through with it.  I feel with rushing around trying to get my ideas together what I wanted to do I let my blog slip and left it last minuet once again however I feel it was easier as I did keep doing bits but not publishing them which left me less work to do afterword’s. I feel that my final piece’s and prints however, I feel let down by myself as I feel that I haven’t actually captured  the way my mental illness affected myself and I feel it isn’t my strongest project and if I could do it over I would.  With either a different topic that isn’t so personal to myself or try and go a more abstract approach to the same topic I had chosen. I feel that I met my project proposal but is a very different way than I had originally planned to. I feel that I panicked a bit throughout and kept feeling like my work wasn’t good enough now that I have had time to stand back and look at it I believe this is because of what I previously said and is because I feel that I haven’t captured what I fully wanted to.

ceramic workshop

As I stated in my breath I hope to create some sort of sculptural piece for part of my FMP. This is why I decided to try my hands at ceramics once again. In stead of creating flowers like in my last project, I decided to create a mask as that is how it felt through my issues. I felt like I was always wearing a mask to hid what was relay going on inside my own head. However as I was making these masks my ceramics tutor kept giving me different ideas, As you will see within this blog.




Before doing anything I had to roll out my clay rather thin to prevent my designs being too heavy.



These are the two face molds that I used to create the main shape of my mask designs.
These molds where made out of Plasticine which can cause your ceramic work to explode in the kiln if it gets embedded.








After I had rolled my clay out and chosen which mold I wanted to use first I then carefully placed the clay into the mold and gently pressed it in with a sponge.
I Used a sponge as it prevents the likelihood of piercing the clay and also by using the sponge it gives and even pressure onto the clay preventing the chance of some features being stronger than others




As you can see this didn't quit work for me the first time as it was my first time ever doing something like this and I pierced the clay work. However my tutor showed me to patch them up but she also told me that it would show once its out of the mold. however as I am  basing my final project on Anxiety and depression I decided to keep this look as from my experience I felt like I was falling apart.


As I am also looking at demonic looking shadows and shadowy hands I decided to try and make a hand at shape the fingers to look more ghostly/demonic as I feel it fits in with the rest of my project work.




As one of my ideas was to have writing on a few of my masks I found these stamps out of the cupboards. the stamps are all different sizes and fonts, which I found looked interesting. I had to press these into the rolled out clay before pushing it into the mold.









These are how my masks and hand design came out after they ad been fired in the kiln.

This mask was a plain mold which I did nothing too before or after placing it within the mold as I wanted a "normal" looking mask as that was what I was going for. If I where to do this again I would be more careful when pushing the clay into the nose as it turned out a little wonky and squished. as well as the nose the face shape as a whole is off and looks strange however I feel like this works in a wired way as my project is on mental illness and nothing is what it seems or looks like.










This mask is the one that I molded after pushing letter stamps into the clay. the words I put on the mask are words that described how I felt/feel going through my troubles. I feel that I could have spent more time and care with this mold however I feel that cutting out the eyes made it look more messy and unprofessional. I also feel that by adding such big letters across the mask also made it look strange and wired. even thou this is the effect I was trying to go for I believe that this didn't work the way I wanted it to.  If i were to try this again I would use letter stamps that are the same size instead of different sizes and think more about where I put them instead of just placing them randomly.








This mask is my favorite mask so far as I feel this came out how i was hoping. I decided to  put cracks into it and also while it was in the mold a few places tour meaning I had to patch them us which give the chipped sort of look. within the chipped looking parts I tried to make it look quit scabby. This was my way of expressing how I felt once again going through my troubles. I felt as thou myself and my whole world was falling apart. I feel that I got the overall shape of the face right and the nose didn't squish or go wonky.












After I pulled the clay hand out of the mold I noticed that the top of the fingers looked quite narrow and pointed. This gave me an idea to squish the fingers slightly using my finger tips making them look more skinny and bony. I also really pointed the nail part of the hand to look very sharp almost like animal claws. As one of my pieces is a fairly large cardboard cut out of a shadow, I feel this would look good painted black as it would go well and mach the shadow cutout. I was also thinking about creating a background for the hand that looks like it had been dragged down it ripping the paper or what ever I choose to create my background for this piece.






