Printmaking 1 has been a hugely enjoyable and rewarding course. I have been introduced to new techniques and developed techniques with which I was already familiar. I have improved my working practice as the course has progressed, especially in the areas of registration, presentation and conceptualization of ideas. I think my work took a quantum leap forward in content following a change in tutor. My new tutor challenged me “to consider the subject for a print more and …broaden my imaginative ambition for a print”. I addressed this by creating my own projects, one around research into the works of Morandi, one looking at metal working and a project based around Hepworth’s garden and St Ives. This way of working brought much more structure to my approach to sketchbook work and created prints with a much greater depth of meaning.
Review Against Assessment Criteria
Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills
Throughout the course, I have tried as many materials and techniques as I could access. I have, for example tried copper sulphate etching, drypoint and contemporary woodcut and traditional Japanese woodcut. Looking in depth at a particular subject has certainly improved my design and compositional skills.
Quality of Outcome
As I discussed above, I feel the quality of outcome improved immensely when I started work within a structure of research into a particular artist or subject rather than thinking in terms of technical exercises. This allowed me to think more coherently, present my thoughts better in my sketchbook and produce better thought through bodies of work. I have also worked hard on improving the presentation of my prints, keeping them clean and improving my registration. Participating in a print exchange and in a joint exhibition challenged me to produce prints to the very highest standard I could achieve.
Demonstration of Creativity
Throughout the course, I have sought to be as experimental as possible. I have, for example, printed on fabric and bark, made my own ink, created my own chine colle papers and incorporated digital images. I have produced an artist’s book, printed a hexiflexigon and embroidered a print on fabric. It is my ambition to push my printmaking out of a rectangle on paper and into 3d work or installation. I have been very excited by the richness of surface that can be achieved by combining techniques, including digital printing, and I can see great scope for my future development in these areas.
Context
I have tried to reflect constructively and critically on each print as I have progressed through the course, but I can see that my research and critical thinking have really developed in response to the challenge proposed by my second tutor. The clearer view I have of the context and my ambition for a print, the clearer my critical reasoning has become.
Conclusion
This course, and in particular the input from my second tutor, has given me great ambition for my future printmaking practice and equipped me a set of tools to move forward.
OCA Printmaking 1 