Block Print
"Atargatis"
Medium: Block Print
Size: 23 cm x 15 cm
October 7, 2016
Exhibition Text
Karen Armenta
Atargatis, 2016
Block Print
Atargatis, 2016
Block Print
In Atargatis, the theme is mythology and incorporates inspiration from the Art Nouveau artist Aubrey Beardsley and Post-Impressionism artworks, like Van Gogh’s Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. Other themes in this piece are identity and gender issues/stereotypes. This piece represents a goddess and the many issues women face regarding gender, identity, and statuses. This block print uses negative and positive space as an advantage to display the image carved out from the the block.
Artistic Inspiration
By Inserting the Page and Narraboth into the Frontispiece, a Space Traditionally Reserved for Representing the General Theme of a Text, Beardsley Highlights the Homosexual Passions Alluded to throughout the Book. The Moon's Association with Wilde, Whose Sexual Preference Was Well Known, and the Inclusion of a Carnation Left of the Moon, Worn as an Indication of Homosexuality at the Time, Further Underscores This Theme of Same-sex Passions, Abhorred by Conservative Victorian Society. In True Symbolist Form, Beardsley Created Illustrations That Addressed Key Social Issues beyond Wilde's Book. In This Sense, the Artist Accomplished More than Merely Realizing the Text through Pictures, as Other Illustrators Did. He Used This Platform to Critique Repressive Victorian Values. "Aubrey Beardsley Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
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By Working in Paint Rather than a Woodblock Print, Van Gogh Was Able to Soften the Work, Relying on Visible Brushstrokes to Lend Dimension to the Figure and Her Surroundings as Well as Creating a Dynamic Tension across the Surface Not Present in the Original Prints. "Vincent Van Gogh Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
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My artistic inspiration came from a variety of art movements. I wanted to incorporate the art movements, early Art Nouveau and Post-Impressionism. I was inspired by the certain qualities of the early Art Nouveau movement, but in particular, drew inspiration from Post-Impressionism art works. For the Art Nouveau movement, I was inspired by The Peacock Skirt (1893) by Aubrey Beardsley. Similar to block printing, The Peacock Skirt (1893) portrays similar aspects, like the use of space, value, contrast of black and white, and the fine detail and contrast of thin, thick, and organic lines. I drew inspiration from Beardsley because I admired the small and precise lines and thought that this reference would be useful. From the Post-Impressionism movement, I referenced Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (1890) by Vincent van Gogh. I wanted to use the movement in the background in my own piece because it seemed right to me to give my background some sort of movement to best fit my theme(s).
The two art movements seemed to be fitting for the theme that I wanted to have in my block print. The theme of the piece was mythology and in this block print, I chose to center it around mermaids/sirens. The reason for this was because I also wanted to form another theme: female empowerment. In this particular piece, I decided to focus on a specific goddess, Atargatis. In mythology, she was a mermaid-goddess and was a god of fertility and well-being because of the story of how she became the first mermaid. She inspired the Greek goddess, Aphrodite, to be created. I was heavily inspired to choose this particular goddess because in Greek mythology, not many goddesses are given enough power and authority like gods. This can also go well with other themes, like identity and gender issues/stereotypes. In mythology, much of the power is distributed towards the gods and the goddesses are taken for granted, or are given the more "feminine" roles/powers. I find it interesting that the first goddess to be given such authority was not even technically a goddess, but a mermaid.
Planning
From the start that I wanted to create a block print of an image of a mermaid because of my theme on mythology. I also knew that I wanted to keep a nice and clean border to every one of my sketches to add the feel of an Art Nouveau themed piece. I also wanted to fabricate contrasting thick and thin lines and cleverly use my positive and negative space. When I brainstormed ideas, I kept the mermaid concept concise and played around with the different ways I could represent all my themes into one block print.
Sketch(es)
Process
This art piece required me to use multiple tools in order to successfully create the image on a blank sheet of special paper for this kind of piece. The tools enabled me to cut away from the block and made the process of creating easier and smoothly. For block printing, sharp carving tools are used to carve out the image you want to leave behind by using ink and using negative and positive space. I found some tools hard to use because I was inexperienced and even after using them, I found it pretty difficult to use.
I had problems with the carving tools because it was hard to crave out the way I wanted to crave. I always ended up using the wrong one certain times so some of my carvings weren't exactly the way I wanted them to be. I also stabbed my finger accidentally with one of the carving tools and I ended up cleaning the wound, which wasn't fun. After getting the linoleum block to look the way I wanted it to look, I had to ink over the block and I needed help with that. I never knew when my ink roller had enough ink and if it was evenly spread onto it, which made it much harder. I had to guess when it was okay to roll the ink onto the linoleum block. After that, I made a couple of prints until I felt that I had made a really nice one.
