Papermaking Part 3

After we had learned the basics of papermaking, we then had to try applying some of the printmaking techniques we learnt last year using our handmade papers.

With my last name being "Bird" I wanted to make a print of something that was both fun and had a personal connection to me. So I came up with a falling feathers design which I cut out of lino. This was quite fiddly but I think the outcome is worth it.

Left to right: Fiber paper; plain paper; recycled paper/newsprint

 

 

 

                         

 

 

All of these were printed on handmade paper (pulp and fiber). I also included the photo of it printed on normal paper to show the design more clearly. I am really pleased with these samples and will consider this design when thinking about my final piece.

 

 

Papermaking Part 2

After learning the basics of wet papermaking techniques, we then tried dry fibre techniques using greaseproof paper and an iron to turn the fibres into "paper".

This method is a lot faster than the wet method because there is hardly any water to start with and any that is there, gets evaporated by the heat from the iron. It is also a lot easier to add colour with the dry method.


Here are some of the pieces I made...

I really like the effect made by the blue in the last "paper"  and I think it really helps make the flowers stand out.

I also tried using a few pieces of butterfly wing which I found in our garage last year...

I really like the delicateness the wings give to the already fragile "paper". I wish I had more butterfly wings to use but I will have to wait until they die off later in the year.

I have also embedded some different herbs/spices to varying success.

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Paprika

Pepper

Rosemary

I think the rosemary and pepper samples worked better than the others because the powdered spices spread out more when I sprayed the water on. Some of these papers also smell a bit of the spices I used.

I really enjoyed experimenting with the different additives and colour possibilities and I hope to be able to use some of these ideas for my final piece (which I have yet to decide on - any ideas would be appreciated).

Information Graphics: Show Racism the Red Card part 2

I decided to do the One Heart idea as the final for this task because it was simple and I thought it got the message across better.

I wanted to try this design on canvas because I thought it was a less traditional way of making a poster.

First, I printed the design on A4 acetate and used a projector to enlarge the image to fit the canvas (40x50cm). I then used red acrylic to create the idea of veins, however I used cadmium red so that it would be as similar as possible to the red in the logo.

When the paint was dry, I used a light-box to trace the writing in the middle of the heart and then used "paynes gray" acrylic to make it stand out.

I then used the same process to add the logo this time also using some red paint.

I am really pleased with the result and think it is very effective in conveying the "Red Card" message.

FMP: Exploring the Possibilities

Final Major Project is the unit which will make up most of the work we use for our exhibition so it is really important that we like what we are doing for this unit.

After the success (and enjoyment) of my Narrative Image Making unit, I decided to do decoupage for my FMP. I will be looking at the theme of Environmental Identity and how the environments we experience affect the people we are/become.

Using some of the drawings I have previously done, of places that mean something to me, I have made several decoupages just experimenting with different depths and sizes. I found the colours in the drawings also had an effect on the appearance of the pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of these were quite hard to figure out where I should cut out to make the next layer and others were harder because they had some really fiddly bits (e.g. the telegraph pole in the top one). However, I still really enjoy this way of working and can't wait to work out what I will do for my final piece.

Information Graphics: Show Racism the Red Card part 1

For the second task of this unit, we were asked to design an A2 poster for "Show Racism the Red Card".

I had a few ideas for this, but the two I narrowed it down to were:

 The idea on the left is a list of racism-related films with the year and country that they were made in.

During the six years I spent at high school, I watched a few of these either on last days of term or just at home. For example, "Schindler's List" was watched for English essays; "The Blind Side" was a last day of term viewing; and "Something New" I watched at home.

It was thinking about "The Blind Side" which gave me this idea, because of the poem "White Walls", and it got me to thinking about how many films there are that involve racism in some way. So I did some research and found a list of these films. I decided to make the text red to fit in with the Red Card part of the task. I also used the Red Card logo.


The idea on the right is an image of a heart-shape made using vein type lines. I was thinking about how the differences between races don't really matter and that we are all part of the human race. I think that is the one race that people don't actually think about when someone says "race" in this context. I wanted to make people think about the race that EVERYONE is part of - the race that connects us all - the human race.


This was an interesting task and it really made me think about the difficulties that some people have accepting that we are all the same.

Please comment on which idea I should use.

Information Graphics: Art Student Identity

For the first task in this unit we had to work in pairs to create an A1 poster that showed the identity of an art student. I worked with Morgan for this.

We started by doing a mind map of ideas and things that we thought were connected to art student identity e.g. materials, personality traits, etc. It was good working in pairs because we could get/merge ideas until we agreed on our final design.

We decided to do a poster in landscape format on black mount-board with two stickmen  showing the differences between "normal" and "art" students. This is our final poster:

For the "art" student side, we decided to use colourful paint to splatter both the person and the typography (we chose Helvetica and made it bold so that it was legible and eye-catching). There is also glitter to further express the creativity of art students. The art student's hands are at his head to suggest the chaos and madness that, as art students, we sometimes have to deal with.

I really like this design and enjoyed working with Morgan to create it. I also found it useful having someone to talk through and develop ideas with.

Papermaking part 1

On 3rd February, we started our "Papermaking and Printmaking" unit and we experimented with making our own paper, and using some different additives - I used some flower petals and dill.

We started by tearing up loads of mount board (thick white card) into really small pieces and putting them in a 'bath' of warm water. We then took a handful of the wet paper, put it in a blender filled up with more water and liquidized it to a pulp.

It was then poured into another 'bath' and we used a mould (like a picture frame but with mesh stapled across it) to create rough edged pieces of handmade paper. These were actually really hard to get off the mould and we had to use a lot of paper-towels to absorb as much water as possible. After we had made about six or seven pieces of paper we placed them in a press to try to remove any excess water.

The paper took a long time to dry - mine was still damp the following day, so I took it home to spread it out so that it would dry quicker - it was dry within a few hours. Here are some of the papers I made:

I really like the effect the additives create - I think the petals, etc. make the paper more interesting.