etching in the deep...

We were presented with a process to try out. Paint out something non-representational. Let it dry thoroughly. Drop it in the deep bite bath for at least an hour. Clean the plate. Paint a new layer over top and repeat with maybe a half hour in the bath.

At the time I was going to start this, my fingers were rapidly swelling and unusable. So, both plates have a whole lot of left hand in them. Actually, this messy one is completely southpaw. The etch is deeper on it. So far, I've printed a proof in black and a couple in a deep green using only a brayer. No wipe. I think I did one with a yellow wipe and green roll, too. The print doesn't resemble the plate much, but the scan of the ragged metal looked so cool I had to post it. I'll scan my proofs next week.




I painted this one (left-handed) first and had it in the deep bite for a full three hours. You can kind of see the underlying pattern here. It was still shallow after all that time. Lol. We had some acid mixing issues over the last couple weeks. Someone's aquatint went nuts, too. Ouch. Anyway, that's when I started the messy one. I came back to this after I had printed the other and a couple of my fingers were improving. Very shakily did this concentric circle thing. I didn't know what I was doing... just letting my hand move. Then decided I liked the repetition and filled it out. Put it in the bath for about an hour, trying to keep it shallow enough that the lower level wouldn't disappear. Cleaned and took both a roll proof and a wipe proof. Looked pretty awesome in both. Came back to class after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and that's what everyone saw in it. Ugh. Not sure I want that association. At any rate, mixed some colors and did a pale lavender wipe with a transparent blue roll and it looked pretty great. My Prof got really excited. XD

Tweaking colors and layering the wipes/rolls of both will be the mission for the week back from Spring Break. I also have a 6x9-ish plate that I had to abandon while my hand freaked out. I'm calling it The Seamstress. Going to finish needling it over break and take the first proof when I get back. PLUS, there is the giant plate that I'm still planning. Since the topic has to be a 'historical event', I really want to do something Asian... Japanese or Korean... I'm leaning towards Korean. King Jeongjo and the Silhak scholars or something of the sort. Sungkyunkwan Scandal is sticking with me. I just found out it's on Hulu! Daebak! Re-watching happily.

Blah blah blah... a lot of work to do. Clearly.
Super glad to have my hand back. Trying to be gentle.
I have also fallen in love with Illustrator. Maybe I'll post some of those class projects eventually.
That's it! Crazy weather is crazy!
Late.

がんばって！

I've mentioned it in other places at other times, but it's relevant to repeat again. I keep regular contact with people from all over the world--mostly from Asia. When anything happens... earthquakes, tsunami, erupting volcanoes, hurricanes, violent sociopolitical uprisings, etc, a list starts running in my mind with names and faces of people I care about in the affected area. My heart is spattered across the world and I know it's in the right place. This was absolutely true last Thursday night. I was lazing in an armchair. Tired, but too agitated to go to bed. The news was droning on the TV.
"Just before we go to commercial break we have breaking news of a massive earthquake in Japan. We'll try to get more info--"
I had turned off the TV and run down the hall in about four seconds. I figured that if it was significant to be called 'massive', considering Japan's earthquake history, and was on my local news station... yeah. Probably not a good sign. And that list was instantly piling up in my brain.

I bet I had about 15 tabs open. NHK World stream, Aljazeera, Twitter, Facebook, CNN, on and on. Twitter timeline flying by and the helicopter footage of that wall of water swallowing land and everything on it. Horrifying.

Almost a week later, I'm lucky. Everyone I know is safe and accounted for. But I can't stop thinking about those wiped-out cities and the thousands of missing. There really aren't accurate words for how gut-wrenching that is. More like soul-wrenching. Ugh.

If I keep dwelling on this right now I'll either start crying again or ranting about how irresponsibly poor American news media is handling their reporting. Neither is constructive. So, I'll stop. Time to keep donating and praying for Japan.

あめふるときにはきみのかさになろう
かぜふくときにはきみのかべになろう
どんなに…やみのふかいよるでも
かならずあすはくるから...

Lulz through the pain...

Since my hand has been a blown up mess for the last three weeks and is taking its jolly sweet time becoming functional again... art lulz are in order.
I've had this blog linked to me multiple times today. I very nearly pissed myself through most of it.

Art students, take heed, empty your bladder before you proceed.

Art Student Owl Meme

Some assembly...

Let's see...
Fall of '08. I took Principles of Color with the exquisitely terrifying Donna Larsen. Ms. Larsen. You have to say it with a 'z'. Mzzzzzz Larsen. This is crucial. In all of her eccentric glory, she provided me an education in color that blew my mind. While this made me incredibly excited for future work, I looked around at my old art and works in progress and... deflated. Everything came to a screeching halt with the BRAND NEW INFORMATION that no other art teacher had offered me before. I loved that class. Loved it. Wuvved ittttt. Tons of interesting assignments.

This collage is made with a complimentary admixture of red-orange to blue-green. Mzz Larsen calls it 'esoteric toning'... because she can. Flat colors painted out on bristol paper to make swatches. Swatches are exacto'd into any desired shape. Then you just start stacking. Glorious fun.

Trebuchet
7x7 in. Bristol

Of course, I had to take her other class, Intro to Art & Design, in Spring '09. An equally challenging and awesome experience. Our final project was a Cubist collage. We had to show our 'workspace' in a Cubist mode, include three personal items, and use a number of specific visual cues, like reversals. We also chose a 'slim volume of verse' and had to photocopy the cover and a page from the text to include. I used 'Pieces of You' by Tablo, a South-Korean hip hop artist. Acrylic paint, photocopies, prismacolor pencils.
All of it came together so joyfully for me. Very satisfying.

Walls of My World
14x17 in. Bristol

I'm itching to do a series like this.