After my masks and hand was finished I then went on to glazing them.

I decided to use cobalt oxide and water with stone ware trms glaze on the right hand side of the mask and palterson's dry glaze on the left. I decided to do this as I wasn't that happy with how the mask turned out after the glazing however I decided to use it as an opportunity to see how the different glazes look in compassion to each other. also the cobalt oxide is supposed to turn out blue after being kilned one last time. the blue came from inspiration from Picasso blue period, which I looked at for my artist research.

For this sample I used; red iron oxide with candeic and stone ware trms glaze. I saw another sample of how this should turn out, and I liked the rusty look that it can create using this. I also feel that the rusty look and feel will fit in with my project as when metal is rusty it chips away slightly which is how my mental illness made me feel. I also think that it goes with a lot of the metal frames within the abandoned farm at the back of my house which ties in as well with the project.









This sample had been done with; Black iron oxide with red iron oxide with water and stone ware trms (glaze) on the outer parts of the mask and Palterson's dry glaze in the cuts. I used the Black iron oxide as I was told by my ceramic teacher that it can give a burnt look to your clay which I thought would go well with one of my experimental portrait designs I have done. I also decided to carefully add red iron oxide mixed with water into the cracks and cuts to make them look like there fresh and raw as to my project is quit raw and fresh in my mind.













Because This hand is supposed to be some what demonic looking/(creepy) as it is featured I decided to mash a load of the colours together and make it look exceptionally wired and strange to go with the rest of my project.  I used candiec with chromium oxide and black iron oxide with paterson's dry glaze and stoneware trms mixed.

primary research photo's

As I am hoping to try drawing a few surreal landscapes, I decided to go out and take photos of local landscapes in my village to help inspire me.

This photo was taken at a woods in my village. I decided to take it, as I really loved the way the land sloped towards the small stream running through it.  
I also found that the trees looked more intriguing to me than the ones starting to bloom again. I think that I will most probably use trees without leafs for inspiration as it is more dark and dreary. the exact effect I hope to give out within my paintings. 

This photo was taken in the woods at my village. I found myself very, inspired with the way the land splits and breaks in this photo. This will be very good for my surrealistic landscapes and create them into proper cracks and gaps in the ground. I believe this would really express how at the beginning of my mental illness it felt like my hole world was falling apart.

As I was walking through the woods I found this small stream and decided to get a close up pic pf it as I was really taken by the gentle calming flow of the water. I want to try and challenge myself and recreate this calm feeling within a few of my surreal paintings but also try and add a dark and sad feel to the viewer. 

As I took this photo I imagined drawing the landscape as normal to try and create a calm relaxed rural feel to the viewer. But then I want the reflection to create a more negative feel, I would probably try to draw the Trees full of leafs and then in the reflection draw the trees dying and more darker.

On my way back home I was walking past the church yard in my village and thought that I could try a few graveyard type landscapes to emphasize a more darker, sadder feel to a couple of my landscapes. 

After taking a few pics of landscapes and looking at the grave yard it got me thinking about how different tombstones and graves are from each other. Which made me decided to do a few close up photos of tombstones I found to be rather eye catching and interesting.

This was one of the first stones that I came across. I really loved the texture of the stone and shape. I also found the grave itself rather fascinating as it looks to be a couples grave which i find very sweet. however I find it sad that the grave itself was plain and coated in concrete, As I never really expected to see graves like this. 

I really couldn't get over how this gravestone in particular was traditionally shaped but also has sunk into the ground over time. I find this symbolic in a way as my project is to show my personal journey through mental illness and i thought it was berrying me mentally. which is another reason I am using a grave yard as inspiration.

I thought this grave stone was quite cute and modern. Although it is smaller than the rest of the grave stones within the yard.Which made it stand out. 

This isn't really a gravestone however this metal fencing was around a grave. As I am going to be trying my skills out in the jewelry workshops I was interested in the detail and pattern's crafted on the metal.

This small fencing was around another grave. I was more interested in this one than the previous as theirs more to it (pattern wise). I also find the rusting look very interesting and really adds an old feel to the yard as a whole. I will defiantly try make a few of my metal samples look like there starting to rust. 

