Plans for the exhibition

My initial plan for the exhibition was to use a cabinet in a dark space to represent a window (following on from my work looking at windowsills and the impressions they can give about a certain truth), with a light going on and off inside to reveal and hide the objects on the shelves within. This was designed to show how the interior truth of something is only revealed under certain circumstances.

However after a discussion with my tutors I decided that this might not be the best way of presenting my work and that something cleaner, more modern and more contextual would be more appropriate. Using a cabinet, I was in severe danger of it just looking like a cabinet, rather than a window, and in that case important meaning would be lost. The dark mahogany exterior of the cabinet was also likely to look rather dated compared to other exhibits. Therefore I've changed my idea for the exhibition to using a real window instead. I'm going to enclose one of the windows in the illustration and graphics room to create a self-contained space, inaccessible from within the room. Instead the viewer will have to peer in through the window to be able to see the exhibit. This should create a sense of curiosity and prying to echo the feeling got when looking in through other people's windows in real life.

There will be a net curtain covering much of the window to partially obscure seeing in, and either a light going on and off or a fan blowing the curtain away at intervals. As it is no longer planned be in a dark space I was at first more inclined to have the fan but I think it would be difficult to set up effectively. I also think that with the curtain obscuring the view, the light going on would make it easier to see through so the original desired effect would still be had. However for this to work I need to locate a timer that will allow me to have the light going off at appropriate intervals, for example every minute. I've yet to find one that can do that so I may need to find out how to make it myself.
Alternatively it's possible to get hold of a timer that randomly simulates lights being turned on and off to give the impression of people being at home when actually they're out. Using a timer such as this could be interesting conceptually as it simulates the impression of human activity. The randomness could add unpredictability and added interest.

The far wall I am planning to paper in wallpaper of my own design (see previous blog post). There will also be two shelves which will contain mugs and plates I have designed based on the stream of consciousness writing that I collected from people. This will represent the 'inner thoughts' of a person. I've been doing some initial designs for these.

I scanned in extracts from the stream of consciousness writing, therefore using that person's unique handwriting as well as any spelling mistakes and quirks. I think this is nice idea as it makes it seem more personal, organic and 'real' than using a more formal type of text. However because of this, some of the text is quite hard to interpret, which is especially a problem as these are going to be viewed at a distance, adding to the difficulty. Therefore I'm going to experiment with different ways of writing shortly, which are more clear. However on the other hand perhaps the difficulty in interpretatation might add to the concept of the project, as the inner truth of someone's every day life is rarely easy to interpret. I'll have to consider this when making my final decisions.

This is a design for a plate (it's just the circle in the middle). I think this extract is nice and I like the use of line drawing. However I think more could be made of the design because as it is I don't think it works brilliantly. I need to try out drawing different dogs and perhaps have a number of dogs on the same plate because that would be likely to look more interesting.

I really think the simplicity of this works well. It's designed to be printed on the side of a mug. I think it's quite dainty and would look nice. Any bigger would minimise its appeal. However because of the smallness of the text it would be extremely difficult to read from outside the window. I need to weigh these two points up.

 This plate design was based on the work I was doing with a plate last Friday (see it here). Again I really value the simplicity of this. I think the spelling mistake adds charm however it might just come across as a mistake on my part in the exhibition.

I feel this mug design works really well. The mix of block colour and line complement each other well. I'm very happy with this design as it looks dainty and charming.


I'm a fan of the use of just one colour. I'm not sure whether in the end I will have them printed in blue or in a pink shade, as it depends what I feel will complement the wallpaper better, so I'm going to wait until the wallpaper is printed to make up my mind. However I'm very attached to the use of blue as it reminds me of old fashioned blue and white crockery, which I love.

Following on from these designs I'm going to try some more so I have a range of designs to choose from when making my final selection.

Developing printmaking

I've been developing my prints through adding text and playing with colour. The first thing I tried was adding lettering with the printing blocks. However it didn't really work that well because I was trying to print onto a photocopy and the ink didn't stick properly. I also tend to prefer a bolder appearance so I tried a different method of adding text later on (see below).

I then used the oil method to add colour to a black and white photocopy of my print. I don't really think this method is appropriate in this case as it gives very muted colours and I think this print would be complemented by more vibrant ones. So I tried other methods of adding colours.

