Print Making

Our most recent project in art class was reduction printing. The theme was "Put a Bird on it!"

What print were you most satisfied with and why?

I found that there were three prints that really stood out to me. The one that was most popular among my classmates was print number three (above). I think this was the most satisfying print because I had a lot of trouble lining up the colours with each new colour, however number three looked professional in terms of the border and where the colours met up. The texture of the colours when printed on the paper was very consistent as well, forming unity which is visually pleasing.

What was the most difficult part of this assignment?

I found the entire assignment to be fairly difficult, because I had never really worked with print making or anything remotely close to what we were working with. My lack of experience made it very difficult to envision a final product, because I had a very vague picture of how these prints would look. However I think the most difficult part of the whole process was lining up the prints perfectly. After printing with the yellow (which looked great,) I was happy with the prints thus far, but when I used the red, the two colours were not in the same place on the paper, which began to stress me out. Eventually I began to learn different techniques which worked better when printing.

How did you use the elements and principles of design?

During the process work before the actual prints started, I did quite a few thumbnails in my sketchbook. When looking at my final sketch before moving on to carving and printing, there were several elements and principles that were noticeable. The background lines created movement, leading the eye throughout the design. Because all of the colours were bright and bold, I especially liked how they created contrast. I also think my piece was very balanced in terms of the colours and the positioning of the bird and flower. The black lines go through the background evenly and there is enough of the bold red on both sides to give it a smooth look. I used repetition and rhythm with the lines as well.

What is strong about your design?

Once the design was finished I found a few elements and principles that stood out to me. Unity was created through the texture: the consistency of the thickness of the paint in all three colours made the piece seem whole and completed. It drew in all the colours and layout to look like one piece, forming unity.

Describe one thing you would change about your design.

Though I haven’t really thought about this a lot, I would definitely consider adding more colours into the piece to define the bird and make it pop more so than the flower or the background. I find that because the black lines are so bold and defined, they take away from the bird, so I would definitely find a way to change that. Since the background was a problem, I would consider changing that, for example taking away the black lines and replacing them with a different colour or adding in a different background entirely.