Lino printing was not new to me as a process I had experimented with it at secondary school, the only difference being a rapeseed oil canvas, its much tougher to carve than the rubber and looks slightly more like wood as it picks up the textures with each mark made with  the tool. My drawing approach was a real let down for this process, I tried two styles, big and bold, and fine and detailed. The latter approach did me no favors, so few marks of the were picked up by the ink, this meant the drawing was barely transferred it was not recognizable at all. After some research I found I was completely wrong in how I approached the canvas, had a little more thought been put into the actual drawing of the images the outcomes might have been more satisfying. One of them turned out alright.

the less refined approach lends itself much better to lino

the more detailed print, hours to carve and yet still barely recognisable 

the prints

My former college in alton was very keen on print making and experimentation of the sort we are practicing, and being introduced to. With this in mind I was aware of the lack of transition there was going to be, with my approach to drawing, and the processes we were going to be introduced to. However I still approached every session with an open mind, i also went to every extreme to get the best outcome possible. I've decided to post a few of my sketches to provide context for this paragraph of nonsense.

Screen printing is a very fast and easy way to reproduce mass amounts of work, it is very similar to stenciling in that layers build up an image. Printing the image image requires a stretched photosensitive mesh and an image on acetate (the black areas are where the ink passes through), once the image is exposed it needs to be washed, and after washing and drying the screen is finally ready. Most surfaces are easy to print on, t-shirts and fabrics are very commonly used, paper is also very good the ink is well received and vibrant. To print the image line the paper up with the exposed stencil and simply drag the ink through the mesh with a squeegee. It can very easily be repeated as long as theres enough ink and paper

Flock and foil was almost exactly the same as screen printing, the only difference was the use of glue instead of ink, this meant a second applicant of flock or metallic colored foils was needed to print the image. Heat sealed the two surfaces exactly like a screen print. I tried a rather finely toned pair of headphones and was very surprised. The mesh was fine enough to pick up most of the detail, this meant the image was complete and very recognizable. It transferred well to most surfaces and I would happily use the image again, although I wasn't ambitious enough to try multiple colors I think with a bit of practice I'll get there.

sketch for flock and foil technique- its headphones

the top one is flock and then the one just above is foil...........

this is the foil sheet which peeled away, i think its better than the print.

Pop art

Andy Warhol popularized the techniques use and application within art, he is most famous for his multi colored Monroe prints, several layers of garish colors printed on an industrial scale. His work took off in America where people enjoyed the novelty which came with his work, the familiarity with the objects and the people made his work all the more accessible. Although not everyone appreciated what he was doing. Salvador Dali famously ridiculed Warhol in new york by urinating on a fresh off the press Monroe canvas, the industrial nature involved with this art causes many people to believe it is not art- Dali professed to this school of thought and felt the need to express himself. The movement has become much more expressive with people like Alex Pardee whose work is far looser and less contained than the pop artists of the 60's, pushing the boundaries. His work is an interesting step forward for the process.ink bleeding and running unintentionally has never been exaggerated to this point before,  many people find this dripping undesirable however like many illustrators, designers, and fine artists, alex pardee has managed to incorporate this effect heavily enough that it becomes the image. 

Andy Warhol's iconic Monroe print.

Alex Pardee and his approach to printing.

Lino prints

Mick armson is a freelance illustrator from Greenwich london, his work consists of very clean cut Lino blocks depicting seaside narratives. Sketching on location gives a more immediate sense to his art, he picks up the atmosphere and the feeling of the place. Whether he is drawing people, birds, houses, buildings, or the sea, they all seem like characters in their own very familiar world. He uses very pale colors they seem far less garish and much more tasteful, bright colors and Lino never really look that good, the earthy palette lends itself to paler colours and subjects.

Dry point

Etching was a process I was very aware of, it's history is embedded in illustration, I decided to keep my image relatively simple. There was very little in the way of tone and I broke down much of the image to bare lines, I hoped this would increase the likelihood of this process working for me. Unfortunately it was not be. The process was incredibly simple, normally with etching a copper plate is used and carved with a sharp point, acid and other chemicals help print the image, We were using a simpler much quicker process. Dry point, scratching a piece of acetate with a needle to create a burr, and then rubbing ink into the crevices would mean our image could be printed several times, a damp piece of paper is placed with the inked acetate and then passed through a press. I was keen to make this process work. It seemed like a quick and easy way to print several identical images, after carving the image, inking the plate, pressing the plate and wet paper, I got nothing. One print was semi transferred, I tried the process four or five times with variations to the application of ink, the type of paper, how clean it was, how much pressure there was, and yet each time nothing. I hope to achieve slightly more the next time I try this process, I was incredibly disappointed with the final outcome and can only hope it doesn't happen the next time I use this process.

My house mate Abdul, 

An inked dry point 

The final image- I was rather disappointed 

Sigmund Abeles

Sigmund abeles is a celebrated American painter and print maker his use of dry point is a practical example of the medium. His quirky portraits of the world around him are realistic but they are not just observations, he describes himself as an "expressive realist" capturing his subjects thoughts and emotions, their whole characters with a scratched dry point. His style lends itself to the dry point medium with the burrs delicately creating multiple layers of textured tones. He creates a story with his implied narratives, his appreciation for psychoanalysis is clear in his compositions, it breaks the figures apart create a piece of art and not just a sketch. As an artist Sigmund Abeles was a member of the associated American artists of New York, he has work in the V and A and countless galleries in America, his work peaked in the 80's and he is a well remembered graphic artist.

screen printing

Screen printing was completely new to me, I knew about the pop art trend and the leading artists practice of this process, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Jim Dine. Their use of screen printing and multi layer effects they used, as well as their approach to tone, with dots and an exaggerated cross hatch, the similarity to stenciling was instantly noticeable. My results were varied, the most surprising being my two color print, getting the image ready for the screen was a labored process, adobe illustrator would have taken far too long, so the decision to enlarge the A5 sketch twice and then simply hope it would work. Although it was quite tedious lining up two colors it was very enjoyable, the red tongue was a bit of a marker for the second color so lining them up was quite easy after a bit of practice. The view from a window was a much simpler introduction to the medium. The image worked well on different types of paper, brown parcel wrap is such a good way to experiment, its so quick and easy to create a new and more distinct image, a change of surface quickly leads to double the work.

prepared for the screen, a two tone acetate

the final image- red tongue and all

my first screen print of the front of the house-