Woman Of Mythology Final outcomes The Brief Illustrate and create a cohesive series of four A3 lino prints depicting powerful woman of Greek Mythology. The pieces and are intended for exhibition use, with the potential to be developed into a pattern design and applied to dierent products. The illustrations will portray characters appropriately by focusing on a range of visual metaphors and relevant themes.
Calypso
Calypso
- Calypso was my first lino cut of the series and inspired the composition for the rest. Overall I am really pleased with calypso. - I think i captured her essence. One of her strengths is the smooth transition from the island into her hair/ sea. - looking back i would perhaps have expanded the sea further to widen the composition! With Calypso being split in two, I created some colour variations - blue/gold black/gold which I did quite like however the black and white version really stands out to me as being the most successful. I think the addition of two two colours perhaps breaks up the image too harshly? The black keeps the composition flowing. - Some thing that I love about the result of lino printing, is the unique visual quality that the print leaves. The areas of lino that were unintended to be left add a sense of naivety. I love discovering the happy accidents like this - think these elements of mark making make the piece feel like an actual print. - what makes it different from a drawing. You cant always predict the outcome until its revealed in print which is exciting! - One of my main issues was lining her up for print. - being in two halves this was tricky. If id have done more research and planned out my composition to accommodate this before hand, then this could have been avoided! but I learnt from this mistake.
Madusa
Madusa
- I think that I have depicted Madusa in a new and exiting way. - A lot of the art i have seen often show her face front on so i think this perspective has been a different approach. - I wasn't sure about the medusa piece for a while - without the additional snakes she always felt unfinished. I created her in two parts and designed the second part after i had already cut the first - in he insight this wasn't the best idea as the composition might not have worked and it was hard to envisage the end result. - luckily i was able to add the extra snakes to the design rather seamlessly! and i am really happy with the final arrangement. - The snakes were one of the most complex aspects to cut out of all the designs - but also one of the things that paid off the most visually. I was so pleased that i managed to pull of the affect of the snakes weaving in and around each other. - think i achieved the right balance of the negative space agains the blocks of black. - This took me a while to draw out and finalised design - but was worth it in the end. When i’m going to be spending hours cutting out a piece i want to be as sure as i can that its right! - I love the marks left by the excess lino - around the tree branches - makes the print look like a print! much more organic.
Selene
Selene
- Its really difficult me to choose a favourite out of all the designs because they're so different in a lot of ways. - but Selene is up there for me. I’ve always had a keen fascination with space and so it was really exciting to depict this through her image. I feel that the final design does well to capture her strong connection with the moon, without taking on the most obvious composition. I was able to feature an entire scene without this distracting too much from the main focus of the piece. - Compositionally, i think this is the most balanced and well considered. The flow of the lines really draw your attention across the image, and all the elements integrate really well. - This was probably also the most joy to cut out! although the lines look pretty detailed - it is much easier to carve in long flowing motions than it is shapes. - so this process was much less time consuming than one might consider. I think because this was my third lino in the set, I had become much more quick and agile with the lino cutting tool, which allowed me to successfully execute my original design exactly how i envisaged it to be.
Harpy
Harpy
- By the time it came to producing my final lino of the series, my skills had improved greatly. I became much more time efficient with my process of applying my design, and cutting. However - I also made some clumsy mistakes on this one! - they could have been easily avoided and hopefully wont happen again. (I need to not rush the process and check things carefully! - I think some of the pressure of the time remaining made me slip up a little.) - Although the birds took me so long(!!) I think think the end result was worth it. Visually, they have a lovely print quality to them. A quality that just isn't achieved through my drawings. Its a kind of quality that feels naive and imperfect, but one that i really like. The final results aren't planned, it just happens in the moment! The entire process can be very unpredictable but thats part of the excitement and what draws me to it. With all the separate elements in this piece it probably took me the most amount of time to complete. The BIRDS were a nightmare after a while. Cutting each one out individually was a meticulous process - these were not the most relaxing moments I have to say. - Compositionally this may be the image with the most complexity. It contains the most elements and in some ways is the most removed from the other three pieces. I love the finished result, especially the wing revealing the birds - and wouldn't change anything other than perhaps reducing some of the details. Bringing more negative space into the image and condensing the shape may have meant it would have fit more seamlessly with the other designs. On the other hand, I think the variety and uniqueness of each piece is an aspect of the series which I also love - I appreciate their differences. Each one stands out in their own way. - The face is my favourite - Showing that I have been able to cut with much more precision and accuracy!
Colour variations - Gradient
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When experimenting with colour previously I really liked the gradient affect but felt the bright colours I used were not in keeping with the greek mythology themes as such. In these examples I have kept the black - (which i think works well to accentuate the details) fading into red. I think this combination is really successful! the black and red help to convey the dark and moody tone of voice which I aimed to create in these pieces.
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Keeping the black around the characters face draws your focus to their features straight away. I am pleased with how the gradient compliments the flow of the image - it fades into the direction if her gaze.
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I love how dramatic the red looks. The addition of colour doesn't detract from the image as I thought it would - instead I think it adds an element of intensity and variation to the piece.
Colour variations - Gradient
Colour variations
Colour variations
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Surprisingly, adding areas of colour to my linos was one of the most challenging processes for me.(see colour testing post)
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I thought that adding spots of colour would be simple but so many of my combinations just didn't turn out right.
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I settled on using a subtle addition of one colour in a variation of tones - which, when compared to a range of colours, keeps the image balanced.
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Its doesn't detract from the black line work or detail, and in areas, i think helps to enhance it.
Project Reflection
This ‘Woman Of Greek Mythology’ series has been my most enjoyable and rewarding project of the year. The journey through the series has confirmed my passion for printing and has expanded upon my lino skills greatly. I have broadened my interest in exploring the subject further within my practice, and realised that themes of mythology, ancient tales and dark stories are where the focus of my narrative exploration should be at this moment in time. (rather than children’s book illustration) I just find the subject so inspiring and complimentary to the aesthetic style of my lino work. I enjoyed incorporating colour into the images and really like the variations I have presented. However, I think that monochrome pieces will always stand out for me. I think the detailed quality of the images mean that the black and white combination is dramatic enough on its own. In the future though I am definitely going to try injecting more colour into my lino cut designs. I aim to do this in print (rather than digitally) by creating spots of colour in lino. - it will just take some practice!
I spent the most time researching this project to develop an understanding about the woman I was representing and so I feel like I have done them justice in the final outcomes. Taking that into consideration, I also aimed to portray them in a fresh and exciting way that hasn't been done before. I really tired to make them my own. I think the set of four work really well as a series. At points I wondered of i should have made the compositions more similar to form a perfectly coherent set. - however, i like the variation of size and shape. I think each one needed to be quite different due to the nature of the characters. They still compliment each other and i would be happy to see them displayed together. Like any project, mistakes have been made! One of my main frustrations is that not all the lino pieces can be made through the print process. - two of them have to be digitally combined. But, I have learnt from the challenges that were presented and have benefitted from these struggles. I am now better equipped and much more confident in moving forward with lino.