Block Print:
Drudge
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Meaning
High school students, such as myself, go through a lot during their teenage years. Teens go through hormone changes, “love” and crushes, but something that not only teens experience, adults as well, is stress. Stress can be defined as the bane of people's existence because in my opinion it’s true.
Through this school year, I know for a fact that I will be going through some hardships, headaches and stressful moments. I also know that I won’t be the only one going through this. Many other students will too. The meaning of the piece to me is to show what I am feeling and what I’m going to feel later on in life because I have become a very busy person. I’ve become a drudge in a dictatorship called school and I probably won’t get out very soon because of future plans such as college. But, there are always things I can do to relieve this stress. One of these things is watching television and cartoons to distract myself from the pounding headaches I get from the mountains of work I have to complete in the next few weeks. YouTube, Cartoon Network, and anime are all the different things that bring joy and distraction to my life other than friends and family because it manages to make me smile and inspire me to doodle my own characters. This helps me relieve the stress and it makes me happy which makes me thank society for creating entertainment. Some even may say that it’s a bit “childish” or “unladylike” but honestly I don’t care because these are the type of things that lighten up the mood and bring other emotions like excitement and angst which in my opinion are better than feeling stressed about school work all the time.
Overall, I love animations and the stories that come along with them.
Why? Well, because they make me happy.
Through this school year, I know for a fact that I will be going through some hardships, headaches and stressful moments. I also know that I won’t be the only one going through this. Many other students will too. The meaning of the piece to me is to show what I am feeling and what I’m going to feel later on in life because I have become a very busy person. I’ve become a drudge in a dictatorship called school and I probably won’t get out very soon because of future plans such as college. But, there are always things I can do to relieve this stress. One of these things is watching television and cartoons to distract myself from the pounding headaches I get from the mountains of work I have to complete in the next few weeks. YouTube, Cartoon Network, and anime are all the different things that bring joy and distraction to my life other than friends and family because it manages to make me smile and inspire me to doodle my own characters. This helps me relieve the stress and it makes me happy which makes me thank society for creating entertainment. Some even may say that it’s a bit “childish” or “unladylike” but honestly I don’t care because these are the type of things that lighten up the mood and bring other emotions like excitement and angst which in my opinion are better than feeling stressed about school work all the time.
Overall, I love animations and the stories that come along with them.
Why? Well, because they make me happy.
Kollwitz, Kathe. Memorial Sheet of Karl Liebknecht (Gedenkblatt Für Karl Liebknecht), 1919-1920. Digital image. Artsy. Dallas Museum of Art, n.d. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2016
Araki, Hirohiko. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Screenshot. Digital image. KissAnime. KissAnime.me, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.
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Artist and CultureMy inspiration for this piece focused on German Expressionism with a hint of a cartoon aspect from my own style. German Expressionism took place during the 1900’s and one of the major artist of German Expressionism was Kathe Kollwitz. Her artwork was very gloomy and ominous which is one of the aspects I wanted to incorporate into my art piece. One of her main art pieces that inspired me was Gedenkblatt Für Karl Liebknecht which she created as a response to the murder of Karl Liebknecht, who was a communist leader in the 1900’s. I felt that this piece was something I could relate to because I also lost loved ones in the past that caused great grief within my family. Which is why I decided to create something similar to the pieces she’s created.
As for the more cartoon like aspect that I incorporated to this piece, I decided to include some of my interests in this piece. Ever since I was cured from cancer, I’ve had a fascination with animation and cartoon especially Japanese cartoons known as anime and other styles that are seen on channels like Cartoon Network. These modern styles and cartoons were very bright and lighthearted for children but they also had their gloomy moments in their story-lines which was also an inspiration. Now, the reason why I created a workaholic or a “Drudge” in my case, is because after looking at several images to get inspiration, I thought of all the other school work I had to get done other than my art piece caused me to become very stressed in that moment. It was an in the moment inspiration which I quickly drew portraits of a men at their jobs with a solemn, zombie like expression which represents what I felt at the moment. Which is where my inspirations came in to make it more cartoon like because I needed to cheer up and I ended up watching TV which so happened to be on Cartoon Network. And so, that’s when German Expressionist, Kathe Kollwitz mournful art pieces and lighthearted cartoons clashed to inspire me to create my art piece “Drudge”. |
Planning Process
In the beginning of this process I didn't really know what to draw so I decided to look at some German Expressionist. I came upon Kathe Kollwitz and I liked the gloomy atmosphere in a lot of her work. So then I started sketching in a style similar to her own but I prefer not drawing in a realistic way. After, I realized that since I enjoyed cartoons and animation I would somehow incorporate the style into my art piece. I started sketching again but this time I added a bit of my own style of drawing which is a bit more cartoon-y. Which is how I came up with the drawing I decided to use.
ExperimentationThere were many different types of carving tools available but I had to decide which ones would best suit for my piece. I tested the three types to test the width and thickness of the lines. I chose to use the thinnest, triangular tipped, and widest, round tipped, carving tool. Later during this process I mostly had to figure out how to apply enough pressure so that the ink used would apply to the paper. But, I realized that it could be a bit difficult. Later, after several times, I came to the conclusion that the small while dots added a rustic look and I liked it so I left the final print with a couple of white dots.
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1)The first step in this process is to trace the linoleum square on a sheet of paper in order to get the correct size and draw the image in that space.
