The End of Digital Printmaking

My five weeks in the Digital Printmaking of my Materials class have come and gone. We finished the class with eight prints and my book The Hidden Face of the City is now available on the website lulu.com. It's so cool to think that I've actually made a book; you don't believe it until you're actually holding the book in your hands! My book ended up being 30 pages long with four poems written by my sister.


This is my favorite page: the Seven Dwarfs' cottage. The creepy grinning figure on the magic mirror is my version of Death from Hellboy II and it holds the red apple that 'kills' Snow White.

Although I felt some of the assignments in Digital were rushed because we only had five weeks, the class made me appreciate Photoshop more. Throughout the entire class I had a distinct image or look I was going for on Photoshop but I could not get it to work until the very end of the class (funny how things work out like that). What I was striving for was a print "painted with patterns or textures". The cartoon show "Chowder" on Cartoon Network uses the same idea: all of the characters' clothes have patterns on them and as the character moves across the screen more of the pattern is revealed (as if the character's shirt is moving along the pattern). It's hard to explain...

Bellow, is my first attempt at paste-ing in patterns. The assignment behind this print was to create four prints using scanned images or things. I scanned in cool different textures (knitting, cloth, metal hair clip) for all of the different parts of the elfin knight's armor and background. I also collaged sketches of faery creatures in the background. After this was done, I still didn't feel satisfied!


This is just another of the scanned prints.


This one bellow is the one that finally worked out!


So what I ended up doing was scanning in a line drawing that I had done in pen and on that scanned image I copied and pasted textures or photos into each of the distinct shapes of the drawing.

If I had figured out my idea earlier, I would have tried to make more prints using the same technique.

Portrait Paintings

We just finished portrait paintings in my basic painting class. What my professor did for this assignment was take photos of each of the people in my class and print them out. Then each of us (the students) drew from the pile of pictures she took and had to paint that person. We could take on whatever kind of concept we wanted with the portraits and didn't have to paint each other realistically. The girl that I picked had really cool hair that reminded me of a halo. That and the fact that her head was slightly tilted to one side and faced the camera head on inspired me to paint her like a Madonna or an early Christian icon painting. While painting, I also drew a lot of influence from the art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha because his works contain a lot of haloed or framed women.

Here's my painting.


This was painted with oil on a wood panel that I built myself. I love how the wood panel is so appropriate for my concept: all of those early Christian icon paintings were usually painted on wood for alterpieces. Also, the student that I painted is an art history major so there is that reference to her in the painting.

Madonna and Child painting.


This and the early Christian icon painting bellow both have a lot of gold in the background. This was done so that the figures are pushed forward as well as making them look like they are floating on golden light when sunlight hits the background.

Early Christian icon painting.


Here's a good example of and Alphonse Mucha print.

Digital Printmaking

We are making our way through Digital Printmaking, the second section of my Printmaking course this fall semester. We've made digital prints using photoshop and scanned images. I've also gotten a chance to do some fun photoshop tutorials. This picture I did below was a "city ink" style tutorial that makes any picture look urban and 'popping fresh'! I thought it would be hilarious to do it with one of my French Rococo Pirate costume pictures. Here's what I would look like as a pirate in some cool city!



Right now we're working on books. Everyone is making a 20 page book in photoshop that we will send to lulu.com to get published. I'm so excited about this project. Even when I was in etching, I had heard a rumor that in digital we made books and knew immediately what I was going to do. I started taking photos and drawing/painting images early on! The idea or concept behind my book is based on a phenomenon I encountered last year: I noticed all of these picturesque scenes in Richmond that if you boxed out the rest of the city surrounding it, the building or whatever it is doesn't even look like it's in Richmond. Sometimes buildings look like a tower in Germany or, as I like think of them, holes into Faerie. That's when my concept really takes off. I'm going to emphasized these non-Richmond cites and describe them as holes or portals into the Faerie world with creatures coming out and mortals getting trapped in. The book is a journey of discovery; it starts off with pictures of just Richmond, then progresses to distorted pictures of Richmond that focus primarily on the interesting building or feature, and then the faeries take over. My sister has written up poems to accompany my book, one being the introduction. It's amazing how perfect her poems are for my book when she hasn't actually seen any of the pages or sketches!