It wasn't the metal post i was particular interested in within this picture, but more the part at the left hand side with the handing shape on it that I was interested in. As it got me thinking about creating y own little key-rings that I could present and sell at my exhibition that relates to my work.

After the Grave yard I decided to have a look around the old farm at the back of my house which is currently abandoned. I decided to take photos of this place to help inspires some back grounds for my portraits I will be creating and figurative pieces As I was walking through the building I felt a slightly nervous and was extremely cautious as the building is very old and some bits are beginning to fall apart in areas. (however always remember to get permission first as abandoned buildings can be dangerous and have someone with you supervising.) 

One of the first things to catch my eye was this window as my project is based around my anxiety and how it developed from anxiety to agoraphobia to depression. while i was suffering from agoraphobia I couldn't look out of windows to the outside world. this in itself made me begin feeling trapped not only within my own home but in my own mind.  

As I was walking past the old house part of the farm I noticed how the wall paper is slowly peeling itself off the wall though age and damp. I really feel this photo is symbolic to me as it reminds me again how my mental illness effected my thought process and my emotions.as it made me feel like I was peeling away from real life. and this is exactly what I felt when I saw this. 

Out side I came across this padlock which has rusted and even began to come off along with the hinge. Once again this makes me think about my jewelry workshop and what I can use as inspiration.

Within the building I found my self focusing on the windows more than anything within this building as windows will play a large part of my project. I loved the bear brick wall effect as it made the room feel even more lonely and empty. the exact feel I want to give to some of my artwork. 

These rooms where very bear and empty,as to be expected with abandoned buildings. However I enjoyed the worn down look of the bricks and concrete. The emptiness to me stud out even more with the dark grey colours. this is defiantly something I will remember and consider when painting my backgrounds. 

I really loved the way the light was breaking through the broken wooden panels of the huge barn doors. I can defiantly see myself using this as inspirational for a few surrealistic peaces as loads of ideas flood my brain when I look at this photo.

I'm not going to put up every photo of the windows as there are quit a few. However this window stands out in particular to me with the dust and cobwebs and also the bars on the windows. as to me it gives a sort of trapped prison feel. 

As I was walking around the building. I noticed wires and rope hanging from the walls and support beams. This made me think about the jewelry work shop again and how I could use these wires and rope for inspiration to create bracelets or necklaces that relate to my project. 

( I did not break into the building as I only went into the parts what where open and not blocked off, I also had a friend with me as a second pear of eyes for any sign of parts falling)

creative recovery.

Today I went to see the creative recovery team in my local area.
I had a talk with Helen, Hayly and Paul, and reordered my conversation.

They help by introducing creative processes using different kinds of mediums. when they meet a person they really try to get to know the person at the point they are at "mentally" weather that is to cope with there feelings and emotions or to interact with people again.  they describe that creative recovery helps to break people out of there ruts as it breaks from the usual habits and allows slight freedom of mind/emotion. when i was with these people they explained to me what they do and why and also gave me there Facebook pages listed below.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Recovery/356588951018801?sk=photos_stream&tab=photos_albums

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-are-The-Immortals/133488446822886?ref=br_tf

https://www.facebook.com/clareburdekinEMDR


part way through my interview they showed me this poem that there group created. I listened to it on there computers as they had lots of people from there recovery group to say each line which made the words even more power full, Here is the poem below.....

"We are Creative Recovery

We are the starting of lives, the opening of doors, the enveloping of wings and the soaring high
We are the letting down of guards, the acceptance of a family, a safe place to explore me

We are Creative Recovery
We are the lost and found
We are the knowing that there’s not just one way to be, that I matter

We are Creative Recovery
We are fresh ideas
We are colour and sound
We are the completion of projects and the realisation that it’s possible in your own life too
We are the building of confidence, the opening up, never feeling more alive

We are Creative Recovery
We are the expression of thought, and understanding the chaos inside
We are NOT dwelling on our illnesses
We are learning how to live again

We are Creative Recovery
We are trail blazing, filling the gap
We are the cultural shift, reimagining the future and rewriting the script
We are new perspectives, challenging the same old
We are changing the way YOU think

We are Creative Recovery
We are the reason to get going and keep going
The joyful charge into tomorrow,
We are anti-sorrow, lighting up the town.
We are the knowing. The dreaming. The belief that it’s all possible."

