Dry Point Print
Title: "Last Hope"
Size: 10 cm x 8 cm Medium: Dry point November 2018 Exhibition TextThe piece "Last Hope" is a dry point image inspired from Sonny's "SAHA" and "KUNGA". It is meant to bring awareness to endangered animals, the causes of endangerment and the environment. As shown on the right the print displays a girl hugging a tiger while in the background you can see deforestation which is one of the main causes of the tiger's endangerment .
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InspirationI was inspired by a South African street artist named Sonny that creates pieces that bring awareness to endangered animals. After further looking at his work I noticed the amount of detail that he puts into the animals and that is what inspired me to push myself and try to get as much detail on to the image of the tiger when etching.
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Planning
After having looked at the inspiration pieces I decided to create a dry point print that will bring awareness to an endangered animal, the tiger. I started off by tracing the size of the stencil plastic on to the paper. Afterward I first drew a light sketch of the tiger. I was hesitant whether I should add the girl or not but in the end I did. When creating the tiger I wanted it to have a lot of fur texture so i drew on the hair lines all over it. Once I was done with the main focus image I drew on standing tree and many stumps behind as a way to show deforestation which is one if the causes of endangerment of the tiger.
Experimentation
Prior to making the final piece I practiced the dry point printing process. I followed the steps carefully but in the end it didn't turn out how I wanted it to look. As you can see the result on the right I realized that when I was cleaning the excess ink I put too much pressure and ended up taking off too much ink from the stencil. The experiment print ended up looking fuzzy and small etchings did not print well either.
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Process
(Steps 1 & 2) The first two steps are to place a piece of newsprint paper on table and put on latex gloves in order to maintain you and your area clean. Once that is done you will begin to gather the required materials which are- oil based ink, a small plastic squeegee, a spoon and the stencil. After collecting the materials you may start by adding ink with the spoon on to the stencil and spreading it all over. While spreading it make sure to add a bit of pressure so the ink goes into the etching.
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(3 & 4) After spreading the ink you can begin wiping off the excess ink with the plastic squeegee and put it back int the ink container. When you are done taking off the extra ink you can begin wiping down the stencil with pieces of newsprint. Make sure not to wipe off too much of the ink or else when it is being printed the image will not transfer successfully.
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(5) After wiping off all of the excess ink the areas that are not etched will be clean and clear. If you notice that it is still not completely cleaned you can check in the back of the stencil because ink tends to go behind it when spreading. After you can place a piece of water color paper into a container of water and leave it in for 8 minutes.
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(6, 7 & 8) After the 8 minutes have passed you can takeout the sheets of paper and pat dry them with an old t shirt or cloth that does not leave lint. When the sheets of paper are semi dry you can start the actual printing process. First you will need to place a piece of newsprint at the bottom layer of the roller. On top of the newsprint paper you will put your stencil and one of the wet sheets of watercolor paper. Finally when rolling make sure to do it continuously and not to stop mid print or else there will be ink indents on the print.
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Critique
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
- Both pieces include the image of a tiger - Both images display the tiger as the emphasis of the work. - Both of the pieces are meant to spread animal endangerment awareness. - Both pieces exhibit fine details such as the fur of the tiger. Similarities
- Both pieces display the message of bringing awareness to endangered animals. - Both show a large amount of fine detail in the fur. - Both use the black and white hues. |
Differences
- "Saha" is made from Acrylics and Spray Paint. - The piece "Saha" shows a diversity of hues unlike "Last Hope" which only uses black. - "Last Hope" has an asymmetrical background and "Saha" has no background. Differences
- The piece "Kunga" shows the image of a gorilla on the other hand "Last Hope" shows a Tiger. - "Last Hope" has an image as the background unlike "Kunga" who only has a black background. |
Reflection
In the end I was very happy with how my final dry point print came out. During the research process I was very interested in the artist, his artwork and the meaning of his artwork. When I planning and drawing sketches I changed up the style of the image by adding a background with meaning. After I was happy with how the etching turned out I did my first print. I followed all the steps correctly but I made one mistake by not separating the sheets of paper when I placed them in the water. After the eight minutes were done when I separated the papers they were not completely wet. I believe that this caused the ink to not set well on the paper and the image to end up very light. Due to my discontent with the first attempted print I made sure to follow the steps correctly and to place only one paper in the water. The second time I printed the image printed well.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you you were able to "identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork" - Because of Sonny's work when I began planning and sketching my piece the process went very smoothly and
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? - The overall approach from my inspiration was to deliver and display the importance of animal endangerment awareness.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? - I came to the conclusion that people can use many platforms including art to bring awareness to important topics or issues in the world.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? - The central theme around my inspirational research was to create a piece that brought awareness to the world issue of animal endangerment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? - I thought about the importance it is to create such works that help deliver important messages.
Clearly explain how you you were able to "identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork" - Because of Sonny's work when I began planning and sketching my piece the process went very smoothly and
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? - The overall approach from my inspiration was to deliver and display the importance of animal endangerment awareness.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? - I came to the conclusion that people can use many platforms including art to bring awareness to important topics or issues in the world.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? - The central theme around my inspirational research was to create a piece that brought awareness to the world issue of animal endangerment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? - I thought about the importance it is to create such works that help deliver important messages.
Citation [MLA Format]
- “To The Bone.” Sonny, http://sonnyonline.com/tothebone/.
- “SONNY Street Artist.” Sonny, sonnyonline.com/.
- “To The Bone.” Sonny, http://sonnyonline.com/tothebone/.
- “SONNY Street Artist.” Sonny, sonnyonline.com/.