Hello blog followers,
Here is my screen print that I have been meaning to upload for a few days now, I hope you enjoy it.
The image is in response to my walks taken through the YSP in Wakefield. The text used are snatches of convocations that I overheard while walking and the characters are what was seen and also references some sculptures displayed in the Park.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain how the Masters is going at the moment. I've had a challenging few weeks where I have really questioned what I am doing and why, the biggest question mark has been towards the processes I use when producing artwork, and also colour, scale and composition. In the past I have favoured screen printing as a way of producing artwork, however as my research of theories and contexts around art and illustration grows and develops I feel slightly disconnected to this way of creating imagery. There are certain elements of the process that I am attracted too and others I think I need to re-evaluate.
Screen printing by hand gives a certain unique quality, which I find hard to replicate digitally; happy accidents, the smudging of ink and misregistration are all qualities which I feel enrich the viewers experience when engaging with the work, as they can connect to how the piece has been made.
However I am finding it hard to create a certain tension with atmosphere and texture in the imagery with using screen printing, as it produces a flat inked surface.
With this in mind I think the way to approach this would be to produce a hybrid print, giving me the opportunity to push and experiment with certain processes with my images. At the moment I am considering developing an image with a screen printed background, so that the viewer can see the artist's hand, having some of my images made into lino stamps, which can be pressed onto the artwork and then having the main part of the imagery printed and coloured digitally, giving me the opportunity to rethink certain colour combinations and compositions. Afterwards I can also paint into the artwork with gouache , this could be used as washes over certain parts of the work or applied to create shadows of the characters within it.
With using these different processes to create an image I will hopefully achieve what I feel has been missing in my screen printed work. I understand that screen printing is a great way to produce work for selling in an edition to galleries and shops and although my work won't be technical termed as a multiple, there will hopefully be richer and a more aesthetically pleasing image emerging.
Below is a rough black and white image that I am hoping to trial these new ideas out on - I will hopefully keep updating how the image changes and progresses.
Thanks for reading my lengthier than usual blog update, now to put these ideas into motion and get cracking!!
