Woodcut & Etching

After the easter break we were given the choice to do either woodcut or etching or woodcut and etching. I chose to do both as I wanted more variety in my prints. I decided to start with woodcut. I moved away from just focusing on my grandmother entirely and began to focus on fading memories of her and how I remembered her when she was healthy and happy. I began searching my house for old photographs, in my attic I luckily stumbled across an old dusty box which contained photographs from about 10 years ago. Many were of her at family parties, laughing and smiling. I began drawing from these and I edited some of my drawings in photoshop. I tried to create the effect that she was gradually fading using different tonal qualities.

I then decided to use one of my drawings ( which I drew in marker ) as my woodcut image. I cut it into the woodblock and cut around it so it was like a stamp. I then cut some fabriano sheets into long strips and began experimenting with my "stamp" and tonal qualities, until I achieved a fading effect that I was happy enough with and portrayed my concept of fading happy memories of my grandmother. I also experimented with transparencies on transparent paper and I though that this achieved an interesting effect that also tied in with my concept.

Sketchbook piece

This is a piece from my sketchobook that I am really quite fond of. I glued lace doilys onto the paper and then stained them using tea. I then drew one of my grannies old chairs on top. While drawing them the doileys would sometimes tear and this reminded me of the peeling wallpaper from her house.

Drawings

Here are a few drawings I did in preparation for my second lithograph

Photolithograph

This print is my first photolithograph. It is based on a wall paper pattern as this was one of the things that stood out for me the most when I visited her house. She used to play bridge when she was healthy and so I integrated the card suits with the wall paper design. This print will be a background and I will then print another lithograph - possibly a portrait of my grandmother, on top.

Animation - loss

Documenting Her House

I began to look for inspiration for my project. I went to my grandmothers house and took photographs. All the furniture was moved and all that was left were the shabby carpets and peeling wallpaper on the walls. The lights no longer worked and there was an overwhelming sense of loss and deterioration.

Self Initiated Project

We are now in our second semester of 2nd year printmaking. For this half of the year we are allowed create our own brief and work and develop this brief either using the method of photolithograph or silkscreen. I picked photolithograph as I was interested in the process and I was eager to try it out.

I began looking at memory, dreams and the mind. It is a very borad subject and I wanted to make it more personal to me. My grandmother suffers from Alzheimers Disease, and she has lost both her mind and memory.