Dry Point
"Boy Laying Against The Tree"
Dry Point
17.5cm x 12.5cm
November3, 2016
Exhibition Text
Dry Point
17.5cm x 12.5cm
November3, 2016
Exhibition Text
Title: ''"Boy Laying Against The Tree""
Medium: Dry Point
Size: 17.5cm x 12.5cm
Date: November 3, 2016
This dry point was inspired and created by German Expressionism movement and piece, and the central idea came from Bruno Cavellec and his piece "La Fuite", and his dry point of this boys helped me create my piece titled "Boy Laying Against The Tree". This piece was made to reflect how my mind was lost due to stress and wondering where I will be in the future. I didn't think I would do something with my life and still do today and it's a fear I live with. This piece has a deeper meaning that is related to my personal life. It has connections with my past life and my mindset as a child. This piece was made by carving into a piece of plastic with a sharp tool using the intaglio technique for printmaking by means of which lines are scratched directly into the plate. Then using that to print black ink onto a piece of paper.
Medium: Dry Point
Size: 17.5cm x 12.5cm
Date: November 3, 2016
This dry point was inspired and created by German Expressionism movement and piece, and the central idea came from Bruno Cavellec and his piece "La Fuite", and his dry point of this boys helped me create my piece titled "Boy Laying Against The Tree". This piece was made to reflect how my mind was lost due to stress and wondering where I will be in the future. I didn't think I would do something with my life and still do today and it's a fear I live with. This piece has a deeper meaning that is related to my personal life. It has connections with my past life and my mindset as a child. This piece was made by carving into a piece of plastic with a sharp tool using the intaglio technique for printmaking by means of which lines are scratched directly into the plate. Then using that to print black ink onto a piece of paper.
Artist Inspiration
Made this piece based on these artist inspirations. So using the styles that I found from my inspirations I then made my piece based off of their art. Artist Bruno Cavellec piece "La Fuite" inspired me the most and I wanted to recreate his piece in my own perspective and meaning. "La Fuite" is similar to my piece by how we show importance, just from looking at it. It shows struggle and glory at the finish in our pieces. How I tried to depict sadness in my piece is by showing the boy looking down on himself and struggling to find relief and relax. My piece has asymmetrical balance with the clock and path with the hills stands out more than the forest of trees. Life is a pain and he is struggling to reach the top of the hill and take the place over the future him laying there against the tree. Also in comparison to Bruno Cavellec piece, the boy is too stressed out and is lost, just like Bruno Cavellec piece. The boy sitting against the tree on the hill in the background is where the boy lost wants to be. I showed that the boy was lost by having him look down away from the clock in the corner meaning he lost the concept of time, also he is wandering into a forest and this represents his mind getting lost by wondering how he will make it in life. As I was younger I would wonder what I will do in life and how will I make it alive through my hard times as a kid. I still deal with this problem now as a teenager. In contrast with Bruno Cavellec piece my piece is also different due it having more detail in the background that is connected to my personal life and give my piece more meaning and unity which makes it stand out more as the main part of my finished piece. My other inspiration pieces are Fritz Schaefler, "Self-Portrait" and Renshaw, "nature illustration" using German Expressionism. My artwork is similar to theirs because I used the technique that Fritz Schaefler used in his self-portrait for his hair. I wanted to use that for the branches in my piece. and I also implemented Renshaw's piece by her highlights and shading of the bushes which I did for the trees.
Planning
Brainstorming/Planning Sketches
Brainstorming/Planning Sketches
I made 3 different Planning sketches each one based on different artist inspirations. With planning sketch #1 I wanted to use for maybe a different assignment but still was a inspiration that I made my dry point from. With planning sketch #2 I wanted to make the piece be like his but also not at the same time by having my own personal meaning to mine. For planning sketch #3 I wanted to nature for a dry point and Renshaw has a beautiful piece of flowers.
Dry Point Etching Process
Before I started etching my piece, I lined up my dry point plate with my planning sketch and taped it down by the corners. This made the etching process easier to do because the plate wouldn't move as much, giving me more control to scratch into the plate. These photos were taken throughout the etching process of a dry point. The technique that I used to carve out my piece was cross-hatching in the trees, ground, the boy, and the bushes I used cross-hatching. So I can capture the different textures and values in my piece. This process was short due to it taking little to no time to finish the sketching of my final piece. I was just basically tracing my sketch onto the plate. although I didn't like the inscriber tool because it hurt my hand to hold the triangle blade with the tape over it. it made my hand cramp up after a short period of time and it wasn't fun.
