Final Images

Due to the deadline only being a couple of days away and I dont have enough time or resources to create more screen prints I have had to try and think of a way of creating the target of ten final images.

Andy Warhol often uses the same image multiple times to create a small collection of pieces with different colours. I am considering doing a similar thing with my screen print. Instead of using full images I will only use one image that will be split up into several segments. this creates a little 'game' for the viewer and makes the souvenir that is a postcard into a collectable piece of a small set of images.

This is the complete final image that I have created which will be submitted as a final piece

These images are collected to look like this.

Second Shoot

I wanted to try the same style again however I want to see how it would work if the model wore a lighter or even white shirt.

 

None of these images met my expectations. This is because I forgot to set the aperture correctly on Olympus Trip 35,  instead of being on f16 it was still on auto. Therefore the images are all too dark and there is a minimal amount of contrast; making the images look very flat. I will have to try this again however I think I may also shoot medium format film as well to see if I can get any better results.

Mono Printing

A mono print is a form of a contact print like a pencil drawing which is contact between the pencil and paper. It is the contact between paper and ink.

To create a mono print you first place a "poo" of ink on a flat surface; I used a water based ink which will wash out if it was to spill onto clothing then it would easily be cleaned. Using a roller spread the ink across the surface to make a thin layer. Place a piece of paper on top of the ink an then the image on top of the paper and using a pencil draw over the edges which will press against the ink creating the image on the paper.

This is the first attempt at mono printing, it is somewhat successful with basic outlines and indication of areas that would be coloured if coloured if different coloured ink was available.

Here I have used the image that I used on the previous mono print and I used the left over ink to create a background, glasses and other dark areas. This was really difficult, I struggled a lot to get the ink accurately and precisely in the right areas so I would not recommend this method.

I have tried to do it again with more ink which has compromised the quality/clean edge of the actual drawing so I don't think that I will do it again.

In order to take advantage of the amount of ink that was on the surface I simply put another piece of paper over the area and used the roller which picked up the areas with more ink.

Again I have used too much ink and the lines have come out way too thick even though I was using a freshly sharpened pencil so that this would not happen.

This is the ghost print of the previous image showing that the lines are thinner and looks a lot better than the other one.
I am going to keep attempting to make a good print.

 I still feel that this image is to patchy and too much ink is being used. Maybe I lent on the paper during the print.

In this print I have used the pencil very lightly in the lower areas to create shadow on the models body, I did the same for his hair. On the left the lines are very thin and precise which is what I would like to achieve, however in other areas like the models collar the lines are very thick. This shows variation in pressures as I am drawing so I will have to work on that.

This is exactly what I have been trying to achieve. Thin lines with shadow and fairly accurate to the original image. I would also like to try using colour. Maybe I could use several copies of the original image as stencils in order to separate areas and still be able to see the details of the image.

Using the stencils, rollers and inks I was able to place colour on this image whilst still being able to see the details of the image. I dislike how rough the edges are on the face; which I think was caused by the smooth rollers and small amount of space to work with. I think that I would have had to use a lot of ink in order to fill the face fully however that would obscure the facial features.

Seeing this I think that I might be attempting this in the wrong way. I love the colours and how rough it looks however I feel that it is not good enough. I might have to learn how to screen print instead which is more like Andy Warhol's style creating the Marilyn Monroe images.

First Photoshoot

I am going to be shooting in black and white in a studio using a white back drop and flash units. Bowens Flash units with ceiling mounting to reduce tripping hazards of wires.

I have placed a flash unit with soft boxes on either side of the models face creating a shadow down the centre of the models face. The dark shirt creates a large contrast between the model and the very clean white background.

I am very pleased with this image. There is a lot of contrast and slightly diffrent angles of the body to face creates a very appealing aesthetic to the image.

Coloured Fabric

Since as I am going to colour specific areas of my images maybe I could try using fabric over areas of the models faces to add colour to black and white images.

This is my first attempt at using fabric. I cut out the shape I wanted from the fabric and used double sided tape to stick it to the picture. I feel that the fabric looks very messy with the sides fraying. Also the fabric sticks to the paper as soon as it touches the paper and would rip it off if I had attempted to remove it, meaning that I had to get it right the first time. This turns out to be really difficult. What if I use a Stanley or craft knife to cut into the image to make the shape I need. This means it will be more like a stencil with the fabric behind the image.

For my second attempt I have very quickly cut out the models hat and shaped some glasses on to him. using the method previously mentioned I feel that it is a lot more effective. I am going to spend a little more time on the next one so that the edges are smoother and more accurate.

This one is a lot more accurate however due to the hair fraying at the ends, I found it quite hard to cut exactly to the edge. The bright colours and the positioning of the lines to the fringe and ear of the model gives the image more shape and lines to follow through the image. 

I found some silver fabric that was reflective so I decided to take influence from Back to the Future to create some futuristic glasses. The cutting of the paper was very accurate and I followed the edges of the hair, cutting into it when it was appropriate. However the pencil marks I used to make the shape are still visible which I may need to fix.

