This past week I have been exploring these drawings and shapes a little bit more. One of the main comments last week in critique was that all these drawings I have already done all have a positive light feeling and I needed to create some drawings that have more tensions and more of a negative feelings. My relationship with my mom has both positive and negative moments and interactions so I need to work on showing both sides. I have been creating new drawings to help show this concept.

        Also I am using these graphite drawings I am starting to experiment with layering. By using tracing paper I am able to play with composition and and mix and match different forms from previous compositions. This way I am able to easily and quickly create these interactions that are positive and negative. Also with the transparent tracing paper I am able to see the different layer effects I am looking for. Right now I have just been playing with the graphite color from the pencil but with the tracing paper I am planning on trying to bring in color to see how that translates into these shapes.

        Additionally besides the graphite drawings this whole time I have had my mind set on creating prints. So I am also currently playing with different printing methods to see how these drawings will be best translated through print. Currently I am working on a photo-litho plate of one of the images and planning on printing it sunday or monday night. As soon as I pull some of those prints I will post them for you all to see. Although photo-litho is my favorite method of printmaking I am still unsure if this is the best method of printmaking for my images.  One student in my critique brought up the question of why printmaking? What is it that printmaking will bring to these images that the simple pencil drawings don't? I have to say I don't know the answer to this question yet. So to find an answer to this question I just need to experiment with prints and see if there is anything more that can be found through the process. As far as other methods I am going to look into is specifically I am more recently intrigued by the collagraphs. The method of making the plate is interested and has made me start to think of how the plate can play a role in the overall meaning of the pieces. Like I said at this point I just need to try before I can make any decisions. So this next week I am going to just continue to experiment with layering more drawings, using color  and creating and exploring different types of prints.

        After this week I feel like I have made some new progress in a good direction. I continued to sketch new ideas that explored shapes and how they are able to interact. Taken from a previous image I drew I started thinking about how my mom and I interact and what the way our bodies would interact. I began to work on some new sketches that you can see below. These organic shapes created by the lines to me resemble the organic, free flowing movements a body is able to make. These drawings explore ways in which the forms can interact on the paper. I plan on creating more images similar to the ones below and really start to explore interactions and see how they can start to transform and represent the interactions I am working based on memories. 

        Also this week I finished another mock up that included the layered colors. Below are some of the pictures of the process and the final result. In this particular one I experimented with cutting into the top image, exposing some of the colored layers. At this point I am still not sure how I feel about this technique and medium of applying color to a piece but I still want something with that element of surprise in my pieces. 

        This week I also started looking into artist that do prints and one particular artist that stood out was Agnes Martin. Her work intrigued me, especially in her prints where she uses a really light and sometimes even white ink and prints it on white paper. With this the image is only visible up close or from certain angles. I love this idea and it kind of goes along with my while idea of some sort of element of surprise in my pieces. Some of her work is below.

        So after today's critique in class I feel more confident in where I am suppose to go next. I received good feedback and some new ideas to take into consideration. I to continue with this project I am going to keep creating sketches like the ones above. One thing was brought up that all my images so far seem so delicate and look like they represent good interactions and if these are being inspired by all my memories that I have looked at, both negative and positive I need to start creating pieces that evoke more angry and negative interactions. In the end I want a ton of these draws to choose from for my final images. From the drawn images I want to play with the composition and interactions to see how that can help emphasize the interaction. Realistically in the end I would like to have 5 or 6 large images or even multiple smaller images. 

        To continue from the drawn images I want to start playing with the idea of making them into prints. So my goal in the next week or two is to create multiple prints and this is where I can start playing with the idea of bringing color into the piece and how it will work. As far as color I also got some good feedback on how I plan on trying to incorporate the color. People liked the layered paper technique and how it is not visible from straight on and the color is only seen from a side angle. Some one said it is kind of like a reward for the viewer. If i don't go with the layered color paper I want to play with the idea of layering colored prints and possibly having the bottom layer be printed in white. This white image underneath would be my element of surprise and something that is not visible form far away. I just need to continue to draw and see where this takes me but I am excited to see where is it going.

        Pictures have been added, sorry for the delay! So this week was a work week for myself. I started off by talking a little bit more with my professor and discussing my sketches some more. I continued to explore shapes and the interactions that they can through different drawings. As I was working another one of my professors told me about an artist that inspired some of these drawings as well.


