{"id":559,"date":"2021-04-05T18:40:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T18:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mandmade.co.uk\/?p=559"},"modified":"2021-05-16T14:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T14:22:03","slug":"easter-break-reflections-and-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mandmade.co.uk\/?p=559","title":{"rendered":"Easter Break – Reflections and Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve made good progress and have been reflecting\/evaluating  how I will bring all my images together since my last tutorial session. Further  tests with layers in gesso over an ordnance survey map worked well with a further layer of watercolour wash. I assessed the colour palette of my backgrounds I had painted in watercolour on deli paper, tissue papers and onto the gesso so far was not quite the right look I wanted to achieve. I further produced some watercolour washes in “sunset” colours, which are definitely more aligned with the colours I see when closing my eyes and meditating. I tested watercolour blues and greens using hemp string, leaves and ferns weighted down whilst the paper was drying to create an opaque monoprint. This was fairly successful, but I think the warmer shades work better. My background style and colour palette is now established, and I have developed several dip pen drawings to incorporate into my final artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monoprinting:<\/strong> This past week I took a minor detour and experimented with Gelli plate monoprinting using leaves, fine tree roots, and birch twigs to see what sort of natural fractal effects I could create to possibly blend into the background of my artwork. The prints were not particularly successful, but some resulted in beautiful leaf and root structure prints, and the process was meditative in itself. I had further researched making collograph prints, but with the Easter break and a long delay in being able to go on campus to book time with a support technician to use the intaglio press, I decided not to pursue this at such a late stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having now developed the elements I want to incorporate into my final piece I have also been testing opacity of layers and arrangement of my images within Photoshop, (with some intense training from my personal tech support (husband!) This has given me an excellent overview of how I want my final layout to look. I also found that the linework in a few areas of my drawings needed to be bolder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n