Adrian – Page 6 – Visual Arts

March 18, 2021March 18, 2021

Palimpsest Wk 3 Pt 1; Printing

In the print lab with Straun I found myself making some interesting happy accidents as I learnt the art of mono printing. When cleaning the plates I found the turps would mix with the ink to create a very watered down inky solution which would cling to the back of the slate I was working on and then transfer to the tissue paper I laid down to protect the press. It meant two prints would be created at once, one purposeful and one accidental. I decided to embrace these accidents and purposefully print both sides of the slate from then on.

My initial ‘mistake’ on tissue paper used to protect the press from ink.

From there, I was inspired by the previous work I’d made (see ‘Stamping’ post) where the wavy squiggles reminded me of altitude lines on a map. I found a map in studio of Mt Ruapehu and the surrounding Tongariro Park area, with hundreds of orange altitude lines marking out the changes in the land. I took another print on calico and traced these altitude lines onto it using carbon paper.

The black cloudy ink marks on calico made for an interesting background to print the altitude lines over. Just like my last piece, I let myself draw beyond the edges of the square print to break the artificial confines of the work.

A close up of the lines extending beyond the edge of the monoprint slate.

Another close up on the intricate lines.

This work took me hours to complete with the tedious tracing of hundreds of lines however the final result really impressed me and many of my classmates. I like the complexity of the work, especially one work containing multiple complex patterns. I hope to continue this in my next pieces but will need to devise a faster was of creating complicated works so as not to slow down my pace of making.

March 18, 2021March 18, 2021

Palimpsest Wk 2 Pt 2; Stamping

This week we were able to work in the printmaking labs for a day to learn the techniques of creating. My print works will be complete for sharing next week, but this week I was inspired by the process and used a stamping technique to print onto my work. I liked the idea of work spilling over the edges of its confines so I layered a smaller page onto my larger sketchbook paper for this piece.

I really liked the way the work doesn’t stay within the confines of the smaller canvas, I look forward to experimenting with this more.

I initially painted the edges of a wood slice to print the bark texture. I was surprised by the result and a little disappointed by how little detail printed, however I decided to continue with the piece and trust the process. I initially transfered wavy patterns onto the paper with carbon paper before painting one side of the wood and stamping it onto the work so the texture of the wood rings would be seen. I believe there is still potential in the use of bark and will experiment with new forms of stamping it next week.

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021

Palimpsest Wk 2 Pt 1; Transfer

My first experiment this week was a transfer of the wavy patterns I had found in my frottage. The pattern reminded me of the rings of a tree but warped and unnatural.

My initial collage with the transfer felt like it was missing a further link to my earlier work so I continued to develop it.

By transferring a barcode onto the page within the log, I created a more secure connection to my earlier works. It also gave me the opportunity to try warping the man-made within the natural.

Inspired by this work, I took wood slices – cross sections of a trunk – and transferred the frottage onto it aswell. The natural wood rings created an interesting pattern to overlay onto and resulted with a surprising contrast between the two patterns. I used gouache to paint these patterns in similar blue tones to my earlier work to reinforce the contrast I’d created. This was my first time using gouache and I really liked the vibrant pigmentation it provides. I’m interested to continue experimenting with this medium.

I enjoyed working on the wood slice rather than paper, I found it more porus and the texture made for an interesting canvas

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

Palimpsest Wk1 Pt2; Combine

Now that my first work was complete I needed to come up with a new way to transform the work. I did this by looking at the front and back of my piece and finding I liked the straight lines of the tape used to stick down my receipts. I decided to combine the front and back of the piece into one work.

By photocopying, tearing and then randomly piecing my front and back together, I created an interesting jumbled work. I took this further by subtracting logs of the scrapbook paper, as I had in my first experiment, and laying tape back onto the piece. I also transferred a barcode onto my work by rubbing charcoal onto paper and creating a primitive type of carbon paper. The unclear result was something I really liked and paired it with a remaining section of barcode so the viewer could recognise the original vs the product, much like in my first work with wood vs paper.

Where to from here?

I found some round wood pieces that are like cross sections of a tree trunk which I may use as my next canvas rather than paper. I also took some rubbings off a section of pavement on K’ Road which I would like to incorporate into the layering of my work as it reminds me of the rings in a tree trunk.

Frottage of a decorative circle on the footpath of Karangahape Road.

Wooden circles that could serve as my next canvas.

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

Palimpsest Wk 1 Pt 1; Collage

The brief of Palimpsest means to create a series of work, each one inspired by the previous until the first and last work bear no resemblance to eachother. I found materials around my flat to make a collage – scrapbooking paper, reciepts, sales stickers and washi tape – to begin this brief. By starting with printed matter, it was a lot less daunting to start than a with blank page.

Scrapbook paper of an image of a logging pile. I found the red circular markings quite interesting.

By subtracting from the page by cutting out selected ‘logs’ and replacing them with receipts and sales stickers taped into the gaps, it created a piece showing the cyclical nature of wood as a material. Here originally seen as the logs freshly cut, then collaged with their product – paper.