Here are some spreads from my book (by spreads I mean the two corresponding pages, so imagine them divided down the middle as they would be in a book). Enjoy!

A New Semester!!!

I bet you're hoping that the long break between this and my last post means I've been up to a lot of work and have much to share but sadly this is not the case. Over the summer, I experienced a 'loss of creativity' and hardly drew or painted like I normally would have. I am happy to say, though, that my creativity is on a rise as this new semester begins.

I'm taking a really exciting class on different forms of printmaking. The class is made up of three five-week sections. The first section was etching. I've already handed in my final portfolio for that portions so it's over now. I'm currently in digital printmaking and then I'll be going to litho (lithographs). I love etching! I had not realized that the verb 'etching' does not describe the action of drawing with a needle tool onto a copper plate but rather soaking the copper plate in an acid bath so that the acid burns (or 'etches') the lines into the copper. Can you imagine my confused-open-mouth expression during my first two etching classes when my professor kept saying things like "you could get a deeper line by etching for twenty minutes rather than five"? I was sitting there thinking "how can you draw a line for twenty minutes. Now, etching is like common sense to me! Before etching, you apply some sort of ground on the copper plate that protects it and you remove the ground when you draw or mark on it. The acid then 'etches' away the exposed copper. There is one technique, called drypoint, which you draw right onto the copper and don't put it into the acid bath at all. I guess that's what I thought etching was!

We had to find a printmaker/artist and pick out two of his or her work that we would make prints in response to or inspired by. I picked the Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. My first print is a combination of drypoint and hard ground. Hard ground, a blackish liquid that dries into a hard coating, is one of the two different grounds you can put on a plate. The resulting etched lines are crisp and pen-like.

Here is my first selected Amano piece, a print of the character Vampire Hunter D.


In this piece, I was inspired by Amano's 'epic figure' as I like to call it; I loved the isolated figure with his flowing cape and dynamic pose. In my own print, my figure is a sort of grotesque monstrous creature but rendered in a very beautiful graceful manner. I like the idea of body parts switched or in unusual places; here, I put the arms where the wings would be on the back (if humanoids had wings). The birdman, as I tend to call him, has two faces and, I like to imagine, another or more that we can't see.

Here's my final print.


My next piece, titled "The Bonfire, an Aboriginal legend", illustrates an Aboriginal legend about the creation of the sun that I found in a children's book back at the library. The story goes: Baiame, the creation god, was creating all sorts of creatures but they weren't right, they kept growing bigger and bigger and ended up fighting or eating each other. At this time, there was no sun so Baiame and the other god Punjel lived out in the cold Milky Way. They kept gathering wood for a great fire. Punjel asked Baiame when they were going to light the fire and was peeved to find out that fire hadn't been created yet. Baiame told Punjel not to rush his creations and sure enough an egg fell from the sky. Punjel tried to catch it but it broke all over their fire wood and errupted into a blazing fire. The gods could finally see the beautiful world Baiame had been making (I think it's funny he's been working in the dark) and admired his handy work. Baiame then desides to make delicate and complicated creatures like silver fish, tiny bugs, lizards, birds, and man for the world. At the end of the story, the fire starts to go out and Punjel urges Baiame to relight it but he just says that man will call the light their sun and every time it goes out they will sleep and Baiame will relight the fire for the new day. (this is my favorite part) Punjel askes Baiame what is sleep. Baiame says sleep is like death but not death. Man needs to sleep because life tires him or her out. Punjel says in response "How odd". This story is so 'deep' within its simplicity. I hope my print does it justice!

Here's the other Amano print I selected.


