Block Print

Artist Statement

For this project, we were asked to create two negative space images on a piece of drawing paper. We shaded in the areas that were not meant to be carved out (the positive space) with black sharpie. For my project, I began with a sketch of octopus tentacles, and added in bubbles and small fish in the drawing in order to add more detail and create equal parts black, and equal parts white. Next, we taped our drawing to our linoleum block and transferred the image by tracing the back side of the paper with sharpie so it would leave an imprint. Finally, we carved out the remaining white linoleum, (the negative space) using our cutters, inked the raised parts using rollers, and printed them on to yellow tinted papers as practice using a barren/press to transfer the ink to the paper. I produced four practice papers before I felt comfortable enough to move on to the summative. First, I began by printing on white paper for our 'Black and White' prints. Our second task was our 'Extended Print,' where I hand colored my design using red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple pencils. Afterward, we moved on to our 'Alternate background,' where we chose an interesting background piece to stamp on. I chose a map. Finally, our last print was our 'Artists Choice,' where we could experiment with different ink colors, or other backgrounds.

In my project, I used the elements of art to create the principles of design. In each print there is shape, which can mostly be seen in ovals on the tentacles, and the air bubbles. There is line which helped to create pattern and movement, as seen in the arms reaching toward the fish. The negative space is wherever there is black ink, as well as positive space, the areas of interest, which were left either white, colored in with colored pencil, or wherever the green map is visible. Color is also visible in my Extended and Alternate Background prints, which helped to create contrast against the black ink. The small amounts of color also helped to balance the art, and offset the visual weight of the dark areas.

The first difficulty I ran into with this project was coming up with a design that I would be able to carve easily. My first drawing had thin lines that would be too hard to carve around, so I had to go back and change it. The second difficulty I ran into was inking my block. In my yellow practice sheets, I was either using too much ink, or not enough, which caused a few mess ups on the summative as well. I found that if I just took my time, and used the barren lightly when transferring, I could produce properly inked prints. Although I sadly wasn't able to do the Artist Choice print due to time, I do like my design and the three prints I created, especially the Alternate Background. The light green is very subtle and contrasts the black nicely. The map print really remind me of when my family and I travel each year and go snorkeling. I am also very proud of the octopus arms, but I particularly like the fish in the bottom left corner. There is no particular inspiration behind these pieces, however, I have been debating doing an octopus for a few of my projects now.