UMASS – Printmaking

This past semester at UMASS I took a printmaking course titled ‘Intaglio 1’.  The description of the course was as follows:

 

“The word "intaglio" comes from Italian, which means to engrave, incise or to cut into.  Etching is a term, which refers to the study of the printing process inclusive of drypoint (scratching into a metal plate with a steel needle), etching (acid eats into exposed metal), soft ground, and engraving.  In intaglio printing an impression is made by pushing a sheet of damp printing paper (via the high pressures of a printing press) into ink filled depressions and recesses in a metal plate.  Students will learn the art of intaglio with a special emphasis on using lines to create tone and texture.” 

 

There were a total of three projects in this course, with each requiring a series of proofs and editions to be handed in at the end.  A proof is an impression of a print pulled prior to the final edition of the print; it is taken before the design on the plate is finished. These proofs are pulled so that the artist can see what work still needs to be done to the plate.

An edition
is the number of prints made from the final plate. The artist chooses how many prints will be in the edition. All prints in the edition should look as identical as possible. The prints are marked 1/4, 2/4, 3/4 (which would be the third print out of a total of four prints).

If you would like to see an example of the intaglio printmaking process then click this link to a YouTube video from the MOMA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRwWJyy24So

 

My first engraving with a drypoint needle.  Material is sintra.  I originally wanted to have the words “It’s finger licking good” in the background but then realized that I would have had to carve the words backward in order for it to print the correct way.

My very first print. 

Project 1 
Drypoint/ Engraving


 

We had to find an old art historical print or painting and crop a section from that image.  We then took that section and remade it as a contemporary composition with modern objects or images from dreams.  The historical image I chose to use was “Portrait of Olga in a Fur Collar” by Pablo Picasso (Drypoint, 1923, printed 1955).

 

Idea #1

Idea #2

Zinc Plate

Proof 1

Proof 2

Proof 3

Edition 2/4

Edition (Close up)

 

Project 2 Hardground Etching

 

This project examines the social (as in public life), the political (in terms of politics and policies), and the landscape of our world and it is addressed as one complete subject matter.  I chose to focus on the homeless crisis as well as the drug epidemic in the United States.  I took inspiration from places like Los Angeles CA, New York New York, Philadelphia PA.

 

Hardground - A process that involves applying a ground (traditionally made of beeswax and asphaltum) to a heated plate and spreading it evenly with a brayer. The artist draws into the ground with a sharp tool scrapping away and exposing sections of the metal.  The plate is then dipped in a corrosive acid (for 5 – 30 minutes) where the exposed metal it is etched creating channels for the ink to eventually sit.

Idea

 Transfer Paper

Hardground on Copper Plate

Copper Plate After Etching

Proof 1

Proof 2

Edition 1/4

Edition (Close Up)

Project 3 Softground

 

This project utilized the softground etching method in which, similar to the hardground method, a wax substance (softground) is applied to a heated copper plate.  Next, soft objects and materials (cloth, fibers, plastic bag, paper, tin foil, leafs, etc.) are placed on top of the plate and then everything is sent through the printing press.  These objects are then removed from the softground, leaving exposed sections of metal.  The plate is then dipped in a corrosive acid (for 5 – 30 minutes) where the exposed metal it is etched creating channels for the ink to eventually sit.  The subject of this project was my childhood home and the materials I used come from there.

Idea

Proof 1

Softground Plan 1

Softground Plan 2

Copper Plate After Softground Etching

Proof 2

Edition 3/4

Edition (Close Up)

UMASS – Pre Practicum Teaching

This past semester at UMASS I took a course titled ‘Advanced Problems in Art Education’.  One major requirement for this class was that each student had to complete 90 hours of pre practicum teaching at a local Massachusetts School, under the direction of a supervising practitioner.  For the first two weeks at our school placement we had to take observation notes about our supervising practitioner (their teaching methods, types of activities, etc.) as well as their classes (student behavior, level of effort put into projects, etc.).  After this observation phase was complete we could then begin to assist and work one-on-one with students as well as teach full lessons to whole classes.

 

One such activity that I worked on during my time at Williams Middle School was the massive dinosaur sculpture you see above.  This sculpture had been started by my supervising practitioner Edward O’Gilvie and had been worked on by various middle school students throughout the past 3 - 4 years.  Ed created the initial form of the dinosaur by making a cardboard silhouette of a brontosaurus.  From there he used many cardboard strips to create a skeleton there by giving the sculpture volume.  Next, his students used masking tape to hold the cardboard strips together and then added four layers of paper mache (newspaper and paper towels) to cover the surface.  Last year some students had stared to add an initial layer of white paint on the completed sections of the dinosaur, however there were areas that were not yet complete and as a result could not be painted.

 

In my free time and during select class periods I assisted Ed in the completion of this sculpture by sculpting and forming: one kneecap (back right leg), two feet (front right foot, back right foot), sixteen toes (four on each foot) and two eyebrows.

I also worked with and instructed small groups of students to paint: the first white primer coat, the layer of green skin, the green stripes and four toes (front right foot).

 

Sadly my hours of pre-practicum teaching ended before I could see the completion of this project (more details needed to be added) but I am very happy with how this sculpture turned out and am proud to have helped out on it.

 

(The following images are the last photos I took of the sculpture in which more detail was added)

 

 

I also created and taught a lesson to a group of 6^th grade students about the history of optical toys, the creation of the ‘thaumatrope’ and how these precursor devices eventually led to the medium of animation.  A thaumatrope is a disk with a different picture on each side and is attached to two pieces of string.  When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due to the optical phenomenon “persistence of vision”.  Below is the teaching example I created. 

 

Examples of my students’ thaumatropes can be found here:

https://hurleyteaching.blogspot.com/2022/06/williams-middle-school-pre-practicum.html 

UMASS - Various Assignments 3

The following 11 images are ‘visual response assignments that I completed for homework in my ‘Advanced Problems in Art Education’ class.  Some of these works were created in response to a single word prompt; others reflected the central themes of an educational journal article.  The level of effort put into each assignment really depended on how much free time I had.

"I would become inspired by the picture books my parents would read to my brother and me.  Also various Saturday morning cartoons and Pixar films, I watched as a child, played a significant part in focusing my artistic desires and later helped to refine the direction of my art journey into the field of 2D/3D animation." 

“The Arts Framework provides a floor, not a ceiling” (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Arts, pg.12).  Visual Arts Standards build upon the Guiding Principles. 

I chose to reflect on the term ‘Not Knowing’, which was one of the Principles of Possibility from Olivia Gude’s article “Playing, Creativity, Possibility” and combine it with the Surrealist Inkblot Portrait activity shown in said article.

 

I was inspired by the Hafeli article (I Know a Lot of Things That You Don't. You Wanna Hear Some? Adolescent Themes and Contemporary Art Practice) to create one page of my very own visual art journal.

 

“Bridge of Building Knowledge”, inspired by the article ‘Who is at the City Gates’.

 

“Whirlwind of the Modern Age”, an image created by studying the postmodern principle ‘Layering’ which can be found in the article ‘Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21st Century Art Education’. 

 

I chose to focus on the idea of a Structured/Free-form dichotomy.  These images contain several examples of this dichotomy:  1) Structured, factory made artificial flowers on the left vs. Free-formed organically grown flowers on the right.  2) Free-form arrangement of the flowers on the left vs. Structured and manicured flower arrangement on the right.  3) Structured, uniformly poured concrete floor vs. the Free-form wood grain background. 

 

 

“The Spirit of Culture”

 

Individual vs. Group

This was my attempt at creating a paradoxical image using Penrose Triangles.

Celebration!