I had problems with the carving tools because it was hard to crave out the way I wanted to crave. I always ended up using the wrong one certain times so some of my carvings weren't exactly the way I wanted them to be. I also stabbed my finger accidentally with one of the carving tools and I ended up cleaning the wound, which wasn't fun. After getting the linoleum block to look the way I wanted it to look, I had to ink over the block and I needed help with that. I never knew when my ink roller had enough ink and if it was evenly spread onto it, which made it much harder. I had to guess when it was okay to roll the ink onto the linoleum block. After that, I made a couple of prints until I felt that I had made a really nice one.
Experimentation
Since I was new to the process of block printing, I had to experiment with the technique and how to apply the ink onto the linoleum block. As I went along, I got the hang of it and continued to explore the many ways I could alter my piece from the first sketch design I was basing it off of. As I continued, I made multiple prints because I didn't get it the way I wanted to at first. In the end, after many trials and errors, my results were just the way I wanted them to look like.
Reflection
After finishing creating my block print, I feel like I grew more as an artist. I began this piece not knowing anything about how to create one and I got the chance to learn something new. As I started the process of creating, I encountered multiple obstacles. The first days of the introduction to the project, I had missed the demos to how to carve out the linoleum blocks and I had to learn from scratch. I had a friend teach me on my own time and in the end, I created with little mentoring. The result of that: injuries. With the tools I used to create my block print, I had hurt myself in the process. I had a small cut on my finger because I had improperly used my tools. I learned from my mistake and took more time to be careful and tried my best to patiently complete my block print.
Another problem I faced while making this block print was the difficulty of mastering the technique. I was not fond of carving out the linoleum block and to me, the process was tedious. In turn, I had took too much of my time trying to motivate myself to finish my piece on time. It does seem like I rushed a bit on certain parts of my piece, but if I had the chance to recreate this piece, I would be more focused and motivated to get fine details in and recreate the visual appearances of Art Nouveau characteristics.
I ended up liking my final print. Sure, my proportions weren't the best, but for someone who doesn't draw too many people, I think I did a fairly decent job. The lack of proportion, in my opinion, fits my themes regarding gender issues/stereotypes and identity. It's funny because I worried I was going to be way off with my proportion sizing but I managed to pull it off. If I could do this differently, I would probably try to use more than two carving tools and experiment with them to see which one gets better results. I would also take more time to try to get finer detail in my piece, but in the end, I am satisfied with my piece.
Another problem I faced while making this block print was the difficulty of mastering the technique. I was not fond of carving out the linoleum block and to me, the process was tedious. In turn, I had took too much of my time trying to motivate myself to finish my piece on time. It does seem like I rushed a bit on certain parts of my piece, but if I had the chance to recreate this piece, I would be more focused and motivated to get fine details in and recreate the visual appearances of Art Nouveau characteristics.
I ended up liking my final print. Sure, my proportions weren't the best, but for someone who doesn't draw too many people, I think I did a fairly decent job. The lack of proportion, in my opinion, fits my themes regarding gender issues/stereotypes and identity. It's funny because I worried I was going to be way off with my proportion sizing but I managed to pull it off. If I could do this differently, I would probably try to use more than two carving tools and experiment with them to see which one gets better results. I would also take more time to try to get finer detail in my piece, but in the end, I am satisfied with my piece.
Connecting to ACT
Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
I think that my inspirations from Post-Impressionism and Art Nouveau led my art piece to look a certain way. I took an interest in both movements and reflected that among many parts of my block print.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Based on research, the approach seemed to be informative regarding history and analysis of the art movements and the background information regarding mythology.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that many artists in the Post-Impressionism emphasized the idea of symbolism and Art Nouveau artists specialized in the art of precise details and fine lines. Their ideas and techniques influenced much of my piece and inspired me to create something that held some qualities of both art movements.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central ideas/themes were mythology, identity, and gender issues/stereotypes. This contributed to my research because I wanted to represent symbolism of these themes in my piece and that's why I decided to go further in depth with the specific art movements I researched.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that details and symbolism takes patience and the mindset to make the connections from themes and objects as well as how to display themes in a piece.
I think that my inspirations from Post-Impressionism and Art Nouveau led my art piece to look a certain way. I took an interest in both movements and reflected that among many parts of my block print.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Based on research, the approach seemed to be informative regarding history and analysis of the art movements and the background information regarding mythology.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that many artists in the Post-Impressionism emphasized the idea of symbolism and Art Nouveau artists specialized in the art of precise details and fine lines. Their ideas and techniques influenced much of my piece and inspired me to create something that held some qualities of both art movements.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central ideas/themes were mythology, identity, and gender issues/stereotypes. This contributed to my research because I wanted to represent symbolism of these themes in my piece and that's why I decided to go further in depth with the specific art movements I researched.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that details and symbolism takes patience and the mindset to make the connections from themes and objects as well as how to display themes in a piece.
Bibliography
Museum, Asian Art. The invention of Woodblock printing in the tang (618–906) and song (960–1279) dynasties. Asian Art Museum | Education, 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.
“Block printing: History & techniques - video & lesson transcript.” Study.com, 2003. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.
“Block printing: History & techniques - video & lesson transcript.” Study.com, 2003. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.