The pitch

Before we were given this lecture, we were asked to research the one of the individual printing techniques that are available to us to perform with as illustrators. We were to chose from the list of techniques which was given to us:

• Risograph
• Letterpress
• Screenprinting
• Etching
• Lithograph
• Anything else of our choice

We were asked to research the process of the technique as well as the ways it is used, the companies which specialise in this method, the cost of it and how other illustrators and designers use it. 

I had chosen to research the Etching technique, and had to prepare myself for later giving a pitch on this subject, with an aim to sell this technique to my peers and convince them that this was the best technique available to use. 

I found most of my research for Etching here.

What I discovered

The process:

When gathering my research on etching using the above site, I learned about both the original method and process for etching as well as the modern day techniques used. Throughout the original process, a metal plate was covered with a waxy drawing surface which is unreactive with acid. The study of the artists choice was then scratched into the ground (waxy surface) with a needle, exposing the metal beneath. A tool used throughout this process was an 'Echoppe' which was used to swell the lines and create different effects. The plate is then washed with acid, dissolving some of the metal and leaving in its place the original lines sunk into the plate. The remaining elements of the ground are then also cleaned away. The plate is then cleaned all over and wiped thoroughly, leaving ink behind in only the engraved lines of the drawing. The plate is then taken through the printing process with wet paper, which when pressed against the plate picks up the ink from inside the lines and makes the print appear. The use of the metal plate is of a high advantage to the artist who can then continue using it to create identical prints countless times before the metal is worn out. 

The process of etching is regarded as a form of monoprinting and can also be combined with the technique of engraving and aquatint. The method overall varies and there are many different techniques that can be used when etching. For example in our print room at university, we complete the process very similarly to that of the original, however we use more modern materials and the process has developed greatly over time. We are fortunate enough to have cheaper, safer and more efficient ways of creating etchings. 

Ways it is used:

Etching is used to create varied and detailed prints. It is a very beneficial process because it enables us to create varied lines and patterns. It can be used to capture things like photographs, portraits, detailed drawings or expression.

Companies specialising in that method of printing: 

A company that uses etching is The London Print Studio who also encourage people to join courses at their institute to practice the technique and learn more about it. I couldn't find any specific companies online which use the etching process regularly and sell etchings either alone or amongst other works, however I do not believe that this is actually the case, as the likelihood is there are many incorporations who use the printing technique of etching on a regular basis for their work. 

The cost:

After looking into the different elements of etching such as the materials (1 and 2) etc, I have learned that etching is quite affordable. I did not find an exact price for how much etching costs creators, however the materials are reasonably priced especially for their quality, and knowing we no longer have to use things such as metals and acids makes the expenses much more cost effective. Also, very many art based institutions across the world hold access to etching machines and materials meaning it is obviously not difficult to keep up with the prices of these. 

How illustrators and designers use it: 

Many artists over time and centuries use the etching process for their own individual uses. It has been used for newspapers, advertisements, posters and framed art works. Many artists use it like they would any other form of art, and use it simply to create masterpieces. 

Artist Rembrandt, famously used the technique of etching to create many of his works during the 1600s. I think that his creations are beautifully created and detailed, especially when considering length of time ago they were created. 

Image found here

We can see here that the artist has captured a particular scenario in this piece. I admire how the artist has used darkness and light in this image and also how the detail varies to create this, as well as an interesting composition. We can see how he has used varying lines in this study using the etching process to create bold and intricate marks.

Image found here

Here is an example of how etching can be used to create portraiture pieces. I think this is a stunning image and we can again see how the artist has varied the thickness in his lines. It has an ancient feel to it, however this is interesting because the techniques he has used are still very accessible to this day.

found here

Here is an example of how etching can be used to create landscape pieces. The artist has used different techniques in this piece to give varying textures which I think adds very interesting elements to the study. It also creates an incredible atmosphere and the detail he has managed to capture in this drawing is very inspiring. 

Many artists continue to use the technique of etching to this day. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the lecture where I would have been able to pitch the information above I found when researching the technique of etching. I am hoping that there will be another opportunity to do this or something similar soon as I am aware that it is quite a crucial part of our development as it enables us to prepare for scenarios and situations we may face in our future careers as illustrators, if working for companies that rely on advertising in this way. 

