Was really excited to start the lino printing task since I haven't done it in a while and I like the graphic and textural result it gives. Here are lists of artists that I looked at/was suggested to look at and some class notes.
Notes and artist research:
I have done quite a bit of travelling, and times I have travelled have been the best times of my life. Last task I directly focused on isolation, but for this task I wanted to escape it. I wanted to depict this memory which is very deep in my heart - my time in Oaxaca San Jose de Pacifico, or 'Mushroom Valley'. This balcony represents a very spiritual and personal journey. It is a place where nature and the small village came to life. It is a time I will remember for the rest of my life. Memories like these keep me going during these strange and uncertain times. It reminds me of the importance of travel and the privelege of being able to experience and learn from other cultures and environments.
I didn't do any sketches for this task in my diary, I just drew straight onto a page which I ripped out. I made markings on the page to help remind me what areas are white and black, while still indicating the right amount of detail. I then used charcoal to cover the back to the page. After that I put it on my lino block and traced over my drawing so that I would transfer to the block. I defined and corrected areas with a sharpie and then carved my block. Sorry for the lack of photos, I'm terrible at documenting this stuff, I get so immersed in what I'm doing and I forget.
Some progress shots and reflections: I had trouble getting a clean print but after some practice they turned out pretty good. I started using the litho ink on the plate, which was very tricky to clean up. Then, my AKUA intaglio inks finally arrived in the mail and I decided to use those. Much easier to clean up and produced a pretty cool result.
I was cleaning up my inks and used some window cleaner to polish the glass I was printing on. It made a cool texture on the glass and I had a spare bit of rice paper lying around. I chucked it on the glass and it produced a pretty interesting result.