I find this style very restrictive to what can be achieved; unless a specific goal was in mind and the colour required was accessible I would not use this method. However this is the basic idea of what I would like to do with my prints, I would like to add colour to specific areas but I would like the image to still be visible.

Using Ink and Paint

During this task I was told to create an image using images I already had, paint and ink. This is a form of physical manipulation to an image. I have chosen images from a previous fashion project.

 This is the first image that I used. I thought that I should start very basically with paint however I disliked the innitial result and decided to use my hands to blur the colours which revealed parts of the image. In particular the face of the model had become visable across the eyes and mouth. This makes the image spooky to look at because all the details are not visable; like something is being hidden from the veiwer. I think that this vould have been more effective with shades of black since as the image is already made to be quite eerie and the black could be interpretted as the aura the character is trying to display. It could also be taken as a protective shield just like the face paint that she is wearing.

The second attempt I decided that I would use black and white ink to drip onto the paper; however when this looked too boring I tipped the image to let the ink fall down the page. I think that the colour revearsal works a lot better because it seems to act like a veil which is adding to the eerie appearance of the image. The original image shows the model already wearing black and white face paint, this shows an advancement of the 'masks' depth in the image.

Using a different image I wanted to use the ink to make something like a picture card often used to evaluate phsycological sanity. However the different inks have really mixed together and not worked out how I had hoped. I feel that this method might slow my down and not create strong results so I go back to dripping the ink.

I feel that this image has potential to be stronger, although I would have to use a more viscous ink or paint like acrilic paint. The ink simply was too thin and ran down the page to fast for it to be absorbed. This image was to originally to show the fear that some people carry with them when they gamble and now it shows more of the result. this would be a following image to the original work I did to create this image.

Karl Lagerfeld

Born 1933; Lagerfeld was the son of a wealthy German businessman. The wealth his farther had allowed him to study in Paris at the age of just 14 and become an artist as well as designer. Since his 30's he has been taking part in prestigious competitions and worked for many top designer brands like Chloe and Vogue. He also used his own fashion and style to produce his own label which he eventually sold but kept all design control of.

The model in this image is Abbey Lee, one of the most sort after models of the fashion industry. With recent work being completed for the likes of Hugo Boss and Gucci. To me this image feels like Lagerfeld is trying to make Lee look fragile and delicate. A lot like a china doll. Her bleach blond hair is decorated with an array of flowers and translucent materials. Gold has been used as the main jewellery material probably to match the hair and similar pale yellow tone of her skin. The reds and purples used for the lipstick also matches other areas of the image including the cloth she is wrapping herself in and dark tones of the eyeshadow used. 

I think that Lagerfeld has used two lights to create this image. It looks like a snoot was used on the light for the background due to the gradual fading in tone outwards from the centre of the dense area. I also think that he has used a form of flash ring that has created two clear lines down the face and their reflection is visible in the models eyes.

 

            

 

Lagerfeld has made his own fashion/style into a brand. He uses his name, face and distinct blacked out glasses as the label for his designs, many know who he is and his work because of the massive amount of unique branding. All of these images shows how he would normally dress: the sunglasses, white hair in a pony tail, high white collar, dark suit, jewellery on the tie or necklace and finally the gloves. Lagerfeld has also created extra areas on his website which publicises his lifestyle. Karlism is an area where himself or assistants would post sayings/quotes from him. There is also an area called The Karl Daily which to my understanding is a newspaper that is about Lagerfeld, his latest designs and stories that is of interest to him and his brand.

This might be something that I can think about, using repetitive imagery to communicate awareness of a style or brand, maybe even create a brand. I would then have to think about typography and what the brand would be. I would also have to consider what the continuous theme would be since as I wanted to experiment with different colours and styles.

Caravan gallery task

I am going to look at the Caravan Gallery postcards. It is a collaboration between two practitioners Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale. They have traveled the country with their caravan that they use as a gallery and shop to sell postcards. Their images are very provocative because they dont exactly focus on the good parts of the subject. they are usually very grungy and somewhat dirty because of some of the compositions and subjects.

I have been given the task to create a postcard in a similar style to theirs regarding the layouts and the subjects.

All of these postcards have very similar template. They all use a block colour for the background and use bold white text. The images have a border between them, however they are pushed to the edge of the card. Between 4 and 6 images have been used. The card is then separated every time straight through the middle. The images used are very classical to the location, very stereotypical. It makes the location look very cliche. They have also used very saturated colours which reminds me of work by Martin Parr. Colours used as the background is also highlighted in the images with saturation to make the images stand out.

I think I am going to use all the circled images for my postcard because it is in the recommended number of images. 

The first thing I did was make the template at 148x105mm which is the size of a postcard. I then turned it red since as there are red areas in all the images I have chosen. I then saturated the images separate to the template with crops, then I flattened the image and transfered them over to the template. Positioned them up with guides so that it matched the examples and added another layer for the text which I made white.