Niamh Anderson

Overall the ‘beauty in the mundane’ brief has made me produce really interesting work that I didn’t expect from myself, I think next time I will try not limit myself in what I use and how I experiment with my prints. But I am happy with how I interpreted the brief and the work I done throughout it.

Digital zine : I created a digital zine on Canva, now that I know what a zine is and how to make one unlike when I first made one, I think this is the strongest one I’ve made. I like this zine as it shows the prints I created before my final prints. It shows the different colours and backgrounds i tried using to create my final print. It shows the full prints I had done previously unlike my other zines which just show cut out prints. Unlike my other zines this doesn’t fold out to be a poster but I didnt think it was necessary as it’s an intriguing zine already. I prefer this zine as the front cover and content is much better. The front and back cover is my final print which I think brings the zine together.

2nd zine : This zine is slightly smaller than the first but I think this one better as it’s a build up to my final print. It has the different riso backgrounds and the prints I done on top of them. It also fold out to a previous print with monotone colours. I think this zine is much stronger than my first, I like how it just slightly shows the prints I produced before, I think this zine shows my work more and connects to my final print.

I am really happy with the outcome of my finals. The background complements the prints on top as it’s easy to see what the image is. The prints on top are the perfect balance shades of orange which make the print come together, the prints are detailed but still blurred which is what is interesting about these prints. I think that even though it’s not what I intended to do in the first place the prints are very interesting and unique.

These prints I created I wanted to use monotone colours. I decided to try what I intended before an use a dark colour on the top of a light colour, I still didn’t like the big contrast between the colours, the backgrounds were too light for the dark colour and it looked odd in my opinion. I really liked using the monotone colours as it was sutble an gave more depth to the print. It made the print look more blurred as I intended to do.

With some of the prints I created I decided to experiment with tissue paper and posca pens. I could have experimented with more different materials to see if anything else looked interesting with my prints. The prints look different and interesting but have too much going on in them. I think that the posca pens look better than the tissue paper as it’s giving the print a little bit more detail but I think that for my final print I wouldn’t add anything as I don’t want them to look very busy.

I decided to experiment with these prints and use the watercolour method in screenprinting. The watercolour method is where you take a prepared screen and use watercolour and the medium to create prints. I like doing these prints as they where really quick and easy. I find these prints really interesting and eye catching, love the printing process used but the only issue was that the watercolour went through the screen so much that it smudged the image too much.

Screenprints on top of my riso backgrounds. I created light riso backgrounds an screenprinted darker colours over the print. I created these as my intent for this project was to create a contrast with colours but I didn’t really like the way they looked. I think the image I used to go on top didn’t go well with any of the backgrounds either. Again I don’t like how the prints overlap, I thought I would try and see if it looked better on a risograph background but it didn’t, it looks really messy. Will definitely not go further with that experiment.

Screenprint on top of different coloured paper and backgrounds the I created in the develop class. I was experimenting with different colours and as I had these scrap backgrounds decided to use them to see how the print would come out. I liked the way it looked on the different backgrounds as some created a textured look and gave the print emphasis. But I don’t like the way the prints are overlapping each other.

Digital manipulated photos to be printed as risograph prints in the colours pink, orange and yellow. I created a variety of backgrounds to see which of them would look better when printed on top of.

Starting to print on top of the riso prints and diffferent backgrounds I had done in the development class. Using the screen printing process to print on top with dark colours. I used the original photos and the collages as a view for my prints. I think these prints are simple but effective, they are eye catching. However I wouldn’t overlap the prints on top as it makes it very hard to read and I didn’t like the way it looked.

First Lino print of a detailed blurred image. I was testing if Lino would create a detailed blurred image and I am using dark colours as I am wanting to print on bright backgrounds. I decided to explore different techniques and printed the 2 colours on top of each other creating contrast within the print. I think these prints are too simple and would need a background to complement them.

A collage that has been digitally manipulated using new apps, Snapseed and Photo Retouch. Creating a stop sign with scrap paper to relate to my concept. I really like these images, these images are really strong and interesting especially the two that have an original photograph in them. However I don’t like the use of the inverted colours, I think it’s very busy. Will definitely take some of these images further to print.

Personally I find the photographs of signs and nature more interesting than the photographs of the plane and the sky, I think they don’t have enough detail in them.

I am going to be looking at blurred images, I decided to do this for my project as within a blurred image there’s the feeling of the unknown and only little bits of detail in the image. Viewers will look closer into pieces of work and see different detail that others might not. My plan for this project is to take multiple photos of different surrounding areas etc. road signs, brick walls, nature, the atmosphere and pavements. I am going to take these images, digitally manipulate and print them using a risograph machine, then I am going to use Lino to print over the top of the risograph print. I am using the risograph print as a blurred background for my prints and printing a more detailed but still blurred Lino. I will also be using other printing processes as some might not work or make the print look messy. I need to find the right balance between the blurred images as I still want the print on top to be detailed and visible compared to the very blurred background. I am hoping that when digitally manipulating the background photos that it will complement the prints. The main limitation I will have during this project is the lack of studio time as we are only in once a week, I will have to find the space in my household to do most of the development and experimental work. Considering this I will have to work ahead to get the prints I need done within the college as I don’t have the equipment required at home. I will be mostly printing in A3 but will print smaller or larger throughout the project. For my zine it will show the process to my finals using my own prints.

Mindmap.

Concept 2 : Showing more of my own work. Creating the drawings of the photographs I took was difficult as I couldn’t make the image look as blurred as I wanted it to be as it was just messy, so I started looking at different ways to create prints.