I feel like I could make my own poem simulate to my recovery and also asking people to say different lines and make a short video or recording and post it on my blog and also have it playing on a tablet for my exhibition. 

Within the interview I asked them why they became interested in helping people that struggle with mental illness and drug/alcohol problems. when I asked this question i was really shocked to find that each of them had there own personal experiments with mental illness. from depression to bipolar. each of them said that Art or Music was there one and only love but they wanted to use it to help people through what they are good at and slowly over time they have created this charity.  

Here are also a few pictures from there facebook group of the examples of the creative pieces they do.

Creative recovery have many events such as camping residential's, bonfires, music/poetry nights, comedy and arts and crafts. I have had the opportunity to experience one of these nights first hand at the Civic in Barnsely last Friday evening. I found that the people at the event were very friendly and welcoming however I sadly regret that I wasn't confident enough to talk to many people which is why I went back to speak to the people who set the event up today and they have told me about an even that happens every Monday 7 pm while 9 pm at the YMCA building in Barnsely, which I will be attending and taking photos and mantal notes of the evening and the events.

what i need to produce for my F.M.P

What I should produce: (AS A MINIMUM)

• A4 research file (including content sheet/ project proposal/ bibliography)
• sketchbook, blog, written daily and visual records
• drawn research sheet (theme)
• 2x A2 artist research sheets
• 3x A2 design development sheets
• experimental sampling,trails-well presented
• photographic evidence of work in progress and annotation
• 2x A2 final design sheets
• Final piece/ pieces
• end of project final evaluation with visuals.
• costing tech file completed to a high standard. 

I have a sheet/ booklet with this information in. however I think its in my best intentions to wright it on my blog just in case I lose my booklet.

my final major project (F.M.P) brief

william morrise and company

This project that I am currently working on is based around William Morris and Pablo Picasso as I had to choose another artist along side William Moriss. To create either a sample of wall paper or a canvas. I have decided that I will try to do both a wall paper sample and a canvas to hand in to my tutor at the end of this "live" project. I am also working with a client from Barnsely civic. The clients name is David and if he likes what I have made by the end of my project there is a chance my work will be presented in the Civic.

I took this photo on my phone when I went to the Civic to have a look at where my final piece will be displayed if David likes it. The wall you see running along side the stairs is where mine and my class work could be displayed.
I also looked and noticed that all the walls are a plain neutral white except the back wall witch is stones. this got me thinking about how bright/ dark to make my pieces so that it would complement its surroundings as I am creating a wall paper sample.

Research.

Before starting to think of any ideas, I've been researching William Morris and found he was the founder of the Arts and Craft movement in the 1880. And Pablo Picasso who was one of the creators of the cubism movement (along with Georges Braque's) I found that I had set myself a rather large challenge to combined both of their styles to create a different style. I first thought that Williams art work was extremely detailed and cramped witch began to make me doubt my artists capability for this project as I had never attempted something so detailed and full. However when I was looking at Picasso's work I found I preferred his Blue period rather than his more commonly  known cubist work. I started to think about how I was ever going to do this project. 

I decided to search around on the internet for artist research before starting any of my own ideas. I came across a couple of quotes that William and Picasso said in there lift time that made me rethink this project and give it a try here are the quotes I found. these quotes helped me to fill my first two pages in my sketch book and do two pencil portrait of William and Picasso  and have a quot under them.

(I found these images/quotes on google images.)