         The artist he told me about is Kurt Schwitters. The work I started looking at were his collages and the shapes but the most interesting thing I found about this artist is the way he creates these pieces of work. He takes cut up pieces of paper and other objects he can find and throws them on the paper, creating an image out of what appears. So based on this concept I cut up a bunch of different shapes, threw them in the air and drew how they feel. It was interesting to see what shapes appeared and what interactions they had by randomly throwing them. Some of the experiments and results are below.

        Also this week I found more inspiration in a new artist. I looked at work by Lee Bontecou. She is a artist that works with both two-dimensional and three-dimensional sculptures. What I looked mostly at was her drawings. As seen in my previous work I have been focusing mostly on this idea of using a circle to create my imagery and the majority of her work also focuses on circles. Below are some images of her drawings. She not only focuses on circles but eyes and the shapes she can make. I enjoy the interactions she can create and the images have so much detail and depth that I would like to be able to bring into my own work somehow. 

        Besides my sketches I have been working on creating a new mock up of the layered colored paper mixed with the drawing. Below is an image of what it is starting to look like from a straight on view. It is only in progress here so I am going to keep building it up to see what different depths are possible. As well as building the layers up and plan on trying to cut into the layers, exposing the colors. More pictures will be added as I continue working on it. 

        In class this week we had a small critique with some of the other students. This critique was helpful because no one has seen the new ideas and sketches I have been working on. I got more feedback on my imagery and I need to keep working on my shapes and try and figure out the best shapes that will interact and create something that in the end intrigues the viewers. One of the drawings that they all seemed to be drawn to is this one below. They were intrigued by the lines and the weight of the lines. The lines seem to tell more of a story which is good. Also they really liked the idea of layering the color. They ended up giving me a few different ideas of things to try to layer and get the same effect with the color. 


        So My next step is going be to finish the mock up of the image and layered paper. While I am doing this I am going to work on some more sketches. I want to finalize all my images soon so I can start creating the photo-litho plates. So my goal is to keep making stuff and to have something a little bit more finalized for upcoming critiques to get good feedback. 

The start of Winter Semester!

       The last few weeks of fall semester looked like they were going to end with frustration, not having a solid idea in place, and honestly just not motivated to work on this project anymore. I had a bunch of small ideas but I was just struggling to put it all together and make it be worth something. In the end of the semester I knew that I wanted the pieces I created to be inspired by my relationship that I hold with my mother. I started to look at memories and the interaction that occurred but kept getting stuck. I was unsure of how to illustrate these feelings and memories without creating something really cheesy I guess. 

       Before the semester was over we had to present our ideas and what we have been working on for this project to a panel of professors. Going into this review I had a lot of experiments to show and some ideas of what I wanted to focus on but I was not exactly sure of where I was going to head next in this entire process. But this review was very helpful. Talking with the professors about my ideas, they were able to give me some advice and other ways to start thinking about it and I think this was probably the best thing that could of helped me at this point. 

       More specifically they suggested not to focus so much on the specific memories and to start thinking about more abstract objects and the interaction and connection that the objects may have. They wanted me to just start sketching and playing with these ideas to see what came of it all. So after this conversation I started to think about everything in a new light and over winter break I started to do what they suggested. Below are a few of the sketches that came of my studies. 

       From some of these sketches I started to explore other things with them but cutting them up and putting them back together in different manners to see if anything came from them. Below are some of the things that resulted from these experiments. 

       Inspired form these experiments I started to think more about how I could incorporate the colors into the pieces so I started to create another image, which you can see below.

       This particular image started with a simple drawn image done with colored pencil. I than took the image and cut it out. Underneath the drawn image I started to layer and glue together different pieces of paper, raising the image and creating different levels in the piece. What I like most about this piece is the element of surprise. From straight on the image can be viewed as a simple, flat black and white drawing but when viewed form the side the viewer can be surprised with the layered color. I want to continue experimenting with this method and see how I can make my final prints more dynamic. 


       So for the next few weeks I will be working on more sketches and exploring the interaction between different shapes. I want to be able to finalize the images and shapes that I will use to create my prints. Along with sketches I will continue to explore this way of cutting into the colored paper to see the different ways I can expose the colors and create new surprises for the viewer. Next I want to maybe explore more with the way I will print these final images so I may try and create a few smaller prints to experiment with. Along with continuing to research artists and find new inspirations the other that I will be working on is is my thesis paper.