2) After drawing what I wanted to create, turned the sheet over and started to go over the entire back with a pencil. 3) Later placing it on top of the linoleum square, with tape to hold it in place, and tracing over the lines so the graphite in the back would transfer on the block creating the image. 4) After removing the paper with the image and deciding what tools to used, I started carving out the bigger sections such as the shirt, later moving on to smaller details like the hair and background. 5) Then, when I finished carving everything out, I was ready to create a print. First I had to add a blotch of ink on the metal plate and started rolling and spreading it out on plate using a small roller. 6)After getting some ink on the roller, I moved the roller over to the print, which was sitting on top of a clean sheet of paper, and rolled ink on top of it. I did this several times in different directions to get an even coat. 7)Then, I transferred the ink covered linoleum block to new clean sheet of paper to avoid smudging, and placed a white sheet of paper on top. 8)I placed another sheet of drawing paper on top and pressed down using a block printing baren using a little pressure around the entire piece. 9)The last step to this process is slowly removing the sheet of paper which was the finishing product. |
Reflection
Overall, I enjoyed this project but I did face a couple of road blocks along the way. For one, coming up with the idea of a workaholic and finding a different name because I felt that the name wasn't enough to express the mood in the piece. This was difficult because I not a very creative person when it comes to names or story telling so that made it difficult to find a name suitable for this art piece. Another, step that I had trouble with and wish I could figure out how to do better, is using the carving tool. Using these tools can be difficult when you first using them, reason being that the carving tool can cause hand cramps of not used properly. I came across this in the beginning of the carving process because I would carve to steep of a angle cause me to have to use more pressure to carve a certain area such as the dress shirt. This was later solved when I found out that I didn't have to make such deep lines.
My main artist inspiration was Kathe Kollwitz. Kollwitz was a an artist during the German Expressionism movement and she mainly focuses on the subject of the poor. I also noticed that she uses harsh lines to express tragic times and their aftermath. This is similar compared to what I tried to achieve.The differences in our art pieces is that I made my piece less realistic and more of a cartoon style similar to the Hirohiko's show, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. This show has a very unique style of exaggerating the human body and defining characteristics which is an area, especially from the face, that made me want to make something similar. I wanted to combine Kathe's tone and mood with Hirohiko's bizarre style and create something to express what I wanted to express which was the feeling of stress.
My main artist inspiration was Kathe Kollwitz. Kollwitz was a an artist during the German Expressionism movement and she mainly focuses on the subject of the poor. I also noticed that she uses harsh lines to express tragic times and their aftermath. This is similar compared to what I tried to achieve.The differences in our art pieces is that I made my piece less realistic and more of a cartoon style similar to the Hirohiko's show, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. This show has a very unique style of exaggerating the human body and defining characteristics which is an area, especially from the face, that made me want to make something similar. I wanted to combine Kathe's tone and mood with Hirohiko's bizarre style and create something to express what I wanted to express which was the feeling of stress.
ACT Questions
1) How are you able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork?
Kollwitz created her pieces for the purpose of showing and expressing tragic events such as war and the poor. This cause me to do something similar but instead of war, I did the feeling of tiredness form the repetitive cycle and dis-enjoyment of work.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Kollwitz repetitive topic of the poor and unfortunate made me want to create something similar. As for Hirohiko's show, I wanted to add the a similar style which is less realistic.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While watching Hirohko's show, I came to the conclusion that no matter how ridiculous the style and animation may be, it still can make a pretty great series. I can also conclude that block printing can make art pieces look very frightening if done correctly.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of "Drudge" is the feeling of stress that increases as one gets older. The piles of paper in the background as well as the baggy eyes are meant to represent that idea?
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
One inference I can make is that Kollwitz must'e been through or at least seen some awful things in her life. The reason being, that her artwork can be very mournful yet it gives a very clear image of the point she wants to get across to the viewer.
Kollwitz created her pieces for the purpose of showing and expressing tragic events such as war and the poor. This cause me to do something similar but instead of war, I did the feeling of tiredness form the repetitive cycle and dis-enjoyment of work.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Kollwitz repetitive topic of the poor and unfortunate made me want to create something similar. As for Hirohiko's show, I wanted to add the a similar style which is less realistic.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While watching Hirohko's show, I came to the conclusion that no matter how ridiculous the style and animation may be, it still can make a pretty great series. I can also conclude that block printing can make art pieces look very frightening if done correctly.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of "Drudge" is the feeling of stress that increases as one gets older. The piles of paper in the background as well as the baggy eyes are meant to represent that idea?
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
One inference I can make is that Kollwitz must'e been through or at least seen some awful things in her life. The reason being, that her artwork can be very mournful yet it gives a very clear image of the point she wants to get across to the viewer.
Bibliography
- "Käthe Kollwitz | Memorial Sheet of Karl Liebknecht (Gedenkblatt Für Karl Liebknecht) (1919-1920) | Artsy." Käthe Kollwitz | Memorial Sheet of Karl Liebknecht (Gedenkblatt Für Karl Liebknecht) (1919-1920) | Artsy. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.
- Araki, Hirohiko. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Screenshot. Digital image. KissAnime. KissAnime.me, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016
- Araki, Hirohiko. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Screenshot. Digital image. KissAnime. KissAnime.me, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016