After reading theses and having them in my book to keep reminding myself I then began giving this project my all and found that what I thought and suspected to be difficult came rather naturally for me. And I began filling page after page in my sketch book with ideas and wall paper samples that I got from BnQ and Wilko's in Barnsely. As I was in the shop i came across some wall paint sample pots as I found that resonantly it has been discovered Picasso used common wall paints for his art work, which made me want to do a couple of sheets of critical study on Picasso's work. and I ended up with this
on this
















I found that wall paints came very easy for me to use than most paint type media that I have used before. And it is defiantly a media I would use again in the future. It was also after doing these two sheets that I decided I wanted to focus on his blue period so I did a little research into his blue period and put it into my sketch book.


research out of the way; I then followed the next step on the design cycle and began to plan out different  ideas for a final piece into a second sketch book. I was really set on making a self portrait with floral hair as I didn't know any other way to combined there two styles however after I had spoken to David (My client) and he said he'd like to see floral designs like Williams but have them in all shades of blue and make them sketchy like the style of Picasso's blue paintings witch got me thinking and got to work on that straight away so I wouldn't for get it and after a few quick sketches in pen and Indian inks I showed David before he left and we both agreed this was a lot better than my ideas previous.  after we talked and figured out what would look better and what David wanted to see I got straight to work creating samples for my final piece these consisted of Lino, screen print and etching as well as a breath one day in the Ceramics room as I wanted to try making flowers and a floral style in clay as I found Picasso also dabbled in ceramic work.

Experimenting

CERAMIC'S

As I found out that Picasso also had a lot of ceramic pieces I decided to try it out myself and create flowers out of the clay after walking to David about making flowers like Picasso's blue period. as you can see in my photo all the flowers look quit cartoon like and laid back. Witch is my opinion on what Picasso's blue period looks like.


First I grabbed a lump of clay out of the pot and began rolling it out using a rolling pin and two wooden guides, both the same thickness to make sure my clay is evenly thick.

I found this part rather boring but necessary as with out thinning the clay I wouldn't be able to make the base for my tile or fold and mold the clay for different samples.


after rolling my clay out i then placed a red fabric square onto my clay to show me the size of the tile that I wanted. Afterwards i then used one of the wooden runs and a clay knife to cut around the square neatly for the base of my tile.


After I ave my square piece of clay I then used the excess clay and a circular cookie cutter that we use in the ceramics room I placed it onto the edge to give me a semi circle and then cut it out again shown on the photo to the left. this was shown to me by my ceramics tutor and this is one way to get a smooth petal/leaf shape out of clay.


I found using the cookie cutter was a loot easier and neater than trying to make the leaf shapes by hand. however I also found calving the shapes out of the excess clay with the clay knife is a good way to create a leaf as well. In the picture to the right I av not yet fixed the leaf shapes down I am just placing them and starting to plan out where to put each shape.


searching threw the basket of objects that can add patterns and sometimes texture into the clay I found this interesting as it looks like an abstract sort of flower. Id also like to point out in this pic on the left you can see what the stamp looks like on my piece of clay and  another position that i put my petals in to see how it'd look.

I also found this interesting looking piece in the basket. I decided to push some excess clay into it and then pull it out to see what shape and effect I would get. I was very impressed with the effect as it looks like a rose, after taking this pic I used the knife to get rid of the extra clay around the now shaped part. (The stamp and the rose shaped thing are both made out of clay that has already been shaped and heated)


I also found a star shaped cookie cutter and decided to cut a few star shapes out and then layer them up as shown in the photo to the left and then used the end of a pencil for the circle' in the center, I found that this made them look like flowers but not only that the one on the right reminds me of Picasso as it doesn't look like your typical soft curved petaled flower.



all that I have explained n photographed has given me this end result.For the flower in the center I cut petal shapes out using the knife and carefully positioning them over lapping. (This took me quit a bit of time as I wanted to get it even and neat afterwards  used to pin tool to scratch the lines into the petals giving it a more textured look.
This is the furthest I have currently got with my ceramic pieces as I found myself starting other things and getting more interested in them as they are more important than these few ceramic samples however I will post photos with information on how I did them when i have chance to finish them.

All the piece of clay are stuck together using "SLIP" which is just old bits of clay and water, before putting the slip on you need to scratch lines into the pieces you are sticking down and scratch into the piece you are sticking it onto before using the slip as glue to stick them together. (this can be very messy so be sure you wear an apron and remove any jewelry off your fingers.)

LINO PRINTING

When doing Lino there are a few safety rules that you need to know.

