For this first project I want to base it on something in nature. I enjoy taking hikes and camping. The thing I am always interested in when I am out hiking or camping is looking for birds. My goal or wish is to see an eagle while I am out there looking. This summer I went to Acadia National Park, which is in Maine, and camped for a few nights there. The entire time I was there, I was looking for a bald eagle. Unfortunately I did not see one.
I want to focus this first project on an eagle or bird of prey. I was thinking a Golden Eagle, because they are my favorite of the eagles. They are impressive birds. I want the image to be of the eagles head and part of its body. I want a close up shot of the bird, not in flight. I think the bird’s feathers will make for an interesting challenge. It is hard to replicate fur and things of the sort. I think it will make me better at printmaking if I give myself a challenge right off the bad. If I do an eagle for this first project it will be fun for me, as well as a good challenge. If I enjoy what I am working on, then I get so much more out of it. An enjoyable challenge will be the best project for me to begin with. I know that not every project will be fun. That is why I would like to start off with one that is fun. It will make the rest easier to deal with.
As far as the artists go for this project, I plan on talking with Steve Snells at some point about his experiences with being in Alaska and being with animals. I have also found and artist online, Leonard Baskin, who worked in all fields of art. He worked a lot with printmaking which is what I was drawn to that he does. Most of his prints are of birds. I have been looking at his prints to see his techniques for creating the image of feathers. I hope to actually do a master copy of one of his prints to actually learn from it some more. If I do a drawing of one of his prints, it will help me to understand better how to achieve the replication of feathers. I might be able to recreate a print of his, to make it my own.
These are all woodblock engravings done by Leonard Baskin.
7 comments:
I like the way you gave the figure form with out an outline, especiallyon the tips of the wings, that requires a lot of precise carving... very impressive.
I agree with the wing tips. They were really awesome.
..I wrote my own notes about your piece but looking back at them they do not make any sense to me, but I really enjoyed seeing the detail in the owl, especially in the face.
The wings came out beautiful, the black that you left of the under-wing gives it that actual sense of the real motion of the wing. Very economical use of value.
I really liked how your second print was completely different than your first one in terms of composition, but stayed with the same concept/theme. THe textures on the first one were pretty amazing too..
-rachel
nice difference between the background and the textures/patterns on the owl, it really adds a lot of interest to the image
like the composition and the space the bird takes up in the frame, with the wing tips going from border to border, makes eye travel through piece. Nice variation of marks, creating different textures for the feathers of owl. Like the repetition of geometric forms, like V’s / triangles throughout the composition. I would maybe continue working on the background design, to make the planes interact a bit more. owl looks great.
At a closer look, the wideness of the span of the bird really assisted the eyes to the whole image. The wings have a lot of great variation that sorted the text of the wings to describe the direction of the span. Very neat.
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