The Amano print I picked for this particular concept had lots of textural details (squiggles and lines) that I thought would be great for the portion of my print where the firelight reveals Baiame's creations. This print is primarily softground, the second type of ground that is waxy and keeps the texture of the tool you use to expose the copper underneath (so a pencil line will etch and print out like a pencil line, a marker line will look like marker, charcoal will look like charcoal, etc.)

Here's a close up of the wonderful, textural 'squiggles' I was inspired by!


And here is my final print! I'm supper pleased with how this one turned out.

French Pirates!!!!!

My sister has gotten far enough on her next novel to read parts of it out loud (that's approximately 20 chapters). The part that she has read to me is set in a french fairytale style. Imagine satin dresses with lace, buckled shoes, britches, and of course fairy godmothers! This set me up in a Marie Antoinette mood. I've been watching movies set in that French Baroque or Rococo time period, such as Blackadder with Hugh Laurie as Prince George.


I prefer Prince George over House any day!!!!

I've also been reading french fairytales illustrated by Edmund Dulac as well as drawing my own Rococo fairy pictures.


This drawing is done with graphite and colored pencil, like the faery queen in the previous blog entry.



I definitely drew this fellow while watching Blackadder.

A couple of days ago when I was thinking of pirate costumes for a Live Action Role Playing Game, I realized I could make a French pirate costume! Let me back up. Live Action Role Playing Games (LARPs) are similar to those murder mystery parties where people dress up and play a character. The LARPs my brother and I participate in sometimes have murders but are set in the future or fantastical worlds. The next LARP planned is a pirate one and I've decided to make a Rococo Pirate costume. I've already started part of it. The costume has a brocade over dress (the only part I've made so far), britches and a blouse.


This is the first thing I've sewn that's had boning and eyelets in it. I'm extremely happy about how it's coming along!



My color scheme is going to be a silver/gold over dress, dark gold britches and white blouse. This isn't final. I'm going to the fabric store tomorrow to pick stuff out.

Looking Through Old Sketchbooks

Along side eating, napping, and drawing, looking through old sketchbooks is one of my favorite pastimes! You get to uncover anew lost characters, creatures, or stories. As well as see how your style has changed. Sometimes I redraw these lost old sketches. Recently, I got a chance to look through my old sketchbooks when I started the illustrations for my sister's novel (those will be a future entry). In one of them, I found a colored-in-drawing I had done of the cruel elfin queen from the Tam Lin fairy tale.


Here's a close up. Just a tid bit: the day I drew this picture, on August 2nd, my mom told me to draw ugly things. Yep, this was the one that started it all.


Below is the original. I love the style of the Tam Lin illustrations. They are my favorite out of all of the illustrations in the Enchanted World : Fairies and Elves book. I'm particurally drawn to tall dark Queens, such as this one and the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They are regal, cold, and awesome!



This book is beautiful and a treasure. My mom says she bought it in a used book store when we were very little so I've always remembered us having it. The illustrations include paintings by Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, J W. Waterhouse, John Anster Fitzgerald and others. The Enchanted World is a series of books each dedicated to different topics, such as fairies and elves, dwarves, giants, and even the fall of Camelot. I can tell you that I was surprised to find this series in our local public library. The fairies and elves book is the only one we have. I frown at the $7.50 marked on the inside because this book is priceless in my eyes.


Anyways. After looking at that drawing I did, I decided to do something in the same fashion (graphite with colored pencil). This faery maiden, whatever you like to call her, is not anyone in particular. She's probably one of many faeries glimpsed in their glimmering midnight procession.


The close up.

Ugly Creatures

I found this wonderful book in Barnes and Nobles called On Ugliness edited by Umberto Eco. It has great photos from art history of Medieval and Renaissance illustrations of hell, the final judgment and other stuff (Dada art, Mythological inspired drawings). There is even a photo (mind you a photo) of a man holding another man's severed head! How disgusting, I know, but really cool in a bizarre way!!!!! I bought the book with some of my birthday money!


The book!

