Macie Graham
zine
A zine is a self-made, mini magazine. It can tell a story, be informational, or just random. Mine was friendly reminders because some days, thatÅ› all you need. I wanted all my friendly reminders to be motivational and positive. With motivation and positivity, you can go a long way. On a bad day, a little pick me up is just what you need to make it through the day. I believe that good vibes should be shared each and every day, and with my zine, I can do just that.
etching
Drypoint etching is done by using a sharp tool to engrave a photo into materials like metal and plexiglass. Following the etching process comes printing. This is covering the etched material in ink, making sure it fills all the deep scratches made, then cleaning off the excess spots. To finish the printing process, the etched photo is pressed in a machine onto the certain paper the artist would like to print onto. My project was based on a photo I took in Utah of the mountains. This photo had a very good light source which made my final project look even better. Instead of doing the beach or a sunset, I thought the mountains were a good choice because of the way they look. For example, they incline and have more straight, hard edges that make the etching process easier to complete. This project was so interesting and I am so satisfied with how my work turned out.
LINOCUT
A linocut is a carved out photo on a linoleum block, which then ink is applied to only the raised areas, and then printed. To start this process, a photo is copied onto the linoleum block and traced in sharpie to make it apparent what parts are black and what parts are white. Making gauges into the block, the carving process begins. The carving is finished when only the black parts remain raised and the other parts are carved out deep enough that the ink will not reach/touch them. Next is printing, which is very simple. Colored or black ink is applied to the carved out linoleum block then laid and pressed onto paper. Once the paper is pulled off the block, the paper drys and that is it! Overall this project was challenging, but a good kind of challenging. It was enjoyable and fun to see how the final product would turn out. My self-portrait was of me in my cheer uniform at a25 football game, which is something I enjoy, making this project even better.
silkscreen printing
Silkscreen printing is done by first creating a design, then putting the negative of the design on the t-shirt, and finally finishing it off by inking it & setting it aside to dry. My design is a real heart with flowers coming out of the veins, arteries, and things like that. I made the heart just simply black and white because it made the flowers pop. To me, this shows we need flowers to live. Flowers are a big part of my life. They represent beauty and pureness. They are beautiful and make everything better. Which means the flowers coming out of the simple black and white heart has something beautiful to it. After I came up with my design, we got a group together and decided which design was best. We chose one with a yellow and orange flower and a black and white elephant overlapping it. This was chosen because it was simple and still very unique. To start the actual t-shirt printing process, we coat a screen with photo-emulsion. This basically just works as a stencil.We used this, ink, and a squeegee to print the design onto our shirts. I liked the way this turned out and am excited to wear it.
LINOCUT
COLOR + SHAPE MANOPRINT
This project was a fun, little, quick project that was basically intended to make sure we knew color schemes and knew how to put them to use. It is one thing to know the color schemes and just draw them in notes, but to actually use them in a piece of artwork is different. The fun part of this was getting to mix our colors to make the tertiary colors and also being able to use the jelly plate. At the start of this project, we cut out multiple different shapes that we would use on our first test print. The test print was just the first one that we do, getting the feel for how to line things up and how it works. After cutting the pieces out, we laid them to the side while we printed on our first layer of color. To do this, we coated the jelly plate in one color of ink, then laid the paper down on top and pressed it on. Pulling it off, it had made our base layer. To do the next layer, we laid down the pieces we cut out on the jelly plate that was already coated in our next layer of ink. Laying the paper down again, and then pulling it up revealed the second layer. For the last layer, we covered the jelly plate in a different color and then placed the pieces in different places so all the colors would come through in some place on the artwork. On my first print, I did the primary colors: blue, red, and yellow. I did this because I chose puzzle pieces and those usually remind people of children, basic colors, and bold colors. For my final print, I used tertiary colors: red-orange, blue-green, and yellow-orange. These seemed to stand out more to me and look better than the the original primary colors.
