Multi Media Print Portfolio

KRISTIN FLOWERS Multi-Media Print Portfolio.

Fall 2009.

KRISTIN FLOWERS painting. printmaking. digital.

There are six basic things that artists do: (1) create places for some human purpose, (2) create extraordinary versions of ordinary things, (3) record and commemorate, (4) tangible form to the unknown, (5) tangible form to feelings and ideas, (6) refresh our vision and help us see the world in new ways. Artists have a different view of the world than most people, seeing the beauty in the ordinary, and creating spaces and art that inhabits the spirit of humankind. Without artists, we would cease to have an ability to reach the unknown and intangible ideas and feelings (Getlein, 7-12).

There are also eight qualities that creative people possess: (1) sensitivity to what one sees, hears, and touches, as well as other people and feelings, (2) flexibility to adapt to new situations and see new possibilities, (3) originality, (4) playfulness, (5) high productivity, (6) fluency of ideas, (7) analytical skill, and (8) organizational skills. A part of becoming more creative, is learning how to see and observe details and relationships with a sharpened eye. With this same sharpened eye, we are able to look at different kinds of art and appreciate it (Getlein, 12-13).

For my typography piece, A tiny pattern And only feel, I wanted to create my piece by hand because I am able to achieve the paint

application that I desired. I first created a pronto-plate and printed it with a blue-black ink.

Then, I incorporated a grid of pears across the entire piece, allowing some to fade in and out as the piece progressed. I also incorporated text from a book to add another visual interest. To add extra pieces of texture, I added fabric and feathers. I created stencils and drew the letters over the surface, careful to allow some of the edges of the letters to disappear and to seem integrated with the rest of the surface. I painted a figure, allowing the letter “O� to take the place of the head. The figure is painted denser than the rest of the piece, to bring you into the composition in the lower right corner. Also, to balance that corner, I added a blue streak in the top left corner, to allow the eye to go back and forth across the composition.

In my piece, I wanted to explore layering. I experimented with media, to see how it moves and interacts with the other media it comes into contact with. I wanted everything to interact and seem to melt into each other, creating a play with advancing and receding. I wanted to create a piece of art that makes ordinary text seem exciting and unpredictable. I wanted to play with the media that I had at hand, and create something that invites the viewer to take a closer look and figure out what makes this piece.

Artists have a different view of the world than most people, seeing the beauty in the o rd i n a r y, and creating spaces and artthat inhabits the spirit of humankind.

A tiny pattern; And only feels.

Xerography, acrylic, gesso, watercolor pencils, fabric, scraps of paper from book, and feathers on paper.

2009.

A place called home.

Digital photography with intaglio.

2009.

Memories are small snippets and not clear, consistent pictures, but when all put together, they paint a larger picture.

This idea is represented by the individual squares in the composition; how they are not touching, but when put together, they create one picture: my grandmother. Each piece in this composition is symbolic. There is a doll in the lower right corner, which is the doll that my grandmother knitted the dress for and gave me as a little girl. The butterflies represent my grandmother’s spirit, as she has now

passed away. The content of this piece is the passage of time, and the past: the present being only a memory of the past.

This piece has a small audience, because only a few would recognize the person used, and the symbolism used. It can be viewed by many people who can appreciate its aesthetic quality, but only a few would be able to appreciate it for its deeper meaning.

My style consists of combining both representational with the abstract.

Representational art is, as its name implies, representative of the visible world whereas abstract using the visible world as a starting point and expands from there (Getlein, 29). I used photography combined with linear illustrative work. The illustrative work is abstracted some, as well as some of the photography with how it is divided. The photograph of my grandmother over the entire image as well as the real butterfly wings that fade out from the linear butterflies grounds the work in realism.

KRISTIN FLOWERS painting. printmaking. digital.

Things change and evolve over time, and all that is left of this house is the memories that survive as finger prints across its surface.

This project consisted of creating a piece that exhibited the characteristics of what we consider to be “home.” What came to mind immediately was the decay of the present, and how my grandparent’s home was a shell of its former days, without life breathing inside its walls.

This piece conveys the passage of time and how it changes, represented by the two clocks in the lower left and the upper right. Things change and evolve over time, and all that is left of this house is the memories that survive as fingerprints across its surface.

KRISTIN FLOWERS painting. printmaking. digital.

Life is a constant journey, experienced by ourselves, and only understood by ourselves. In this project, I wanted to showcase my journey from home toward my future endeavors. “No one else can know how it feels to be us, yet we are often no better than others when it comes to understanding the strands of our own selves” (69). This is a personal portrayal of the path from home to the next step in life.

from the painting, which represents looking out toward the future. The colors and imagery of this painting, such as the pears and the monochromatic blue color scheme are a part of my growing portfolio which will be used to apply to graduate schools. Over the entire surface of the painting is an abstracted mixed media drawing of the wire dress, which also is representative of my journey toward graduate school.