I then played with collaging a background onto the original print. Although it gives an interesting effect I think it looks too fussy and doesn't look good with the very simple block shapes. As a result I decided to try adding a simple block colour background instead.

Here it is with the simple block colour. I think the selective colour palette works well. The design looks bold, simple and quite retro. I think it has a lot more impact.

I then tried adding simple line in pencil because I'd liked the combination of line and block shape on the stencil (see previous post). I also added text using paper cut outs. I really think the addition of text has added interest and vibrancy to the image as well as balancing the colour palette. I'm still undecided as to whether adding the lines has improved it. I want to do more different prints adding text to them to create a bit of a series.

Printing Tuesday!

Yesterday I was doing prints based on a photo I took (see it here). The route I've decided to go down is to explore the themes of suburbia and dullness - those boring houses and having nothing to do. After doing several thumbnails this was the image I decided to focus on. I was doing mono-prints again because this has been really working for me and I'm trying to refine my use of it further. I'm getting more complicated every time I try it, until I get really good at it. It's also because I've been looking at the work of print artist John Hinchcliffe, who uses one colour mono-printing to great effect (see below). I want to emulate his bold but detailed style using the same method, although I'll be trying out with both one and two colour prints.

Months of the Year, John Hinchcliffe.

Mono-printing also suits the bold, graphic, flat style I'm trying to achieve, inspired by the work of Sheffield printmakers Jonathan Wilkinson and James Green. 

Doing the stencil was super fiddly! Here's the stencil I made. I think it looks really good in itself. I like the mix of block colour and line. I'm definitely going to do some proper work with this in mind, using collage and pencil or fineliner.

Here's the first one-colour print. I think it looks good as it is as a really simple striking design.

I added an extra dimension to it by collaging with brown paper. The original plan was going to be to just print this on but I decided to try this out as well. It gives a nice muted effect. I'm now going to experiment with adding more colour to it, probably with the oil painting method.

Here's the printed version. I think it works really well because it's very bold and the limited colours contrast with each other well. However I decided to try it with a different colour palette to see how it turned out. 

So I did a different version of the original stencil in orange. Because the stencil already had black ink on it this made an interesting effect. It's good how it adds texture and depth to the image in a subtle way.

I then added pink to the orange base. I think this colour scheme also works really nicely. It's more vibrant and cheerful than the black and orange. It doesn't have the same level of contrast though, which I suppose can either be a good or bad thing depending on the situation.

I now want to experiment with adding text to my prints, to add to the design and also the concept.

This Morning's Developments

I worked on developing a black and white photocopy from my sketchbook by adding colour with a special technique used by the illustrator Alexis Deacon. It involves using oil and then painting on the back of an image so muted colour shows through.

At first I was using acrylic paint but then I started using soft pastel because I wanted to be able to smudge it. I really liked the effect that I got. I'm going to bear this in mind when wanting to add colour to images in the future.

I also experimented with doing blind drawings of blind drawings, to get a similar but more abstract effect to the original image.

I did this in my book and then drew the last one onto a napkin, because I've been experimenting with drawing on toilet paper and I like the effect. 

It was good because the napkin is a hard surface to draw on which distorts the line, making it more abstract. I like how it gives the impression of a flowering branch without being explicit. It gives an illusion of energy.

I then photocopied this in black and added text to follow on from the workshop on text we did on Friday. I also added text to a photocopy of one of my oil coloured drawings.

 I think it works well how the delicate floweryness contrasts with the bold text. However I don't think they work very well as images as they don't really make very much sense. I think this shows I need to use text in more obvious contexts, which is what I'm going to do next.

Printing Development

Following on from the printing work I did on Tuesday and the text workshop on Friday morning, on Friday afternoon I worked on developing my print work by adding text.

I collaged work from two different prints together because I felt they weren't working on their own. I then added some text with masking tape like I had experimented with in the morning. I think the different mix of textures is interesting. I still don't think there is enough contrast in the colours though, despite adding the blue to try and solve this. It needs some black or dark colour to focus the image. As it is it's very boring. So I decided to add black to one of my other prints.

