Printmaking

 Printmaking Final Critique

    Project #1: The Blue Dalmatian

This is my first project making two-tone prints in this class. Out of the few that I have made, this is one of the best turnouts. There were two challenges I had regarding this project. For starters, since I was using the same block to make the second layer, I needed not to take off what wanted to keep. It required a lot of "backward thinking", and any mess-ups were irreversible. 

What was also a challenge was aligning the brick on top of the paper so both prints were layered together perfectly. This was the closest I got to perfect. If there was something I could do to make this better, I would have removed more linoleum on the edges, so they printed in unwanted areas. I would have also been more careful about carving around the tail. On the middle bottom of the tail, it looks like a smaller animal bit into it. That wasn't an intentional detail. 

Besides that, I liked this project as I can associate it with good vibes. The Dalmatian relates to my two deceased Dalmatian-labrador mixes. And my house, as well as most of the rooms in the house are blue.

Project #2: Symmetic Card; Asymmetric Portrait

This was one of my first prints using linoleum. Originally, I didn't know where to begin. I didn't want to plan a project that was too difficult for a beginner. I took some inspiration from old projects that resembled gaming cards, and I went off that. I used several irregular polygons on the edges and a variety of trapezoids.

What's funny about this project was someone compared my pyramid of triangles to Legends of Zelda. I got the reference, but I didn't intentionally make that about the game. I was intending to have something to fit the center of the card where it stands out. What this print has, which my older prints don't is that it had letter stamps. The letters S-n-i-d-e-r spell out my surname. I just thought it would be a valuable thing to add on since the last name holds a lot of meaning to me. As for the portrait, I made a portrait of myself. If I was going to start learning linoleum, I figured to do it on a familiar face. I did portraits of myself, before, so it isn't a stretch to begin with that idea in mind.

If I had to change something, I would have added more interesting patterns and reduced the amount of negative space in the print. Granted, this is my first carving with linoleum since Elementary school. I can't expect myself to all of a sudden become familiar with making precise details.

Project #3: Judgement Day

This was one of my favorite projects to work on. I liked being able to use different materials that can leave a bold impression in the prints. The string made a huge difference in this project. If it was just paper, the prints would look flat, and making text would be hard.

The meaning behind this is how society has been more divided, socially speaking. Fewer people are willing to be civil when different beliefs clash, and religion has not been seen as a priority as older generations used to. Symbols I included in this piece were the peace symbol to symbolize peace (of course), the balance to represent justice, the ribbon to stand for awareness, and the church to represent morals and religious values. I also included the Earth cracking as a metaphor for society collapsing as everyone divides. I also included the text "The End" as if this is the final chapter in life. Not a happy ending, for that matter.

I wouldn't fix anything about this project. I like everything about it. If I were to do this project again, I would have liked to try two-tone prints. Maybe red and blue, since those are common colors associated with different groups or parties. That would add to the idea of "dividing".

Project #4: 90's Nick Splat Tee

This is the project that stands out from the rest. Being able to print out a custom tee was an amazing experience. I chose the "Nick Split" design because I grew up on VHS tapes that used to belong to my half-siblings. Common shows I would watch were Spongebob Squarepants, Rugrats, and Blues Clues. To think these shows still run to this day is insane. But in my opinion, they should have stayed finished. Milking the classics ruins it for longtime fans like myself.

Going back to the topic, I was able to do three prints. Two tees, and one skirt for a classmate. On my first print, I was supposed to prep the stencil on paper first. So my print came out faded. The one shown in this picture, it has an outstanding pigment. The green relates to the Nick slime that the program is iconic for. I used this color for both tee prints, and I used black as requested by my classmate.

If I got to do anything different, I would have brought more tees and tried to do orange. I wanted to do orange because that's the color of the Nick logo and Nick splat. Not that the green was wrong. It still made sense given what green is associated with in Nick. That being said, this was still one of the best projects I've done. I'm hoping to show it off to my friends and relatives.