1. When calving your pattern out of the Lino always make sure you calve away from your hand and fingers as the tools can be very sharp and can give really deep cuts (as i have found in the past) 
2. It is better to use a Bench Hook as it prevents you from cutting into your work surface and also while calving away from your hand stops the blade going too far if your hand slips as it will just hit the batten that is on the top and bottom of the hook at opposite ends.

The reason I decided to try Lino printing again is because I found William Morris had used it a few times for his work and I also wanted to see the effect that I would get trying to create wall paper samples from a piece of Lino and how hard it would be to get a repeated pattern from a piece of Lino.

This photo was taken by my friend in class as i needed both hands to work into my Lino. This is the first Lino I did within this project as i forgot to take a photo of my cutting my final Lino piece, However i will upload a photo of my final Lino later on. As you can see in this Photo i am Using the bench hook and calving away from my hand i found this very annoying as I ad to keep stopping to turn my Lino round for the curved parts. 

 

In this Photo you can seen that the inks I prefer to use for Lino printing are water based, I prefer these as they are much easier to clean up afterwards and are a lot easier to wash off your Lino than oil based inks, they also don't stain your skin for as long. In this photo I have got two different shades of blue, a white and a black water based ink colours this is so I can get different shades of blue as I am trying out William Moriss style floral patterns with the blue shades of Picasso's Blue period, However I do try my pattern in different natural colours for a bit of fun experimentation afterwards which I will shoe the photos of them as well.


First I squeeze  some ink onto a large glass surface (As its easier to clean ink off of) and I used my roller to spread the ink out evenly so it wouldn't be too thick




once my ink was rolled out I then used my roller and began rolling the ink onto my lino making sure it was evenly covered everywhere for the best result. (as you can see the ink being rolled onto my Lino is Black rather than the light blue in the photo to the left this is because I forgot to take a photo of me rolling the blue ink onto my Lino.

Once the Lino is coated with ink I then placed it face down onto my paper were I want it,





Secondly I placed a piece of fabric over the top of my Lino to add a little more pressure through the bed.











once your happy with where your Lino is and  begin to turn the  wheel to move your lino threw the bed. and after you will get a print like these...












I apologize for them being in group shots instead of individual however I am having some difficulty getting them all singular onto the blog and in appropriate positions. However in the photo to the right there is a print that is lite blue, This was not done by water inks but instead Puff binder from the textiles room to give a raised rubber type texture to my print just like some wall papers. i got this idea from a sample of wall paper in my sketchbook that i had collected.

Pleas REMEMBER when printing wear an apron and gloves to prevent ink stains on your skin or cloths and also have you hair tied back to stop your hair getting into the inks.

screen printing.

I chose to try screen printing as it is another way some artists including Morris made/make wallpaper.

I have already done screen printing before as well as Lino. however as an artist you find that no matter how many times you do something theirs always something new you can try.

Before you screen print there are a few things you need to do:

1. (in my college I need to sign into the print room before starting anything)
2. Make sure you have your hair tied back, gloves on and an apron to cover your cloths and stop the dies and pigments getting onto your hands.
3. when using the pigments remember to put the lids back onto them properly to stop them dry up or even any spillages for the next person to use them.
4. Keep your work surface as clean as possible so not to contaminate any other work with inks and pigments 
5. when using the jet wash to clean your screens don't point it and any body or anywhere besides at your screen ans squeegee. 
6. when placing your screen into the heat cupboard remember to place it properly onto the rack and don't leave the door open. 

This time i wanted to try out a few back grounds to print my screen onto instead of just plain blocked colours like white, black, etc, whereas this time I used dies on plain white paper and also a colarge.

First I used these cups to measure out my dies so that I could keep notes on of it in case I wanted or needed to do it again with the same colours. I desided to use the big one witch is about 50ml. to create my colours I used 50 50 to get an even colour however somtimes I found I needed to ad an extra 25 in if the colour wasnt quite the shade I wanted.

For one of my back grounds I Mixed a green die, as I didn't really like the shade of the green die college already hand. I used 50 yellow and 50 blue and I found I really liked the green as it was lighter on my white paper just like I expected.
I decided to go for a green colour as my pattern is floral and I thought the green would complement and match with the pattern I also wanted to add a bit more colour so I added a few splashes of red onto my back ground to break from the green I used the red from college and the wrong end of the paint brush and just splattered the red onto the paper like that and I found this rather therapeutic for me.

