City Lit Yr 1 Term 2 Session 1 Print-making
Since I last wrote things got hectic what with school events, entertaining guests every day of Christmas and then having burglars ransack our house on New Year's Eve for every electrical item that we had, including my imac and my back-up drives with all art and photography I've ever taken in the digital age. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon - I've now got myself a new computer and have found another back up drive which may contain photos up to June 2016, which is far better than nothing - but - having spent a week and half on the fall-out from the burglary - I still need to spend a good day or more working out how to get into the drive and sorting stuff out... consequently no preparation was done for the print-making session on Tuesday, first day of Spring Term.
Brian Hodgson is our teacher for this term. Unfortunately we can't use any of the presses and are just stuck doing monotype and lino cut in the studio, which is a bummer because I really wanted to do more screen printing. The course now requires more homework and self-guidance, which is ok but I have too much I want to explore and need to hone it down. I had a funny conversation with Brian in which I told him I didn't know whether I should start with say, drawing corn on the cobs, or whether - if I'm interested in loss and nostalgia - I should start with wider conceptual ideas. He understood what I meant - and really said I should do both!!
He was also very open to mentoring and was pleased when I told him all the topics and materials that interested me. The clear thing is ACTION is needed - action in any direction - not paralysis. I've always said this - my problem is focussing because I get so inspired by everything.
Here's a video on how to register when you are doing a multicoloured linocut :
and here - ironically - are some of the photos of the printing board - rather than the prints themselves. I preferred these to what I produced in the class. If I am not prepared (in terms of ideas and practical steps forward) for a class I just produce stuff that I don't care about, has no meaning. Is too shallow because not enough thought has gone into it.
It's good to get in the habit of taking photos along the way through the process as that could lead you off in another direction - I always do this and go straight to photoshop or the photocopier to see what can be done next.
The other thing to remember is that if you work in terms of a SERIES, your work has much more validity. Produce a series and somehow your work seems not so crap! They want to see PROGRESSION OF IDEAS and always want you to be working from your sketchbook.
I haven't time to write down here what we learned, but here is Olivia's blogpost from last year for this same session!
and here is Daniel Bristow-Bailey's from 2012
see also Tracy Emin on monoprinting:
