Summative Project Report

The methods of working I explored over the course of this module were very different (at least practically speaking) to the work I had been making previously, and also developed steadily over the course of the module. I think the fact that I was really interested in Cormac McCarthy’s work, and enjoyed reading it so much, is what pushed me to think so hard about how I should best represent it artistically. It was really satisfying having my understanding of his work influence my work’s physical development in an almost subconscious, natural way, so that as I progressed I didn’t feel I had to justify what I was doing to myself. It became an axiomatic process.

Despite initially being enthusiastic about trying all the different print methods, I quickly found that not many of them suit the spontaneous way I like to work. Screen printing is difficult for me to get along with. If I have to think overly about how an image will be put together, and spend a lot of time in preparation, I start to get bored of it and the results always underwhelm me. Although the screen printed image I ended up with is not necessarily bad, it just didn’t feel like the design warranted the process, and it seemed a little lifeless.

I would like to try linocut more in the future because I liked how my lino prints turned out, I just didn’t do a lot because I didn’t feel like it suited the mood I was trying to achieve in this module. I definitely want to keep experimenting with the combination of monoprint, collage and drawn elements that made up my final pieces of work, as this is not something I have tried before and I was really happy with what I ended up with. Working this way gave me a lot of freedom, in that I could just spread a bunch of stuff out on the table in front of me and create lots of images in a very instinctual way, without the aesthetic stagnating. Being able to work back into things with different media is also something I have fun with.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the process of animating the sting (I don’t like working on computers and yet always seem to end up having to spend a huge amount of time on them) as the process of creating what I thought was a simple effect turned out to be very fiddly and confusing, requiring a great deal of faffing around in Photoshop. I was, however, very pleased with the result. I also hugely enjoyed having the opportunity to make some music. Having an alternative creative outlet helped me stay motivated and interested in the work I was doing and I think holistically it proved a success.

I don’t feel I encountered too many problems on this module. They mainly occurred in relation to the book. It was a shame I couldn’t print it as I intended it to be, short edge bound A4 landscape, as the size it ended up really didn’t do the images justice. I also hate having to do things like measuring and cropping, so I made a bit of a hash of that and in the end, I wasn’t too happy with it. These problems did, however, inspire me to produce the A3 prints, just on a whim, and they were much more of a success. The large size meant all the textural details in the images were heightened and the colours came out great.

I will definitely be taking a lot of the practical techniques I picked up on this module forward, although I do wish I had spent more time in the print room, particularly experimenting with monoprint and, despite not particularly enjoying it, I would like to give screen printing another go. This is purely because it gives you the option to make lots of copies of your work very easily and cheaply, which I unfortunately couldn’t do working the way I did.