I then decided to use the same green I had made (to prevent wasting) and drew a flower that looks somewhat cartoon like as I remembered that David (my client) said he wanted to see more floral patterns in the kind of style Picasso would have probably done them in his blue period.This was done by one of my paint brush and the yellow die that was in college already I found it a little challenging as I felt like it looked rubbish as it was painted straight on without being drawn out first and I was trying to loosen up as Picasso's work is loose and expressive, I don't thing this flower is very expressive but I would say it is quite loose n laid back



For this background I decided to use bits of news paper and tissue paper to create a collage to print onto, to see what effect it would give with the print. As you can see I forgot to take a photo of it before I printed but your can see that the colorful back ground really makes the black pattern stand out which is the effect I wanted. I decided to use bright colours and fairly bold straight edged shapes, as I just wanted to try my own version of Picasso's cubism with the bright blocked colours as I was curious and even though I knew I wasn't going to be used for a final piece I'm glad I tried it as I know know for future porous that screen printing onto collage does work out rather well.

 After I had made my backgrounds I then placed them to dry on the drying racks out of the way so that I could clean my area, ready for actually screen printing and get my pigments ready.

When making your pigments to print with you need to use "Binder" a white looking substance  that is actually clear but helps the colour for your print to thicken and actually print properly.

When choosing the colour for my pigments I find its a good idea to take notes as there can be a few shades of the same colour (For example : Brilliant red and Rubin red) each pigment pot also has a code after the color such ad (BR, R ,ect.) it is important to take note of that as well in case I need to repeat a print again in the same colour for my client.In the photo to the right you can also see things that look like tong depressors or lollipop sticks these are what I use to mix the colour with the binder, However when I do this I only dip the tip into the colour as you don't need a lot when mixing with binder as I have found out in the past.

Once I have got my pigment mixed to the colour I wanted in a plastic cup I then place my screen over one of my background (when completely dry) and then place a bit of my pigment onto my screen just above my patter. when ready I then use my squeegee dragging the pigment ink down then back up to make sure I'v printed all of my pattern and got the right amount of colour threw. (sometimes I have found it is easier to use a couple of weights to hold my screen still as it can sometimes move when dragging my ink down which can effect the outcome of my print.

I repeated this for the rest of my prints with the same colour on the back grounds here are the end results to those ones...

As you can see the one with out a back ground looks fuzzy, This is because my screen hadn't full dried and I tried adding a little bit of red into the print along side the black the dampness of my screen made the print look fuzzy but I kind of like this effect as it gives me a Gothic psychedelic feel that iv not seen before but think it works well.

This black print on a plain white back ground is less fuzzy than the other as this was my first print to make sure my screen worked and is the pigments worked on cartridge paper which from this experiment I now know they do. 

I also tried screen printing a self portrait with my original idea a portrait in the style of Picasso's blue period but instead of hair have vines, leafs and flowers. this print what originally from a painting i did in my sketch book (Original image shown in the right photo)  I also tried out something rather new to me with screen printing which is printing with a substance called "Puff binder" which unlike Binder allows you to create a raider pattern that feels somewhat like rubber by printing with it and then using a "heat gun" to create a reaction with the Puff binder that allows it to raid up. 

As you can see it is best to rest your print onto something when using the heat gun as sometimes things off the table can seep onto your sheet in my case it was wax from the batik table I was on the messed my print up as well as holding the heat gun slightly too close where it almost burnt my paper (you can just see a yellow dot in the hair) however it was my first time using it and as mt Tutor says "your not likely to get it perfect on your first go" which is why I decided to try it on my Lino print that I showed you earlier on and it went a lot better than my first attempt.

I decided to work back into one of my prints with a pen coloring the lips and eyes in and adding minor detail like darker eyelashes around the eyes to make it look less like a brainwashed person. and I found I in my opinion just those minor changes really made the print better.

As a whole i found screen printing very relaxing and easy. I learnt a few things I didn't know before such as the use f puff binder and the dies and i will defiantly return to the textiles room to do some more experimentation and sampling.