As you can tell I have embraced my mom's advice of drawing more ugly things. I've never really explored animal creatures and humanoid monsters before in my art; I mostly drew elves and faeries and other such things. As a result, I don't have a storage of grotesque images in my head so I have to use outside sources for inspiration. I look at objects around me and see if they have an interesting almost beastly form to them or I refer to picutures of insects. Sometimes I just use the basic human figure and distort it in uncomfortable ways (elongating the neck here or giving it extra arms etc). This particular lady faery's head was inspired by a Kleenex.


This next one is a page of assorted monsters I created. I just sort of compiled them together on the page as I thought of them. It's interesting how they flow together; that was unintentional.


For this first one, I thought it would be interesting if the creature had its arms on its back and the wings in the front, opposite of an angel or something. The body is more delicate but creepy and pointy none-of-the-less. The head is your average gargoyle/goblin head.


This next one is my favorite. I envisioned the pose before the creature. I'm not exactly sure what it is doing; it's sort of siting on a cloth strip that is holding it in mid air. I'm really excited about the hollowed out chest and multiple faces. This is definitely the most dynamic one.


This guy reminds me a bit of Predator, which was not my original intent; I think it's because of the hair and face. I was going for a buggy sort of spider look for the eyes (it has lots of eyes) and and a skull/bone head with no bottom jaw. Its armor and blades are part of its skin, I guess like an insect. I imagine it being a soldier or guard to a fortress. All the intruder hears before they are slashed across the face is the clinking of hooves on the stone floors.


Mom requested this ugly fellow. She asked my to draw something that smiles like her sometimes. Of course I exagerated it; she never looks like she's about to eat someone. The hood he... or it is wearing in not clothe, but its own skin. This fellow is completely dressed in his own pooling, wrinkling skin. I would be surprised to ever see him not hungry. Ever wonder why he has two hands tied to stings when he has four of his own? They make it easier to gather his food, not the salad kind of food, mind you.


This final creature has three mouths on his face. Those are all tongues coming out; they smell the air like snake tongues. The body is most definitely inspired by an insect. Rather than legs it has arms that taper from muscle to just bone. I would love to see it scuttle around. Oooh gross!

School is out for Summer!

I have finished my first year of college and summer has come almost not soon enough!!! The last project I worked on was a collaborative sculpture piece with my friend. We made wooden puppets; she designed a goat/frog prey creature and I designed its cat/bird-of-prey predator creature counter part. It was killer!!! Our puppets required sanding with drills, rasping, laminating plywood, getting gorilla glue all over our hands, and lots of other sweaty physical labor. My thumbs were cramped for two weeks!!!! In the end we didn't finish the projects by critic day because the puppets were way too ambitious for the amount of time we had to work. We still got good grades because all of the time we put into them.

I desperately need my summer now to recover from our intensive puppets and I hoped not to work with wood for a while. But alas! Mother dear is re-doing the kitchen and I had to help sand down all of the cabinets to remove the varnish. Once again, I find myself using power tools.

Moving out of the dorms gave me a chance to uncover some of my old and new drawings and I have selected a few to share with you:

This drawing was our second flayed muscle drawing, this time of a leg and arm. I like this flayed drawing the best!


This next drawing was our final assignment in my drawing studio class. We had to do a drawing of the nude figure. I drew mine with NuPastel on tainted paper.


This piece, neither a drawing nor a painting, was actually from my fall semester. Ever since my mom told me to draw more ugly things, I have been ...well... drawing more ugly things. This creature was inspired by a clock in my sister's living room. Okay, for those of you wondering, I used markers, my Prismacolor markers.


This final piece is an oil painting I did in my Project: Painting and Printmaking class. The assignment was to trade painting surfaces with someone else in the class, start a painting, trade back with that person, and then respond to what they had painted on your canvas or canvas board. The girl who traded with me painted something that looked like dreadlocks. Mom asked it she could have this painting the second I showed her it; I don't know where she will put it.