Block Print
KairosclerosisSize: 22cm x 30cm
Medium: Block Print Completion: September 2019 Exhibition Text Kairosclerosis is the feeling you get in the moment when you realize that you are happy. This piece is a representation of self identity and how her past has vanished and that the future started the moment she entered a forever home. I was inspired by Georgia O'keeffe and her photographs of her Chow Chows and how much they have changed her happiness |
Planning
Inspiration:
My inspiration, I initially wanted to do Georgia O'keeffe because I wanted to do my block print with nature. Georgia O'keeffe was best known for her blown up paintings of flowers. The painting that inspired me was (Apple Blossoms, 1930). In Apple Blossoms, Georgia O'keeffe used a technique that isolates the blossoms from a larger environment. Her husband was a photographer, Alfred Stieglitz, who took pictures of his wife with apple trees in their summer home. Georgia O'Keeffe would take pictures of her chow chows and she would sketched them. She loved her dogs and they were a big part of her life. I love my dog endlessly, and my dog is a big part of my life as well. I plan to use a reference photo of my dog, Licorish and use Georgia O'keeffe's technique to isolate her and make her the subject of the piece.
|
|
Planning Sketches
It took me a long time to realize what I wanted to do my block print on. I then set my mind of Georgia O'keeffe because from a young age her paintings have always inspired me. My first sketch resembles her paintings. She would either paint up close or she would paint landscapes. I wanted to make a landscape with the things that make me fall in love with nature. I love mountains, bodies of water, sunsets, and the sky. I chose to draw all these things and add detail in the waves and mountains. After this sketch and more research, I didn't like how my first sketch came out and I wanted my artwork to reflect on who I am as a person and things that consume my life.
My second sketch is of my dog, Licorish. I chose to draw my dog because I came across an image on google images of a dog block print and it made me want to draw my dog. Georgia O'keeffe would take pictures of her chow chows and sketch them, they were also a large part of her life. Even though it wasn't nature, because of her dogs and her technique, I was still inspired by Georgia O'keeffe, for example she would isolate a flower from a garden. I used her technique and I isolated by dog from the living room. I liked this sketch a lot more than the first one because it fit well with my theme. I liked the idea of being inspired by an artist and using my own reference picture.
My third sketch I decided to make a compromise of the two sketches. Because I liked my second sketch so much, I thought it would be a cool idea to draw my dog, but instead of just a black background from the ink, I would add flowers. Even though it showed the comparison of how a dog is as beautiful as a flower, I didn't like it so much. It didn't fit in my theme, I wanted my theme to show how sports, or whatever makes me happy has made me better or how it shows who I am as a person. I feel like mixing the flowers with my dog seemed over-crowded in the image. This sketch also wasn't as simple yet detailed like my second sketch.
Process
Experimentation
The pictures below are in order to show my process from when I transferred my sketch to the block. At first, when I sketched out planning sketch #2 of just my dog, I thought it was simple but well detailed. However, I added a lot of detail in the sketch as a plan for how I wanted to carve it. When I used planning sketch #2, when it transferred it to the block I didn't like how plain it looked, so I added shapes in the background on one half to give it more detail and more meaning. I used the shapes to communicate her past and how it is behind her and that what she has now is her future. When we first adopted my dog, she wasn't in a good mental state and no one really knew her story, we have heard assumptions, but we give her the best. In the second picture, you can see that experimentation of the added shapes. I ended up liking it a lot towards the third picture of the carved block print. The fourth picture is my first print, when I made the first print, I didn't like how plain it was because I added some detail for her fur. Unfortunately it never showed up, and I didn't want the detail to show up wide like the rest of the carving. Because I wasn't able to create deep enough lines with a carving tool that was thin, I chose to appreciate the simplistic look. As I continued forward in making more prints, there wasn't any major changes to the piece, I repeated the steps and added more ink to the plate. In order to get the perfect print, I rubbed the baren on the piece of paper so that the print would show up clean and black and with as little to no white speckles.