I do also intend to practice etching much more in the future, having very limited experience with the process. I would also like to experiment further with the other printing techniques that are available for us to practice with at university, such as the ones I discussed earlier. I think that it is important to give each one a go and see where this could take me. 

The book of drawings

For this assignment, we had the opportunity to choose a past project or multiple past projects and use them to create a book of drawings. I had to look back through my previous assignments and see which of them in my eyes stood out the most in terms of skill, but also what I thought had the most potential, what I enjoyed the most and what I thought I could maybe use again in the future when practicing as a professional illustrator.

For me, I believed that reportage was the foremost assignment that had the most potential and possibilities, and therefore it became the content of my book of drawings. 

I began by generating my ideas for the assignment, creating thought showers to help my thoughts flow. Here are some of my thought showers, which show some of my original ideas for the assignment:

ideas thought shower

book ideas thought shower

artist thought shower

After much thought and consideration, I ended up settling on the idea of 'Home'. This was because a lot of my studies that I created for reportage in the past were based on things from home, be it objects, people or just general surroundings. I very much enjoyed doing this, and see my home as a place of safety, and somewhere that is comfortable and enjoyable to be at, so I thought that I could create quite a positive book about this, but avoiding adding a narrative because this was not suitable for our book of drawings project. When generating ideas at the beginning, I was also very interested in basing my book upon a journey of some sort, and then began to think about combining these two ideas into my journey home. And so, in a lot of my early sketchbook work I have began by taking quick studies in my town and on my bus home, to add to the idea of traveling back home. Here are some examples of this:

shops and flats in town

man on bus

street lamp and xmas lights

 I did not do many of these studies because I quickly realised that this might be slightly confusing when put together, and so decided to begin creating drawings in my street to begin my journey, from the top end to start with and then sketching more gradually as I walked towards my house, which was an interesting practice. I did a few of these fast using basic dry media such as pencil/graphite. I then worked from the previous studies to add more detail, and experiment with a larger variety of drawing techniques and materials. I have shown the results below:

The original sketches:

light sketch 

slightly darker, street view

harsher lines/more detail

Street sign

practicing street sign

rows of houses

Working from the studies:

Rows of houses on brown paper
using graphite, charcoal and chalk 

Monoprinting the houses on plain
paper using limited detail

Monoprint with watercolour

Monoprint on segment of brown
paper, with watercolour

Monoprint on brown paper with
watercolour on top

Monoprint of street sign, I repeated
this quite a lot when experimenting 

Sign posts in black oil with
watercolour - worked better

As I slowly approached my house, I began quickly drawing certain features such as my neighbors bin, which was left by their front door, and my house from the front view. I used the same process as I did previously, drawing basic sketches and then working into these, or using various techniques to create further studies. Here was the result of this:

Simple quick sketches

Quick sketches

Monoprinting on brown
paper, with watercolour.

Watercolour and graphite
drawing with coloured pencil

Monoprinting with watercolour,
most successful

House sketches, adding water colour
and fineliner on top

Monoprints of house

adding more detail and
experimenting with watercolour

first attempt, quick ugly
print

My goal for this was to create studies of my street and neighborhood, showing how it looks from the outside to be quite a grim, unfriendly place. It looks kind of crowded and unpleasant, but that doesn't mean that it's an unhappy place to live in. The idea was to create sketches that depicted the area negatively like the above, and then begin drawing from the inside of my house to show the contrast between the cold, unpleasant outdoors to the warm, happy indoor environment. I again used the same process to get my ideas flowing, creating quick, basic sketches of things/people in my house using pencil and fineliner, before creating more detailed studies. Here are some of the examples of this:

dinner plate & fork in pencil

BRILL! computer and stacks of
CD's, fineliner

small dvd shelf & wooden
bear

another of computer

lots of plants! in pencil

telly etc, pencil

plug extensions pencil

plate again in fineliner

'bob' fineliner

mam and background in
pencil

sister in pencil

quick drawings of my mam
in pencil

After creating all of these above studies and having a small collection of things to work from and a better idea of how I wanted my book of drawings to be, I began thinking further of things around my house that I could draw, and quirky things about my home and how I could express my families presence without necessarily drawing them. I began listing things such as how many plants we have in the house, which is an unusual amount, as well as CD's, and the fact that we go through a lot of tea which I could illustrate by drawing the teapot. I thought about ways I could express each family member, by perhaps depicting something that they were interested in such as a hobby, or their jobs or something I see around the house that instantly sends my thoughts to them.

