2017: the year of the Wacky Bird Gallery
The Conversation Series:
This series was developed for a commission from Art Partners Australia.
The design brief was to create 10 artworks (lino block prints) based on Australian birds and within an A2 format.
I choose the idea of conversations because I wanted my work to engage the viewer and not be just to decorate the walls of the new mental health centre that they were going to.
Below are the developmental steps, explanations, of one of the artworks.
The Gathering
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This is a detail of the basic drawing that I start with.
note the rectangular shapes that make up the body and head as well as the line that makes the beak. I draw these basic shapes to plan where my birds go and which direction they face, then I draw them up to this detail without consulting photos etc...just from my knowledge. Then I go to my photos and other images in books and on the internet and draw in the details I can't remember. I then simplify the design so that I use a limited palette of colours and create a more design feel in my work. Basically I leave what is required to recognise the birds and make the viewer believe that there is lots of detail.
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The block was then cut so that all white areas and all areas to be hand coloured would not ink up, and therefore not change colour when printed.
I used a wall vinyl for this series and small Japanese tools. There is about 20 to 30 hours of carving on this block to this stage. 12 images were printed. |
First colour printed (blue) Second colour printed (grey) Third colour printed (black)
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Left: the block just after the third colour (black) is printed Right: the artwork after hand colouring is finished |