The pictures below are in order to show my process from when I transferred my sketch to the block. At first, when I sketched out planning sketch #2 of just my dog, I thought it was simple but well detailed. However, I added a lot of detail in the sketch as a plan for how I wanted to carve it. When I used planning sketch #2, when it transferred it to the block I didn't like how plain it looked, so I added shapes in the background on one half to give it more detail and more meaning. I used the shapes to communicate her past and how it is behind her and that what she has now is her future. When we first adopted my dog, she wasn't in a good mental state and no one really knew her story, we have heard assumptions, but we give her the best. In the second picture, you can see that experimentation of the added shapes. I ended up liking it a lot towards the third picture of the carved block print. The fourth picture is my first print, when I made the first print, I didn't like how plain it was because I added some detail for her fur. Unfortunately it never showed up, and I didn't want the detail to show up wide like the rest of the carving. Because I wasn't able to create deep enough lines with a carving tool that was thin, I chose to appreciate the simplistic look. As I continued forward in making more prints, there wasn't any major changes to the piece, I repeated the steps and added more ink to the plate. In order to get the perfect print, I rubbed the baren on the piece of paper so that the print would show up clean and black and with as little to no white speckles.
Process
1. The first step I took was using the graphite transfer method and I sketched my drawing onto the block.
2.I carved my design into the block with block cutting tools
3. My third step I placed water-based black ink with a spoon onto the ink tray and using the brayer, I spread the ink to create a thin layer.
4.After that, I took my block and spread the ink onto that, repeating that process a 3-4 times until I had a good coat on the block.
5. I then centered the block with the face down onto a piece of paper. I used a baren to apply pressure and get the ink to print onto the paper. After 1-2 minutes of small circles, I peeled the paper from the block.
6. I repeated steps 4-5 four times until I achieved the desired print
1. The first step I took was using the graphite transfer method and I sketched my drawing onto the block.
2.I carved my design into the block with block cutting tools
3. My third step I placed water-based black ink with a spoon onto the ink tray and using the brayer, I spread the ink to create a thin layer.
4.After that, I took my block and spread the ink onto that, repeating that process a 3-4 times until I had a good coat on the block.
5. I then centered the block with the face down onto a piece of paper. I used a baren to apply pressure and get the ink to print onto the paper. After 1-2 minutes of small circles, I peeled the paper from the block.
6. I repeated steps 4-5 four times until I achieved the desired print
Reflection
Overall, I am satisfied with my piece, I feel like it definitely portrays my theme of self identity and how my dog affects it. I think the hardest part for me while creating this piece was finding the right inspiration and what I wanted to focus on. When I chose to use a reference photo of my dog, I was satisfied with that decision. My dog has a major impact on my everyday life and it's hard to forget about her. In my block print I used a lot of line, with the outline of my dog, and of the different shapes. I also used shape to create meaning of my dogs' past life and how complicated and how we can't put all the pieces together to figure out what all happened. In my piece, there was a variety of shape, not just in the background but also in the bandanna. Although the bandanna has no meaning, it's still there has has different organic shapes that draw attention to the viewer.
Compare and Contrast
|
Similarities
|
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork? O'keeffe's Apple Blossoms inspired me to use a central figure in my block print. The way she isolated the flowers from a garden is the same way I isolated my dog from the environment of my living room. I chose her Chow Chows as inspiration for the way I used a reference photo of my dog for the block print.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration? The different articles I read about Georgia Okeeffe's artworks were talking mainly about her technique with Apple Blossoms and what the process her and her husband used before she painted something. She normally took pictures of what she wanted to focus on and then she painted it afterwards.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? I've made the conclusion that many people have the same views on things they care about, and when they care about something or find something interesting, they isolate it from everything physically or mentally, it becomes the central focus of their life or mindset.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? My theme is life's journey's, two years ago, I recently adopted a dog. This piece focuses on the moment in many people's lives in which they get their first or second pet.
5.What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? Even something so simple like a dog or a flower can have so much meaning to it.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration? The different articles I read about Georgia Okeeffe's artworks were talking mainly about her technique with Apple Blossoms and what the process her and her husband used before she painted something. She normally took pictures of what she wanted to focus on and then she painted it afterwards.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? I've made the conclusion that many people have the same views on things they care about, and when they care about something or find something interesting, they isolate it from everything physically or mentally, it becomes the central focus of their life or mindset.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? My theme is life's journey's, two years ago, I recently adopted a dog. This piece focuses on the moment in many people's lives in which they get their first or second pet.
5.What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? Even something so simple like a dog or a flower can have so much meaning to it.
Bibliography
O'Keeffe, Georgia. “Apple Blossoms.” – Works – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 1970, https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/6527/apple-blossoms.
“The Chow Chows.” Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 9 June 2015, https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/the-chow-chows/.
“The Chow Chows.” Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 9 June 2015, https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/the-chow-chows/.