Block Printing

This project is called block printing. In this assignment, we were told that we would have to create four printed pictures of yourself using different designs or techniques. These designs had to include, a Black and White, an Extended Print, an Alternate Background, and an Artist’s Choice. First, we had our formative grade which was creating a smaller print of our choice, as long as it shows contrast and involves opposites. Once completed, we then began our summative. As shown above, you can clearly see that it is a self-portrait of me, in four different "filters". This was created by using tools specifically used for cutting and carving details in projects like this.

Some elements of art that I used were definitely shape and line. Since the project only contained tow colors, white and black, this meant that the carving was strongly based on the shapes and lines which were made of the contoured areas of my portrait. While carving my portrait I had to make sure that all of the lines and shapes were on track; otherwise, it could've ended very badly. This was especially true for the lines and shadows on my face. A major principle of design that I did included was contrast. As I mentioned before, the contrast was clearly the most important principle while even selecting my photo. Finding a picture that had an even amount of dark and light lighting was hard, but fully necessary for this piece of the project. COntrast can be found anywhere in each of my prints, for this is what was mainly used. The major thing that changed was that my original idea for a picture was something different, but found out almost immediately that the lighting was too even, and I needed a picture with more light and dark areas which highlighted my features.

There is no direct "story" that goes with my prints, but the print in the top right corner was inspired by one of my favorite music artists. This singer has a really cool aesthetic to her music videos, and this is what I based my extended print out of. I am very proud of how my artwork turned out overall, especially because I wasn't first expecting it to go as smooth as it did. Areas that I'm specifically proud of include the hair and the flower in the corner. As I mentioned before, the only thing I struggled with was choosing the appropriate picture for this assignment.