Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Screenprint your heart out (Screenprint-Pattern/Repetition)

Handbag
Nick Morley
Medium: Screen print
76x100 cm 
http://arlingtonhousemargate.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/handbag.jpg
http://linocutboy.com/prints/#

Nick Morley is an illustrator form the UK. He has been featured in several magazines, book covers, and on the BBC. He also runs a blog. 
I chose this piece first and foremost because I like dinosaurs. Dinosaurs have this pattern to their rough reptilian like skin. Which is what Morley captures in the piece, Handbag. The skin appears really scaly and tiny near the face, tail, and feet, but as your eye moves to the stomach and calf area, there is less of the pattern, and there is a leathery feel to it all. There is also the pattern of the plant life. There are many veins which creatures add to the feel of life to the T-Rex. 


Screenprint the rainbow (Screenprint-Color)


Dodo with a Yoyo
Nick Morley 
Medium: Screen print, linocut 
56x47 cm
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5030/5576214109_0100584c56_z.jpg
http://linocutboy.com/prints/#

Nick Morley is an illustrator from the UK. He has been featured in several magazines, book covers, and on the BBC, a British television channel. He runs a blog.
I chose this piece because what instantly struck me was the use of color. The brightness of the pink yoyo, and the beautiful nature blue on the dodo is wonderful. There is also the belly of the dodo, which uses a light and soft yellow. Then the accents used for the nature parts on the floor. The small leaves with their pale almost neutral blue, and then the neutral color of the wheat. Most of the colors in this piece are really neutral and blend together. But the blue and the pink really contrast against it all, yet it works. It works because of the blending of nature and materials from the human world. 

Screenprint the world (Screenprint-Shape)

A Reflection of Things that should be and the Things that never were 
Shawn Stucky
Medium: screenprinting, mixed media, hardwood
40x30 in.
http://www.shawnstucky.com/fine-art.html

Shawn Stucky is an American born artist who primarily works in printmaking, with a BFA in Visual Communications. He has had shows all across the world, and his work is shown is several magazines and newspapers in the States. And he has plenty of works in books in Europe. 
I chose this piece because of the shapes and colors used. I like how the prints are layered to create depth and perspective. Not only that, but because there are elements used at different angles to make it more realistic, per say. Except there is such objects like the floating man, a surprising shape you wouldn't expect to see in the sky. It makes me laugh a bit, because at a first glance, this piece just seems to be about shapes in different colors, but then when you take a closer look, the shapes reveal themselves to be something else. Like the man in the foreground on the bike contraption with the other man is really a tree bursting out from a human neck. 

Collagraphin' my heart (Collagraph-Color)

Elemental Icon IV
Brenda Hartill 
Medium: Collagraph, Etching
image: 50x40cm
http://img.aasd.com.au/33905707.jpg
http://www.brendahartill.com/Brenda_Hartill/Portfolio_Collections/Pages/Large_Abstract_Etchings_and_Collagraphs_-_cool.html#47

Brenda Hartill is a British artist who originally worked in theatre, and moved to printmaking for more freedom. Hartill likes to combine mediums, such as with collagraphs and other methods like painting, etchings, and other methods of printmaking. 
I chose this piece because of the palette. I am a big fan of cool colors and this is what I enjoy a lot. There is definitely a nice balance as far as graduation of the colors. It almost seems monochromatic. Since there is colors fading from dark blue to white. But! But there is also a sea like green-blue. Which creates warmer areas of the piece. Colour creatures balances. And with collagraph, it is hard to obtain that with how freeform it is. I think it was captured nicely with the tone of the colors used, and then how it's arranged. Along with the piece separated into four sections, like four pictures in a row. And there is the very low and deep graduation between a very dark blue to a dark sea-green blue. It gives a great atmosphere. 

Collan' all graphs (Collagraph- Texture)


Ancient Memories
Kim Major-George
Medium: Collagraph
size unknown
http://www.thestablesstudios.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Ancient-Memories-by-Kim-Major-George_s.jpg
http://www.majorgeorge.co.uk/gallery/

Kim Major-George is a British artist and printmaker. She is greatly influence by mythology, philosophy, Ancient civilizations, and spiritual imagery. She has taught classes, and has also made appearances in books, cards, magazines, and many commisions. She also has a short film out called "Where are we going".  
Her print, Ancient Memories, looks very detailed, and textured. If you look closely, it would appear as though whatever objects she used to make this were very tiny and had many creases and had it's own pattern on it. Objects appear to have been overlapped as well, creating a depth in the paper this piece was printed on. It also appears to have a patterned halo around it, like the objects used to make this could have possibly been of a bigger size, but was cut out. Though it leaves an etherial like glow to the piece, which has it's own dotted texture. There is also the matter of the colour palette Major-George uses. Where darker colours have taken a hold of the objects and show up more clearly, you cannot see as much of the texture as you can on the lighter coloured areas. 

Drypoint it out (Drypoint- Pattern/Repitition)

011111
Angie H. Iver
Medium: Drypoint
size unknown
http://angieiver.tumblr.com/post/12196093761
http://iphigen.deviantart.com/art/011111-266560645?q=gallery%3Aiphigen%2F976594&qo=13

Angie Iver is a German artist, and there is not much else known about her, I apologize, but I wanted to share this badly.
This SCREAMS repetition and pattern. It is the same print printed just off from where it was laid originally. Which makes such a realistic portrait very surreal. Yet still, it has a balance to it, because the plate was laid down again in such a way as not to overlap the eyes or any other dark areas. The eyes become daunting and very intimidating, in my opinion. It almost seems like two seperate people who are whispering close together, not just the same person printed in close proximity. In another way of looking at it, it almost seems like your eyes are crossing, like you're seeing double. It is true, you are seeing double, but it's no sort of optic illusion, which is fantastic that Iver captured in the drypoint medium. 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Drypoint in that direction (Drypoint-Line)

these puns are so terrible, I'm not sure whether to be sorry or not.


Three Wise Fishermen
Paul Niemiec Jr. 
Medium: Drypoint
5x7 in. 
http://runningwindstudio.com/etchings-dry-points-3-3.shtml

Paul Niemiec Jr. is an American artist who deals with American Realism. He has affiliations with regional and national groups such as The Society of American Graphic Artists, American Society of Portrait Artists, and The Central New York Watercolor Society. He has also been in numerous solo galleries and been in several journals and books. 
I chose this piece for lines because the lines are what stands out. The lines in this piece are obvious, but it also cross and overlap and disappear, making shapes and figures. It is exquisite who well placed the lines are. The closer the lines are to each other, the darker and heavier the shadows appear. Which is what this piece seems to really rely on. Heavy lines contrasted with large areas of white, which isn't blank, it is just well placed negative space. It creates a sense of when the piece is taking place, as well as the direction of the light. Though the amount of lines on the right side of the drypoint are sudden, it works. It is a shading method, but it also seems to be like a line of well, lines, which balances out the piece, like how you might add a bar or line to the back of a blank backgrounded portrait.