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Week 1/2
This week I started in the group of wrapping. We made a presentation about all kinds of wrapping techniques. We had a bit of a argument between te group about this subject. Is this really wrapping or is this something else? It was clear that there were a lot of different techniques that were related to wrapping. The week after I started making a little embroidery of a illustration I made before. Embroidery is a handcraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn.
Week 3
From the first week I was already really curious about the printing techniques, and even though I was already started with wrapping I decided to switch group. Unfortunately after this decision if been sick for a wile and had a field trip with my illustration class. Luckily my classmate could tell me everything about the first 2 meetings of the printing group and thereby I saw there presentation. The reason I am really interested in the craft printing is also because I’m a illustrator. The fact that your illustration can turn out so much different in all those techniques is really fascinating.
Week 5
- With the group I’ve been working on a “groups printer”. It was one of the most fun things to do this quarter. It is really in the theme from making is connecting as well, because this “printer” was really connecting with people. We used a steel frame from school and putted a shelf behind it. We putted parenthesis on different parts of the shelf. Trough the parenthesis we putted rope and connected it to the wooden block in the middle. The idea is that you could draw together if you all take one or two ropes. You have to decide together were you want to go to with the wooden-draw-block. The drawings that you make with this machine are not perfect or beautiful, but you really can see the play on paper and that’s why I really love the idea.
- The first example if been working on is with the letter press. This technique is one of the oldest print techniques. This relief print technique was already used to make newspapers and leaflets. The letters are one for one putted in by hand and to hold all the letters together you use a galley. The letters are in mirror writing, that’s why it can be really confusing to put them in a good way in the galley. I was happy with the end result, but when I looked at it a couple of times I saw it was full of grammatical mistakes. I was so much focused on making a good punch, that I forgot to check the letters. It was a kind of funny experience because on grammatical level it can not really be a bigger fail than this end result. Besides that I really liked the extra effects that you would never have on a normal printer. Because the letters are really punched in the paper you see a relief after printing. Thereby you can play with the ink you put on the letters to choose a deeper black or more transparent with more texture.
- To really show the textures from the letters I made a second project of it. I scant the letter and made a new composition with bigger letters. It’s easier to see now which part of the letter the machine touched less or were I putted more ink. I also took a picture of the galley itself without the inkt. Also this picture could be nice to make a piece with. I like the fact that in craft, you can use a lot of times different parts of the project to make a new piece with.
Week 6
- The third project I wanted to combine the modern printing with a old technique, silk screening. I wanted to see if it is interesting to put those two together in one piece. I illustrated a landscape and for the background I used a existing picture of clouds. It is always nice to see how much different work you can make with one illustration. I experimented with different colours en compositions. I didn't do silk screening that much so I discovered this week how important it is to use the medium in a good we. The paint can get stuck when you forget to mix enough medium with the paint. I think using a normal print en silkscreening can be interesting.
- One thing I never tried before is a really modern technique, lazer cutting. I did go further in the theme of landscapes and putted my illustration in illustrator. To see how this printer was cutting my illustration out of wood in such a short time whas really exiting to see. The frame is really thin and fragile but it worked out in the way I hoped. The pieces that had to be cut out for making the frame are useful as well, it is a negative of the illustration.
Using this printer was less creapy than I thought and not that hard to use.
The last piece I made, I wanted to focus on telling a story about why I make. I tried different techniques and wrote my manifesto, so I thought it would be nice to end with something I really like, illustrating. The story is about a man who is starting with a lot of mess and is trying to build up something with that, even though there are obstacles somtimes. I didn't use a very special techniques but the most regular one, the xerox printer! Because who on this school can live without that amazing object?
The last pictures are made on evoluation day. We talked about all the projects we have been working on the last weeks. It was really nice to see that everybody had a totally different way of working and experimenting. I choose to combine my wooden landscape with a wrapping object and a printing insect. I thought it was a really nice contrast of a illustrated controled landscape with a object that is more autonomus. De fabric is really making his own form without somebody really put it like that on purpose. Also I took a picture with my illustration and a litlle sculpture from max. I really liked the story behind the object and I thought it was fitting with the store of my illustration. Also the combination of the wooden "puzzle pieces" and the illustration of somebody who is building a wooden installation is working very well.
