Prints!!

This has been a very strange week with two days of actual school and  three snow days! but non the less, I have finished with almost everything that I needed to get done in Drawing and Printmaking for the tri!! I have been finished with my reduction for a week or so now and I think that they turned out better then I had hoped. I had a few problems with coloring with a couple of my prints, grey and light blue do not go well together. 

Here are my finished prints! 

This one is one of my favorites. I like the colors a lot and I wish that I had done more like this one.

Can't go wrong with black and white.

I had them all setting out on  the desk, but I only managed to get a picture of these ones.

I really like the red smoke, not a huge fan of the blue smoke though.

My lino after the fact. Not really a true reduction because I only carved away  two layers and it is still usable.

Steam Train Reduction

I finished my reduction linoleum this week! I stuck with the steam train idea and I am glad that I did. My finished work turned out a lot better than I had imagined. I had originally planned to do three different layers, grey, bark grey (or other color) and black. After putting the second layer on, my prints looked complete, so I decided to stop while I was ahead not do another layer.

I while post pictures of my reduction prints on my next post. 

Ukiyo-e and What Could be Considered Today's "low" or Cheap Art

Last week in Drawing and Printmaking, we talked about Ukiyo-e and Japanese culture. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Ukiyo-e was considered by most to be cheap or "low" art. It was considered art for commoners, not the wealthy. Today we look at Ukiyo-e for what it is, amazing pieces of art work, not common “postcard” art.

            There are many forms of art today that I think are considered low, or common and that one day will be seen as high-end art. What I think can be considered one Ukiyo-e of today has to do with some social media, like blogs written by average “unknown” people. Blogs are not art in the traditional sense, but they do give an incredible, in-depth view on today’s society, much as Ukiyo-e gave a window into Japanese culture.  I think that hundreds of years from now, people will look back on what we have written and shared in our blogs and tweets and see them for more than what we see them today.     

Woodblock vs. Linoluem Printing

Along with our reduction linoleum project, we are learning about Japanese woodblock printing. The difference between linoleum printing and woodblock is that woodblock printing takes a lot more time and is harder to carve. when you do a woodblock print you have to take more time in the actual carving out of the block. Linoleum is easier to print out and you can print it out with a press.

So far I think that Japanese woodblock prints are fascinating. They preserve the Japanese culture in a way that almost not other civilization has. They give us an insight into what life was like in feudal Japan. What i am most impressed about with Japanese woodblock prints is the colors and details. The colors are so vibrant and the details are just amazing.  

Start of Reduction Lino

On Wednesday and Thursday I started working on my reduction linoleum. I decided to go with the Steam Train, though I considered doing a bridge and canal in Venice Italy. I was told that it was not original enough, seeing as I copied the picture I found online almost exactly. I'm glad that I did end up sticking with the Steam Train, because i like the look of the first base prints. I am already finding that this project takes a lot more thought and concentration then the last project.       

Reduction Lino

Our next assignment is a reduction lino. I have been thinking for the last couple of days of what the subject of mine will be. So far I have narrowed it down to: a steam train, a naval ship, or something along those lines. I'm leaning more towards a steam train so far but I have no idea if that is going to be what I will end up doing.