Making paper.

Most of my class mates had made there own paper within the first year of college however due to personal evens I wasn't able to try it. But as soon as I had the chance to I made sure I  found that this experiments wasn't really for people who don't like mess and getting hands in. 

If you where to try this you should remember:

1. use an apron to stop you cloths from getting messier.
2. gloves aren't required but I would suggest them if you are using dies in the mix
3. tie your hair back if you have long hair to it could fall into the mix and be messy.

First I shredded the paper up rather finely and added warm water to it mixing it around. I found using my hands to mix it with was easier and better as i could tell when it was done. afterward you drop a handful into a tray of warm water wand use your hand to separate the mixture a little it is at this point i was told i could add die to the mixture however I wanted to make a plain white one at first. I was also told you can use kitchen roll as well and it is supposed to be better than ordinary paper.

Next i got a mesh tray and placed it into the water moving it side to side to get a nice even layer of shredded paper coating it. one i felt i had enough i pulled it out of the water letting the excess water drip off before placing it face down onto some cloth peeling the wet paper off and waiting for it to set placing it onto the drying rack after i had made a white piece I then used "Brusho inks" to change the colour of the paper. However I tried putting one onto the paper as it was still whet on the cloth and I then tried putting some ink into the water. I found it didn't really make a difference whether the ink was added to the water or onto the paper. 

here are my samples...

These samples are the ones I did with the ink in the water I also tried adding more texture to the one on the right as you can see.

The blue one on the left is the sample that I put the ink onto the paper as it was drying. I found this really fun but I honestly can't see myself doing this again as the paper was too thin and flimsy to do much with, although I might try making the white paper again and draw on it with colored pencils to see the effect i get but other than that I couldn't see the point in this after I had done it for myself.

Final Pieces.

after my research and experimenting I found that it could be best for my wall paper to have a back ground with different shades of blue with a black floral pattern that repeats itself. I Used my lino from my samples as I found that that pattern really worked. 

I am currently decorating my bedroom and have plain white rolls of wall paper, I cut a bit off from the roll  so then my final wall paper sample looked and felt more like an actual piece of wall paper. 

as I was deigning the back ground I used masking tape to keep it rolled out and to prevent it wrinkling from the "Indian inks" I decided to water the inks down a bit so that the colours wouldn't be too dark so that the pattern would still show. I filled the cap off the inks with the Blue and poured it into a plastic cup I then poured water into the same same and added it then I began adding more caps of water for lighter shades until the background was covered I also used small bits of extremely watered down black ink to highlight some of the paler blue areas. 

This is how it turned out...

I wanted to leave some white areas as Picasso's blue period really exaggerate the light and dark patches in his work however I couldn't exaggerate the dark parts of my work on this as it would distract from the floral pattern in the for ground. 

The print bed that I had to use for my wall paper sample was originally set for etching prints but as the original Lino print bed was too slip for the width my wall paper is I had to ask one of my tutors to change the pressure of the bed so that I could use it.

Once it had dried I then began rolling my water based inks out and covering my lino with the black ink

I found this bit really needed some patients and accurate as i needed to make sure my pattern was as close to the edge of my wall paper as I could get it as i needed to place my lino carefully to mach the pattern each time I printed.

As show by these two photos.

I am very happy at the final out come as it has gone how I wanted and expected, and I can really see myself doing something  like that in the future. If i where to do this again thou I would probably use a bit bigger piece of Lino to try and save time. 

here is my finished wall paper sample...

My other final piece I decided to paint two canvases but this time I decided to paint the flowers in fairly depressive colours like dark blue, purple, etc as Picasso's blue period came around after the loss of his friend. I decided to use brush inks for my media as they seemed to work rather well with the mode of my painting. I have drawn the flowers loosely  and with not much detail as that's how Picasso painted within his blue period. I found I wasn't quit as happy with the out come of this final piece as I am with mt wall paper sample As I feel its just not as good and looks slightly rushed. however I am very pleased with myself and the way I have handled everything in this project and I have proven to myself that just because I "THINK" something is going to be hard and I wont be able to do it, isn't always true and this project has given me the confidence boost I needed when it came to trusting my own capability.