I recently finished a life drawing course, and now I wanted to turn some of them into woodcuts. I taped up my favorite drawings in my room and have been doing sketches attempting to combine some of them into something a little believable, mysterious, interesting to look at for me. I only have black and brown relief ink, and etching white ink, so I have to hand color the rest if I want anything more than that, unless I find that medium that I can combine with oil or acrylic paint to give it a consistency I can use for printing. Plate oil, maybe?
I also just signed up for two classes at George Mason University: Digital Printmaking and Artist Books as Visual Language. I figured I can learn skills and new printmaking media that I didn't know before such as pronto plates, solar plates, digital copper plate etching (I have no idea what this is), new transfer techniques (like screenprint to copper plates?), digital photography, scanning and book binding/artist books) and get a chance to see if I like it or not. If I continue in my printmaking route, (I love it so far!) it would make me more employable If I'm any good. Also I took an intro to computers in creative arts class and Typography there two summers ago, so I figured I'd have to send a transcript from GMU to wherever I apply to grad school. Having more than two classes may be more worthwhile, especially since some of the places I was looking at want people with a BFA or 60 credits of art classes (I have around 40 credits, plus my internship, plus a ton of art history, and this life drawing class, so with these hopefully I have enough of the studio experience required).
This class looks so exciting! I feel like I needed a kind of routine/structure to working on prints since I don't have much available table space at home, and most of my house is carpeted) and looking at this class alone (I haven't seen the syllabus for the art book course), I think I will be way more experimental that I have been before. Hopefully my word for the semester will be "Play", and hopefully I will work hard yet have fun and let loose with these projects. I want to use more color and textures and dive into these processes! I also am required to go to art openings and shows and I have to go on a trip to NYC! I'm not sure if I could ever handle these kinds of art classes while at W&M because it sounds like this requires a lot of time and homework assignments and travel time (since I'm commuting from home).
And I'm not too worried about Hurricane Irene. My sister and I may go out shopping. Where I am is inland enough that we're not too worried, it just seems like a prolonged rainstorm with more wind. But I am concerned for other friends and relatives living closer to the sea and rivers.
And the earthquake earlier this week was fun! I was in my backyard, finally spraying fixative on my charcoal figure drawings, when all the sudden the fence I taped my drawings on started wavering around. First I thought I had finally inhaled too much fixative and that my brain was making my senses warp my surroundings. But not only was the fence was moving, but trees, and then my legs on the ground felt as if I was feeling waves in the ocean, and then my mom opens the backdoor and yells out to me something to the effect of "There's an earthquake! Get away from under the tree where limbs and walnuts can fall on you". I was perfectly fine. I kind of wanted more, it was kind of fun being outside and feeling it.
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| Beginning of a reductive woodcut! I may make it have 2 grays and a black. Maybe I'll mix those with the brown to give it a nice warm feeling. Or do I want to keep the mystery? Make it colder and make them seem more distant from one another The woman is already kind of looking away, distantly, thinking of something to herself. |
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| Some of the drawings I'm basing my woodcut on. I'm really deviating from the original, huh? (I'm kind of being sarcastic) |
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| This is from a recent trip to DC. Its the Moongate Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle. It reminds me of this postcard of a Japanese woodcut I recently got |
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| Here's Sherlock again. I was never a big cat person, but I love the shape of the light and the way the Sherlock kind of interrupts the strong triangular shape with his lovely fuzzy curves. So that's why I've made several pieces with my cat in it. Also with this pic I love how the shapes in my yard just kind of zig-zag back and forth. I find that kind of exciting. |
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