ExperimentingI wanted to recreate different textures so that the trees look like they feel different than the boy in my piece. So i would use curved lines for the bushes and i would do many light cuts into my plate, and with the trees i made many deep cuts to make the bark look 3D. with me i used cross hatching so when i print it i will stand out. I also added a clock in my final piece than my planning sketch just because i can connect it with my digital collage because they both have similar meaning just expressed differently. i made 6 prints i wanted to make one where all the details were being shown. so i changed the amount of ink on each of my prints.
The Meaning
Why is my piece called "Boy Laying Against The Tree?" Well, this piece shows where my mind is, lost in the vast forest having thoughts of everything and keep my mind straight. This piece symbolizes how my thoughts are scattered and how I not sure what I want to do with my life. I looking down on myself because I don't think I can make it where the boy is laying against the tree relaxing and enjoying life because I don't think I will ever find enjoyment when I'm older. The boy laying against the tree represents the boy on the path that is looking down is his altered fabricated reality. this is a life he will never live due to the countless steps that he endures in his life from his friends, family, and life itself. The scene represents the struggle I am going through not finding myself because this is the time in my life where I am going to have to make important decisions on my own. If you look at the dry point etching Process in my dry point Portfolio shows my hidden meaning to my piece that didn't show up really in my final printed piece. this piece is what I think of my future a fictional dream that I wish will come true.
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Dry Point Printing ProcessThe first step of my printing process was to drown a piece of printing paper in water for 5-10 minutes to loosen the fibers up. Then as that is soaking in the water I put black ink onto my piece and spread it on there as a thin layer with a Palette knife. Then I take the piece of paper rip them up and use that to rub against the plate to soak up any excess ink on the piece. Then after that done and you have your printing paper finished soaking you take the printing paper and your inked plate and put them on 2 different sides of a folded piece of paper. After that, you put it on a roller and use that to press the ink onto the printing paper from pressure. For cleaning up, I used mineral spirits to wipe off the ink from my plate and my hands.
Tools These are the tools I used for the printing process.
Reflection
This piece "Boy Laying Against The Tree" represents my life as a lost soul wandering through a vast empty matrix. I'm lost and cant collect myself and figure out what I want to do with my life. there are two people in my piece and there both me. one from where I am now and one of where I want to be in the future. The path represents the long trail that I will embark to make it to the future me that is laying against the tree. It is similar to the song Green day "Boulevard of broken dreams, I walk a lonely road the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes... I walk alone." This song that I know can describe this piece and how its relates to me alone. My inspiration piece is "La Fuite" by Bruno Cavellec. This artist piece gave me the idea of what my piece will be just from looking at it. I liked the whole picture my artist inspiration was trying to depict in his piece. I tried to think of some ideas to make one of my own that is inspired from his piece that can represent my value and idea of emotion. Throughout this project, I did have mistakes. The printing process was easy to understand but it just was long and repetitive and it was a pain to just make one print. Also after finishing one print and having it turn out bad makes me have to redo the entire process where time would eventually run out and I would be stuck with these not finished pieces. With my prints it would have too much paint where you wouldn't be able to see the carved scratches. Or it would be not enough ink and the scratches barely show up on the photo. To me, where I could have done better was my final print I could have done a more detailed one where you could see all the scratches in my piece. my strengths were the amount of detail I implemented in my carving to really provide the viewer's eyes with something great to look at that's not bland. Although if time was not a factor, then the final print would be a lot better due to me taking more time into my final piece.
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Connecting to the ACT
1. Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
In my piece "Boy Laying Against The Tree". I incorporated his idea of how he included the boy looking down to the ground and had a mass amount of emotion I felt within his piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In "Boy Laying Against The Tree". the overall approach for my piece is the image of stress. It also represents the conflicts throughout life and how the can cause a impact on a persons life.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned that everyone has had some tough times in life but it is us who can make them better for you and others.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Overall the theme of this piece was to express my struggle and how when I get to the peak of the thing I'm struggling in I then feel relived
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inferences that I made while reading my research was how my inspiration has some emotions bottled up and kept to himself.
In my piece "Boy Laying Against The Tree". I incorporated his idea of how he included the boy looking down to the ground and had a mass amount of emotion I felt within his piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In "Boy Laying Against The Tree". the overall approach for my piece is the image of stress. It also represents the conflicts throughout life and how the can cause a impact on a persons life.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned that everyone has had some tough times in life but it is us who can make them better for you and others.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Overall the theme of this piece was to express my struggle and how when I get to the peak of the thing I'm struggling in I then feel relived
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inferences that I made while reading my research was how my inspiration has some emotions bottled up and kept to himself.