Printing Final

My litho print turned out to be much simpler than I initially intended. I found that it was much easier to work and practice with the medium if I used all of my effort on it. I wound up only working with the French and American flags in order to create lots of prints. This multitude of prints offered a wide range of success and provided me with the option of choosing the ones that I liked the most. I was really intrigued at the variety of textures I wound up with after using the pronto plates more of less. No two prints were ever the same even though I kept doing the same process. Also, the red and blue colors would mix differently ever time creating a new visual each time. Overall, I was attracted to this process because if offered a wide degree of experimentation even with a simple subject.

In-process Printmaking

I have had very mixed outcomes with my pronto plate prints. The first few tests prints of the entirely blue french flag and the entirely red american flag came out very nice and clean. Then as I began to use the pronto plates more and more, they accumulated too much ink which resulted in a blurrier image and ink spilling over into the borders. I think that replicating my process numerous times could be interesting if I were to make small changes each time. I have thought about changing the direction of the flags, maybe the color, and even possibly adding another layer (presumably a Basque cross). For my end product I would really like to work on getting better prints like I had been doing at the beginning of this project. Being very precise and paying close attention to the detail I would like in my print will be essential to creating an aesthetically pleasing composition.

Final Blog Post

Beginning with my workbook, I tried to emulate Edward Hopper's style through drawing vast landscapes with ink just as he did. I focused a lot on the bigger picture in my scetches as well as a sense of loneliness created in Hopper's work. I could have dug a little deeper by paying more attention to detail. I got caught up in the larger view and did not spend much time focusing directly on my approach to detail.
I believe that my final product emulated Hopper's style fairly well. I employed his use of harsh contrast of light versus dark, captured a sense of loneliness, used detailed signs and used a subject that helps to define the time we live in now. I spent lots of time learning about Hopper's style and I think that those studies transfered into my work as I was able to engage and persist with his style.
I felt that the conversations with my pen pals were helpful and thoughtful. Towards the end of my work they guided me as to how to finish my painting. The creative personal insight I recieved from my friends was great but I thought that the formal language was lacking a little.
I really enjoyed working with the different colors in this project. It was very difficult to get the right color sometimes, but I needed to find a color that worked in contrast with the others. Color mixing was also very important. In order to capture the building and the road, I had to successfully use different shades to give my subjects some definition.
As to my personal expression, as long as I stayed within Hopper's tendencies, I could work fairly freely. I changed to the point of view from my original subject picture to a straight on shot, and I was able to experiment with lots of different ideas I had while keeping a sense of loneliness in the picture.
I think I have two main strengths as an artist: first, I like to think that I work well with shade and light/dark contrast. This showed in my painting with lots of complementary colors. Secondly, once I have the basics down, I work well with conveying emotion in my work. I thought that my final work emulated Hopper's sense of loneliness very well.

Here is my final work:

Artist Emulation Paining In Progress

Artist Emulation (2nd Post)

In trying to emulate my chosen artist, Edward Hopper, I am going to focus my final work on an oil painting. Hopper's style of painting involves lots of harsh contrast between dark and light colors that I will have to use. Also, as I am trying to create a modernized version of one of Hopper's paintings (Early Sunday Morning) that incorporates a large use of space, my composition will have to reflect the same use of space. Simplicity and uniformity will be another large theme in my painting that I am trying to get across. I will have to observe the details of both Hopper's painting and apply their concepts to the scene that I am painting. Stretching and exploring will be essential for me n this project because though the painting that I am emulating is simple, there are many small details and emotions that I will have to express.

Artist Emulation: Edward Hopper

I chose Edward Hopper as my artist to emulate. Hopper's work revolved around painting iconic scenes and places during his lifetime. He also liked to incorporate subjects into his work that would connect the painting and unify it. One of his main subjects was his wife whom he often used for inspiration. Hopper enjoyed taking complex scenes and simplyfing them. He used this technique in many of his paintings, especially when attepting to capture something iconic from his generation. When capturing a scene, Hopper found his way to artistically communicate in the use of signs. The signs helped Hopper to establish what the feeling and the action were supposed to be in his work.
Hopper had a very specific process routines. He would start by drawing detailed sketches with pencil and pen. Then he would move on to etchings and working with color. Only then would he move on to his oil paintings. Though most of Hopper's work was realistic, he still managed to paint the world the way he saw it. Lastly, Hopper always worked dark to light. He would set the tone with the darker colors before he thought about moving on.

Here are some examples of Hopper's work:

Landscape Painting

My work shows original mark making through the layering and under painting. I used many different layers of paint, usually switching up the mark making from thick to thin or short to even shorter depending on the area of focus. Stylistically, i like to use certain areas of my piece to draw in a viewer. This technique shows up in my painting towards the front with the bush and the path leading into the piece. Color choices were another important aspect to this painting. I spent a lot of time mixing and creating color that matched my strip that I had to emulate. I used lots of patches of color, adding in strong colors to bring out certain parts of the painting.
I realized during this project that painting is much harder than it seems. Mixing colors and finding the right textures took lots of time and effort, but it really does help you in the end. Even mark making adds a lot to a piece. Depending on the stroke of your brush, you can create a flow to your painting.
I think that my canvas is pretty well unified. The separate marks at each of the "sections" of my painting actually attract each other and bring each other out. Having specific areas that break the normality of the piece is another helpful aspect. Especially the bush that creates a different point of view and perspective. I tried to put a much detail as I could where it was needed. I found that mixing colors on the tip of my brush and experimenting with that helped a lot.
I feel very comfortable as a painter. Now that I am more at ease with mixing colors, mark making and mistakes (because I can always go back over my work) I can fully experiment with the medium. I personally believe that there are no limitations to what I or even anyone can do because art is about experimenting with every aspect of your medium. Hopefully in the future I can continue to work on my paintings by switching up the style in which I paint and the style of that which I am painting.


My painting:

Original painting: