The Last By Hand Posting

I’ve been working on my final project still and unfortunately all of the pieces aren’t quite finished yet. As I’ve been mentioning, I wanted to create an Andy Warhol-esque compilation of silk screening attempts. I thought it would be interesting to put my own spin on his more familiar work.

For those of you that are not familiar with his work, Andy Warhol was a key figure and innovator of silk screening art and commercial art. A piece of work that people are most familiar with is the color-block portraits of Marilyn Monroe, with his Cambell’s Soup can a close second.

I’ve used his work as inspiration for my final By Hand Project attempt. I went through some old photos and decided that I wanted to silk screen a few of my favorite memories through images. I thought that this would be interesting because to anyone viewing the images that is simply the feeling that they evoke: images. But for me, these images represent very fond times in my life and make the ephemeral tangible through art. I very much liked this idea, especially since a portion of our class readings from earlier this semester discussed ephemeral art and the motivations of the artists. I liked that instead of creating something that could be washed away, or melted, or erased over time, that I am taken something that could be lost in its own sense and making it something more permanent. I think that my motivation for this final project is to create a physical memory that can be viewed and recounted. Each one of these photos represents a moment from my past and I can freshly recall everything that was happening at that time when I look at these photos. I think that this personal connection to my craft has made this project so meaningful.

In the beginning I think that I was focused more on the commercial/retail aspects of silk screening. Unfortunately, I found little pleasure in that work because the end result was not satisfying and the process just seemed monotonous. This final project, however, has been the most fun that I have had with this project all semester. I guess I was trying to take my project in a direction that it didn't want to go in. I'm very pleased that I decided to take another route with my final attempt.

The final pieces won’t be finished in time to post the completed project via my blog, but I will be bringing the final piece into our class for my presentation. Until then, I am posting some of the images that I am silk screening so that the final project will have something to be compared to. I altered these photos in Photoshop.

UPDATE: For some reason the website is having a difficult time uploading my images. I will keep trying but it isn't looking good for my photos :(

Still working

I am continuing on my final By Hand project that will be finished by the last blog posting. I am working with multiple screens to create a collage effect of images and colors. It is a long process that has taken even longer than I would like due to my other course work and having a job.

I’ve also decided that for my final project that I am going to pull out all of the stops. I want to incorporate a lot of color and just have fun with it. The screens take the longest to complete, with all of the printing, tracing, marking, and blocking out the negative spaces. I have a very busy work and school schedule this week so it is really going to be a challenge to get this project done.

I’m really looking forward to the end result though. It will be rewarding to complete something that is truly for myself. Wish me luck!

A Work in Progress

As I noted in my last blog post, I am a little unsure of where my project is going, but I am focusing on an end result: a culmination of what I have learned throughout this process. The process itself is so time consuming that it isn’t very rewarding to just create something for the purpose of creating something.

As I also mentioned in my last post, I am thinking of channeling some inspiration via the work of Andy Warhol. I’ve been playing with some images in Photoshop to see how I can get the best variation and contrast from the images. Instead of focusing on just one image, as I was thinking before, I thought it would be fun to use a variety of images and form them into a sort of collage effect.

What I am working on now is turning these images into screens so I can transfer them to a surface (the surface is still undecided at this point). I don’t want to work on a small scale either, as I have previously been doing. I think I want to use multiple screens of different colors and different images to create something that is not what silk screening is conventionally used for. This project will require a more artistic approach that will then be mixed with the crafting element.

I want to use a found object as a surface. Possibly something that no longer has a use for me and is just taking up space. Or maybe something that someone else has thrown out like a broken piece of a door? The possibilities are endless and I am looking forward to finally creating something that sums up my experience with this project and myself as a crafter.

First Blog Back

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about different ways that I can make my By Hand project more interesting. So far, I’ve been very disappointed with my project. I had much higher hopes for the end result, and I was hoping to have made something different, something that I’ve never done before.

All in all, I haven’t felt that way yet. My silk screening attempts have fallen flat. (Keep in mind that I have been trying to take a more “found objects” and “natural” approach as opposed to the more conventional method of chemical treatments and expensive equipment). I’ve started to lean towards the conclusion that silk screening is not a type of craft that can be easily mastered, nor professionally executed by using the methods that I have used thus far.

My projects have reminded me of the opinions that we have discussed in class in regards to fancywork and fancy fairs. Sure, the people were participating in craft and creating crafts, but were the items created really something you wanted around after the therapeutic or social aspects of doing the craft wore off? I’m thinking probably not.

For the next few weeks I am going to try to give this project a morale boost. I’ve decided to channel one of the more notorious innovators in silk screening: Andy Warhol. I’m sure many of you are familiar with his color blocked silk screen of Marilyn Monroe and I would like to interpret something similar to his work, yet in more own way. Perhaps a self-portrait? Or maybe someone close to me? As you can see, I’m not entirely sure. I do know, however, that I want to finish this semester with something that I’m not going to want to throw away after finishing this course.

Reflection

Since this is midterm week, I haven't had the time to work on a tangible project attempt. I decided instead that I would reflect on how my project is relatable to our readings. This has been somewhat difficult for me, especially in the very beginning stages of the project. I don't feel that I have spent enough time, thus far, reflecting on my project.

I think that the article that speaks most to my project is Atkinson's DIY article. One of the main reasons that I chose to do silk screening as my project was because it is something that can be purchased pre-made and is readily available. Atkinson's article discussed harder times in which standard, ready made items were either unavailable or too expensive for consumers. Screen printed merchandise isn't really considered a "luxury item," but nonetheless it is still something that would be considered disposable if money were an issue.

Thus far, I haven't been satisfied with my project attempts. I'm not sure if I am missing something, doing something wrong somewhere along the line in my production steps, or maybe misread some of the pages where I initially received my information? It is also possible that I had expectations higher than what can be achieved by using more of a found objects approach, but the items so far have turned out looking very....bland, boring, maybe a little cheap. I think I have become a little discouraged because this isn't really turning out the way that I had hoped.

I think that over Spring Break I am going to work on a plan to revive this project and maybe put a spin on it and make it a little more specific. Wish me luck :)

Teaching to Silk Screen

Since I have felt like I have been in a bit of a rut in terms of my By Hand Project, I decided that I would take one of the ideas mentioned in class and teach someone how to silk screen. Thankfully my boyfriend was kind enough to be my guinea pig.

I thought that it would be interesting if we both silk screened the same image. In doing such, some interesting variations arose in aesthetic. We both used a silhouette image of a moose and then dug through my endless supply of fabric scraps to pick our backdrops. He chose a simple navy blue and white striped fabric and I chose the coral with white polka dots. He opted to use red as his silkscreen color and I chose blue.

I thought it was interesting that we chose opposing colors for both our fabric and ink, and yet we both ended up with a similar color scheme. This may possibly stem from our backgrounds in fine arts and the predominant color wheel that has been instilled in our minds.

In teaching him how to silk screen, I was reminded of the social aspect of craft that we have discussed in class. Though I’m not sure if he will want to do this with me again, I found that it was much more fun to have someone to chat with during the process (waiting for the glues and paints to dry can be very time consuming).

This brought me back to the topics of quilting circles and the article about needlework and fancywork. I definitely can sense the pleasure that comes from sharing a craft with someone else or a group of people. It certainly made it more enjoyable for me. Hopefully I can either persuade him to try it again with me or find another willing friend.

Also worth mentioning, is the choice of fabric used in this silk screening attempt as opposed to my very first attempt. The fabric used on my first try was lightweight cotton batiste, which is not a thick fabric but it is not terribly thin either. This time we used sheer voile, which basically has the consistency of sheer window panels. The voile served much better as a screen because of its ultra thin weight and kept the image from looking like a stamp impression, like the batiste had done.

The screens are still drying so I will update with pics once they are finished J

On to the next adventure

So this week I have been working on developing a design that I could use as a repeating print. It is definitely more complicated than my first attempt, so it is taking much longer to get through the design steps than I had anticipated. I have been working with this design using Adobe Photoshop from collections of brushes that I have downloaded. I've decided that I want to focus more on interior fabrics rather than apparel (my first silk screening attempt).

Also, I am going to try multiple types of fabrics for the screen so I can decide which one works best for me and possibly on different types of surfaces. Below is the image that I have decided on and planning to transfer it to curtains to liven up my apartment a little :)

I'll update with more pics of the work in progress as it comes along!