I began illustrating the plants in the kitchen, working initially from the above studies I created in pencil. Here are some examples:

Adding watercolour to fine liner

Using only fine liner

I also began practicing my work on different materials to see what kind of effects I got. As well as experimenting on things like brown paper, as shown earlier, I also experimented on fabrics, such as gentle canvas materials. I did this because I wanted there to be an element of delicacy to my books to depict a fragility as well as a feeling of intricacy and grace. I first practiced by drawing some of my studies shown above on the material. Here are some examples of this experimentation:

Neighbours bin, printed and
water colour added onto fabric

My house monoprinted
onto fabric

Plants in fineliner and watercolour
on to fabric

Sign post, printed and watercolour added
to fabric. 

 I think that this experimentation was a good way for me to visualise what kind of materials I would like to build my book and pages on.

When it came to building my book and working out what kind of images I would like my book to be filled with, I had to look back over my drawings to find what I thought would be the strongest. After I had chosen, I then practiced these some more, until I felt satisfied with the quality that the book would display.

Building my book

Unfortunately, I did not take any development photos when I was piecing my book together. However, I have the photo below from the internet of the materials I used to build my cover: 

Square sheet of rubber

I used the two square cuttings of rubber to create my book covers, and wrapped these in a red and white polka dot material to create a more flattering look, both glueing it and stapling it to keep it secure. I then glued a strip of the same soft canvas material I used earlier, shown for my studies above, to create an area to write my title 'Home' in a monoprint. This was the basis of my book, shown below: 

Finished book 

I was lucky enough to have my book covers roughly the same size as my small square sketchbook that I was using for my studies. This meant that I could take the studies I was working on for my book and just trim them slightly before adding them in. Here were the final images I created, before adding them to my book:

Monoprint development 

Tea kettle ideas, colour
development 

Monoprint for final

Sketches

An example of final

An example of final

Initial sketches

Street view monoprint

Plant development,
 colour

I pieced them together within my book by taping them together along the side using masking tape, as shown below:

Side of book taped together

I then glued the back page of this too the back cover, to give the illusion it was all set up when you opened the cover. Although it looked quite flimsy and fragile, I think this added to the feel of the book. Here is the final creation:

Final piece

Often in my studies I used the technique of monoprinting because I feel as though this is a good approach to reportage, as it is fast and effective whilst creating an interesting effect and an element of charm to the studies. In areas, I added text to my studies. I usually do this in my work, but in this case added it depending on what my personal thoughts behind the images were, and they were included depending on whether or not I deemed it suitable. I wanted there to be a feeling of naivety in the book and innocence, which was why I created so loosely and did not aim to reach any kind of perfection.

Artist research

I took inspiration from various artists when creating my book of drawings. 

Two in particular, were Sabrina Ward Harrison and Tracey Emin. I think these artists inspired me most because of how innocent their work appears. Both artists however, use their art work in a therapeutic way by expressing their deepest thoughts and feelings into their studies. Sabrina Ward Harrison does this in a way of creating art journals, and writing down her thoughts and feelings in a creative way that also gets it out of her system. I got inspiration from how she produces these incredibly creative books, using a hugely vast amount of creative techniques to develop her work. It is very unpredictable and I took inspiration from these features. Here are some examples:

found here

found here

found here

I love how her work can have such an optimistic feel but that it also feels incredibly personal, I took inspiration from this in my work.

When looking at Tracey Emins art, I mostly took influence from her monoprints.

I love how she uses the technique of monoprinting as a fast way of producing art and ridding herself of the negative feelings that consume her. I strongly admire the simplicity of the drawings, and how beautiful and full of feeling they are.

found here

found here

found here

I love how these images can be seen as quite untidy, and I admired the fact that they had been done in a very short amount of time, including text relating to the image also, and sometimes only text, as well as sometimes only an image. Researching the two artists also inspired me to experiment onto different surfaces, as both of these artists are quite experimental when creating.

I also took some inspiration from work that I have created in the past for my FMP at college, where I created art based on personal events in my life around the theme of 'journals'.  I also took some inspiration from the assignment of ours People and Characters, where I experimented greatly with the monoprinting technique. I very much enjoyed creating the book of drawings, however if I could have managed my time better throughout this assignment I think it would have improved my work a great deal, I may have been able to create more pieces for example. I would consider continuing this project again in the future.