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Manifesto: Why I make
The path between the starting point of making something and the end result is most of the time full of unexpected moments. During the process you can be really disappointed on a moment were things turned out differently or took way more time than you expected. It can give you bad energy and make you feel insecure. In contrast, something spontaneous can arise during the process, and than suddenly the result can be better than you hoped for. Making things is a experiment you can be never done with. I make because I find this process exciting and I have a open mind for changes. Nevertheless it’s not always a option that things turn out different than the idea was because clients are asking you for precisely work. In this case you have to go through till you find out a logic and correct way to realize this project. The charm of spontaneous moments is not useful now, but there is now a different aspect which I find really interesting. You have to try out and puzzle till you get your project the way you want. To work precisely you can’t just be creative, you have to got technical skills and knowledge as well. For example, you can think of the settings of a 3d-printer or the working of a silkscreen machine. You have to know how these things work before you can keep control on the endresult. I make because I find it interesting and satisfying to learn new techniques and become handy in it. The knowledge of techniques, not just only with machines but on artistic level as well, gives you the freedom to know which parts you can leave in the project or how to simplify your work. A good example for this is abstract art. A lot of abstract artists started with realistic paintings and sculptures. When they became good at it they started looking for new compositions in a abstract way, but in the back of their head they had the realistic visuals in mind. This made it more easy to still make a strong composition even though the details were so few. I make because I really like it to keep in control over my own work. Already when I was a little child I was fascinated when I walked trough the city and looked at all the architecture and appearances of windows and terraces. I could be surprised over the choices that people made like: why is this building so boorish and gray or why did they think these signs were a good choice for there store? But also I could be happily surprised if I entered a place that totally fitted my vision of a beautiful appearance. Everything around me could fascinate me from a good color tile till a great building. As a maker you have the freedom to make something you fully stand for. Even though, most of the time it is important as well to look at wishes and desires from other people. The fun can get away quick if you are the only one who likes the work you made. The good part of making is that you can please other people as well. This can be if you make something useful but also when you make something that touches people in a emotional way. It’s a difficult but beautiful puzzle to find a way to relate your own ideals and visuals with other people, and give them the opportunity to understand you and your work. I make because I feel like it is a way to discover the world. Finding out new materials, new techniques or artist you look up to can give you a lot of inspiration and energy. By finding out more things in craft and art you learn bit by bit how people have been working in the past or will do in the future. How did we came from petroglyphs to 3d-printing or from a castle to a skyscraper? I find it sometimes bizarre that the world is still discovering and developing so much new things if you think of what already has been discovered. Making is having a chance to discover something new. You can always make no matter where you are. I like to make because a lot of times it is physical work, you can put real energy in it and you can move around. I don’t like the idea of sitting behind my desk the rest of my life because I don’t think it is good for your health or happiness to not use your body de biggest part of the day. I make because I am searching for a way to be happy. Sometimes I find it hard to understand what exactly the meaning of life is and how you can be in peace with yourself. I know that nobody knows the exact meaning of life and it is impossible to always have inner peace. But while I am making a lot of times I discover a lot about myself. Why am I so frustrated right now? Is it really that bad that I dream so much while working? Most of the times you can relate it to other things in your life as well. Making can be a emotional rollercoaster. To keep that rollercoaster in control you have to filter the good and the bad thoughts. The more you make, the more you learn how to keep control over your own feelings. This can help you with everything in life and so, also with finding a way of being happy. I make because art and craft speaks a language that everybody understands whatever nationality will be. You don’t always have to explain images and products, most of the time the message or meaning of the product will speak for itself. People can really connect just by having the same taste and see something good in a painting or a object. There fore I really think making is connecting.
