Drypoint Printing

To create this drypoint effect you simply just etch the picture into a sheet of acetate. All the etched out parts trap black ink and print it back onto a piece of paper. You can reuse this acetate unlimited amount of times the picture will never fade.

I think this print is the most striking of all my prints.  

-Sinead

Monoprint

The two types of printing techniques we're able to use in this project are monoprint and drypoint. I first tried monoprint as I thought the block colours that are created really suit the effect I'm trying to achieve.

I intend to write 'beans beans are good for your art' over this one using monoprint.

Combined the outlines of the cupboards with what looks like food spills.

-Sinéad

Print

So I've started  my print elective which is on for the next two weeks. The project is about investigating our immediate space so I've decided to record my food cupboard in my apartment and record the space and how it changes. These are some of my first pictures I've taken.

I think if I look at the positive and negative space in the pictures i think this two week project could be really interesting :)

-Sinéad

Fingerprints...

Looking at the movement and motion of hands I decided to look at fingerprints. I think the uniqueness of fingerprints are extremely interesting. Every fingerprint is different so i thought this would be a very interesting idea to incorporate into my project. The fluidity of the restless lines are spectacular.

I started off by just investigating the different shapes of each individual fingerprint.

Then I decided to use the same technique as I did with the photocopies of my hands. I cut out the shapes and shone a light through them reflecting them on a white wall.

I think that these are very effective as they change the size of the fingerprints making them a lot more enlarged then normal size which makes them more interesting.

I decided then to recreate some of these fingerprint designs in a range of different mediums. 

  I cut this design into a piece of MDF wood and intend on printing it next time I go to the print workshop.

These fingerprints are created using cardboard. I carefully peeled back each individual layer of the cardboard to expose what was underneath and to create different textures in the designs.

I think these are very effective as the it creates a dramatised effect on a plain fingerprint

I think fingerprints has the capability to be very interesting in my project so I'm going to experiment with other materials and see what I come up with :)

- Sinéad

Shapes in Hands..

Today I decided to photocopy my hands in the library just to experiment with the results. I noticed that the light and dark shapes in the photocopies were significantly different.  outlined all the light shapes and started experimenting  with them.

The shapes that were created remind me of bones almost like a skeleton hand. These shapes were a very unexpected result but I like the individuality of each of them.

I incorporated the Mehindi hand art that I studied and use the shapes as an Indian hand art design.

As throughout this project I have experimented with different materials I decided to experiment with light. I cut out the shapes from a black piece of paper and shone light through it and reflected it on a white wall.

I think this exaggerates the shapes and helps me look at them in a different way.

-Sinéad

Hands of other cultures...

So after looking at the movement of hands I started to look at the importance of hand movement to different cultures. After plenty of research I came across the spectacular 'Thousand Hand Bodhisattva (Guan Yin)' which is a traditional Chinese dance choreographed by Zhang Jigang. The piece features 21 hearing impaired dancers who form remarkable arm and hand positions by standing behind each other in a perfect column. Breathtaking images are created as the dancers produce perfectly timed and choreographed movements. 

Other cultures that use hands significantly are the Indians. They use hand art 'Mehindi' as a means of expression in ceremonial events such as weddings and religious events. They draw these designs on with henna pens.

Taking this Mehindi art as my inspiration I decided to come up with some designs of my own.

-Sinéad

Clay hands..

 Finally I managed to get these clay hands finished... The only problem with them was as they started to dry the wire inside them expanded which made the clay crack. But they're still in one piece and I'll know for next time :)

-Sinéad