BA2 Fine Art - Reflective Journal

This week we started the first session of the photo etching process, which is something that I had deep interest in as I enjoyed the previous etching processes. For the image I chose to reuse the gender symbol maquette that I had made as I really liked the idea of using an image of a 3D object and making it 2D. It also relates back to my own work and ideas around gender, equality and feminism.  The process is much like screen printing, where you use a photosensitive ink on the copper plate and expose the image with a lamp, then help the image to expose and then use acid to etch away the parts that are not covered by the ink, using aquatint as well, and then clean the plate. I really liked how my image came out as I was worried it was going to come out too light but it came out successfully, with the shading in the right places. I I then went ahead and printed from the plate the following week. I did several prints in black ink, and then a hand...

I enjoyed screen printing more this year due to wanted to come out of my comfort zone, so decided to carry on with it, and develop my screen prints further. I wanted to experiment with layers and using different colours, and possibly print on top of images/text which was suggested in a group crit. I first played around with different colours, and did some more background prints using the floral image on my screen. I then started to play around with layers, starting with the same colour as I liked how the image became distorted once you start to add more layers. I then came back, and started to use different colours when overlapping, I chose a light blue and red as they seemed to work with the purple base colour (and blue + red = purple which is something that I didn't notice until afterwards!). I experimented with how far apart I wanted each image; first starting out quite close, and then starting to mo...

After doing the first Lino prints and looking back through my research, I decided to explore text and imagery relating to feminism. I wanted to do this through collage and specifically wanted to use text relating to current events, for example the Harvey Weinstein allegations and issues that women face today. I did this by collecting/buying newspapers which featured anything on these topics, and anything that linked to sexual harassment and the treatment of women in society. I did the same with the imagery - trying to pick out images which showcased female positivity and the whole 'We can do it!' attitude.  In the end, I did two collages - one text based, one image based, and then photo copied these multiple times so I had enough to play around with. For one of the image based collages I decided to add text over a A5 sheet of paper, I used the same collage technique and cut out each letter separately. I used one of the slogans that I had brain...

After looking at woodcut and etching last year, I've decided to explore different relief printing this year, more specifically Lino printing. I had done some Lino prints years ago and also for the BALLOT Exhibition and I really enjoy doing them, they are easy to cut out and look a lot more cleaner than a woodcut print. I'm also exploring different slogans and imagery this year and wanted to develop my skills in this type of relief printing, especially when it comes to cutting out the image.  For this Lino print I decided to cut out the female gender symbol with a fist in the centre and flowers surrounding it, kind of suggesting the power and strength that can come from femininity and being a woman. I did some drawings of this design before I cut it out as I wanted to see how it would look before hand. It looked really cool and effective, and I managed to cut it out quite well. The lines were clean and you could...

The first part of the Skills 6 PRINT workshop was Screen Print. This was no different to what we had done previously, the only difference being that I prepped the screen with the solution that allows the image to be placed onto the screen. I got my screen ready and prepped for printing the following week and came back to begin printing my image.  The images I chose to print were that of my mini maquette of the female gender symbol that I had made while exploring different ideas for my project. I also chose a floral background from google images. I thought these two images would go hand in hand as the background image relates well to the foreground image of the female gender symbol - connotations of femininity and possibly stereotypes? I was happy with how they came out, both images coming out clear and sharp, and I found it interesting seeing a 3D object printed as a 2D image, it takes away from it being an original, and becomes more of a multip...

First week, first project. This project involved us having to respond to not only our own, new studio space, but to also respond to the ideas of those also in our studio space. Part 1: For the first part of this project, I decided to respond to the areas of my space where layers of paint have been building up over the months from previous inhabitants of the studio space. I was inspired by these to do the same kind of thing but on clear film/acetate and originally I was going to place it around my space and document it, but changed my mind after painting on each sheet in a different way - by flicking the paint brush to create splats of paint, using paper scrunched up, diluting paint with water and letting it drip and so on. I then held them up against the window to let the light shine through them, and I was really intrigued with how they looked against the window. It sort of resembled a stained glass window effect in a way and I liked how the paint obscured the view outside the wind...