You can see the original here. I think the addition of black really improves the image because it adds contrast and detail. It's bolder and looks better. This was inspired by a print of James Green's that I saw in the Printing Sheffield exhibition at the Millenium Galleries, ie. the two colours and simple shapes. I then took a photocopy of this to add text to.

I used black ink and used fonts and words I'd used earlier in the day. I really think the text adds something to the image. 

I then added text to one of my other prints. I don't think this one works quite as well because it's a bit too busy. It seems better to keep it simple and clean looking.

Typography workshop

Today I was experimenting with creating lettering in a variety of ways and styles. Here's what I got up to.

This was using black ink and a thick brush. I really like how it turned out because it looks quite professional. I don't think the layout is very interesting though. That's something I wanted to work on later on.

Again the layout of this one was hardly inspiring. So for the next image I concentrated hard on trying to reflect the feeling of the words through the way I set them out on the page.

I wanted the 'boring' to kind of trail off to reflect loosing interest. Then I wanted to fit the word 'dull' in with it to connect them and make the image flow. I think this works well and is much more interesting and coherent than the last two images.

I then cut letters out of collage material. I really like the combination of the cut outs and the negative shapes left behind. This is something I'll bear in mind during development.

Then I scratched into paper using scissors and rubbed shoe polish over the top to reveal the message. I really think this works well with my project as it involves every day materials. This helps to reflect and strengthen the theme.

Then we did some left hand drawing and spraying it with water. I like how there is a lot of elements on the page.

Printmaking based on contrasting houses photography

Yesterday it was Tuesday so printing day! I wanted to work on developing some of the images from the photography of houses in my area from the other day. I started with some thumbnails. I decided to use mono-printing again because I wanted to develop my skills with it. Some of them came out better than others because I'm not always great at inking my plate properly. But I think this has advantages as it brings variation.

This was the first image I tried. I liked how simple it was but I wanted to add some contrast and detail (you'll see it in a minute.

I also used the template cut outs to create another, inverted version of the image. I quite like it but I think the first works marginally better for what I was aiming for.

I then printed over the top in black to add contrast. I think this works really well. It just brings out the image more and makes it easier to interpret.

I then did a print with the black plate but no original print underneath. I really like the effect it brings. It's very simple and a little abstract but also illustrative and atmospheric. The black and white look clean and classic together.

I decided to take the paper cut outs off the printing plate and try printing like that. I think it gave an interesting effect but I don't hugely like it visually because there is no negative space to contrast with the grey areas. 

This was trying to contrast the silhouettes of two houses, using collage and print to distinguish. I don't think it worked hugely well as it doesn't look that clear. The house in collage doesn't really stand out at all. I think the coloured outside and then the non-printed area in the centre looks nice though.

I decided then to use blue paper to contrast and stand out more from the orange print. I like this combination of colours together. I then tried some letter press printing in black underneath. I think the addition of black really helped the image by adding interest. I still think it lacks impact though. I think I'll probably work back into it with ink of sewing or paint or something.

I then tried a next design based on one of my thumbnails but with only the top area cut out to try out if it would work. It did work so I later added in another house at the bottom. However I really love the simplicity of this version and the large expanse of blank colour at the bottom area. In a lot of ways I think it actually works better than the amended version.

This is the adapted version with the extra house. I like how it gives the impression of distance and perspective. I think perhaps it needs some black for contrast though, because everyone said the earlier image with black in it worked well due to the contrast. I'll work into it with black or dark blue ink on Friday.

Here's the same print but with a little bit of collage underneath. I think the dark blue, delicate aspects contrast well with the flat orange. It adds more interest to the image. 

The same print faintly over a ground and with some letter press printing. I don't think this works at all as the orange is too weak to have impact. Moral of story - ink plate better.

On Friday I'm going to work into some of these with acetate, sewing, ink and anything else I think of.

Photos from yesterday

Just some dodgy iPod pictures from my lil outing yesterday.

I like that the perspective and composition in this one is a bit unexpected.

I thought the combinations of the camper van, washing line and compost bins looked cool and very every day.

This is horribly overexposed but I liked the perspective.

Jess had some flowering tea! It's kind of like a twist on the every day.

Series from a florist.

 Jess looking Pre-Raphaelite with her Mothers' day flowers.

Charity shopping.