Hence why I chose to focus on the fresh pile of chopped down trees & the worn down cobbles.
I decided on the following image
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| close up photograph of pile of chopped down trees This image was made by covering the stone in black crayon tusche. I then used a scraper to remove lines to create the branches. I drew back into the lines with liquid tusche and a fountain pen to build up tone. |
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| drawing on the stone with liquid tusche |
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| drawing on the stone, liquid tusche, lithography crayon and scraping away |
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| preparatory drawing based on previous photograph for the stone |
I tried to do a second stone. I put a photocopy transfer of a woodland image onto a stone. Unfortunately the stone, which was 2 stones stuck together previously, broke in half!
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| The image transferred very well onto the stone ( using acetone and the pressure of the press) but unfortunately because the stone was so thin, the pressure was too much & it broke. |
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| This is one of the photographs from below. I edited it on photoshop to increase the contrast & then I made a photocopy of the print out and transferred the photocopy onto the stone using acetone & pressure from the litho press. |
Unboxed Set: Exhibition. 30 boxes. 6 prints.
Concept: Woodland
The following photographs were taken as research for an exhibition submission specifically for staff & students from the printmaking department. Myself and Caroline Hoare were working collaboratively. We decided on a woodland theme. The following photographs were taken at home in the fields in Turraheen, down at the woods in Brocka & at Barna woods in Galway.
Primary Source Research
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| gap to the Little Bog |
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| Brocka woods, Oct 2014 |
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| The following photos were all taken in Barna woods, Galway, Oct 2014 |
I chose 5 images. I put them onto a silkscreen. I screened bitumen onto 5 zinc plates and put them into the acid bath for 10-15 minutes. They bit well. Here's a few of the first results.
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| intaglio etching of woods |
On reflection I think I should have developed these images more. I think aquatint would have enhanced & added texture to the abstract nature of the images.
Silkscreen Printmaking using MRPVC
The focus this term was to try and develop our drawing skills, so we explored the technique of making silkscreen prints with drawn imagery.
You draw onto the sheet of transparent mrpvc with anything dark that will leave a mark-posterman waterbased pigment ink, oil pastels, acrylic paint, bitumen. We explored mark making with various materials.
The brief we were given was humour or protest. I chose protest. I wanted to continue with the concept I'd been working on, the conflict between my Dad's practical connection with the land versus my emotional connection. This time of the year there's not a lot to do around the farm so he becomes obsessed with cutting down trees. Whenever you come home , the first thing you hear is the whirr of the chainsaw & the smell of petrol and freshly chopped wood & wet moss hits you when you get out of the car. I found a photograph I'd taken a few months ago of a lone tree left standing on a ditch. I don't know why this one hadn't gotten the chop. Maybe he ran out of petrol. I decided to work with this image and to drive the message home by adding some text. This is what happened.
Here are a few of the images I considered using. I felt these images accurately showed the blatant destruction of the area.
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| remains of hawthorn woods |
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| tree growing out of the rubble of torn down outhouses |
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| cobbled yard covered in weeds & farm machinery |
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| cobbles obliterated by muck & puddles |
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| cobbles destroyed by tractor constantly driving over them |
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| Add caption |
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| Add caption |
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| lone tree left unchopped on the ditch This was the image I decided on in the end. I felt it was a powerful image that, with the aid of text would succeed in conveying the message of the lonlieness & isolation of one tree left on the ditch. |
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| This image was drawn onto the mrpvc using black acrylic paint only, with a variety of materials, brushes, sponges and fountain pen. I experimented with text and font. Here are a few of the phrases I considered using- ' Last Man Standing'. 'Pile of Dead Bodies'. 'Calm before the Storm.' 'Pile of Dead Bodies.' I decided on ' Last Man Standing.' Here are some of the prints that resulted.   
Unfortunately, these aren't the most proficient prints I've ever made! I had a lot of recurring problems with registration. Sometimes in print things just don't work out like they should!
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