This painting is an exploration of media, This painting is a “map” chronicling the combining painting and drawing skills with past and the anticipated future. The past is printmaking, photography, and three-dimenrepresented by the small, wire mesh envelopes. sional elements to portray visually my personal Each envelope has a small piece of home in map from my home to where I am going in the it, either in the form of a person or an actual next year or further. It is a personal journey part of the home. The bottom layer, mostly displayed in a visual form. The viewer is alobscured by paint, charcoal, and other elelowed to peek into the mind and find memories ments, is a map of Wilson. This also repreand know that these images have some kind sents home, since it is where I grew up my of deeper meaning, but not fully divulged. entire life. It is a reflection of the past; not Although on a more abstracted level, the idea forgetting it, but allowing it to remain as part of continuing toward the future is conveyed of my past to possibly reshape the future. thorough the imagery of pears and the figure looking out from the chaotic surface and past In the upper left portion of the painting, there the viewer toward what is to come next. is a self-portrait. The figure is looking out

Life is a constant j o u r n e y , experienced by ourselves, and only understood by ourselves.

A map from home to...

Acrylic, graphite, colored pencil, gesso, charcoal, silver mesh wire, alternative seriography, black and white xerox, and map on canvas.

2009.

Six-page spread.

Graphic design: Adobe Photoshop & InDesign 2009.

The article, “Many are frisked; few are guilty,” is describing how many young, black Americans are being singled out by the police for random stop-and-frisks.

The article accounts stories of some young men who were victims of this random act. Also, it gives information for young men for groups that teach them how to act when they are being frisked.

For this article, I decided to go with a simplistic approach, deviating away from my normal style. I borrowed from Martin Venezky, a 21st century graphic designer for inspiration for my layout.

He uses blocks of text that are not over crowded by imagery, other text, etc. He also uses large imagery on the page adjacent to the page with text.

For my font, I decided to use a gritty

font, referencing graffiti texture. To emphasize the gritty quality, I used a rough texture along some of the squares of text. My choice of color is mostly cool colors, using the psychology of color so that the viewer will not become aggressive or agitated. A slight use of a muted red-orange brings warmth to the article and repeats some of the color of the man on the last spread to the first.

The cool colors express a feeling of masculinity, emphasizing the subject of the article.

The illustration in the article is of a man being frisked on the first spread, and the other two spreads have men that are mentioned in the article. The images are posterized for use in a magazine for a younger demographic.

KRISTIN FLOWERS painting. printmaking. digital.

“ W h a t are you d o i n g h e re ? ” o n e asked, as they rifled through his backpack...

I

used

KRISTIN FLOWERS painting. printmaking. digital.

pencil For my final project, I completed a series of three prints. I use both vitrography and siligraphy techniques to create my prints. The first print is using siligraphy so it gives the shapes a softer, painterly look to it. The second print is using the vitrography technique, which allows for a drawn look. I printed it onto paper, and then scanned it into the computer, and then printed it bigger and used graphite and colored pencil on top to draw a dress using expressive marks. The third print is a combination of the first and second prints, using Photoshop to merge the two. I attempted to print the plates together using the press, but when I added the flower plate, the entire original print would become muddy.

I wanted my prints to be cohesive with the rest of my portfolio I have been building this semester. I chose to use a complementary color scheme of blue and orange. In the first print, I used the blues for the background and dress, and used the orange for the figure. I chose to have the dress sharper and more recognizable than the

colored and

figure because I wanted the figure to be elusive and not dominate the overall piece. For the second print, I used the orange over the entire plate, on the flowers and for the plate tone.

graphite to go back

I wanted to combine different media in my prints, much like how I have combined media throughout the semester. I used colored pencil and graphite to go back into my prints to bring out some parts of the prints and to go over the entire surface to add another layer to the print.

I wanted to use expressive marks because this is a common trait in my art.

bring

Overall, I feel that I was successful in this new technique. My prints also fit the rest of my portfolio and this gives me another side that I can show potential graduate schools for versatility of material and a willingness to explore other techniques.

into my prints to out

some

parts of the prints and to go over the entire surface to add a n o t h e r layer to the print.

Dress Prints: Series of 3 Print 1: Siligraphy and colored pencil on paper.

Print 2: Vitrography, graphite and colored pencil on paper.

Print 3: Photoshop merging of two prints with photographic elements.

2009.

painting. printmaking. digital.