Power of the Poster- Mariella

After looking online for an image for this project, I selected the cappiello style and came across the image below and decided to use it. The cappiello style is a advertising style created by a man named Leonetto Cappiello . He wanted to create simple posters that immediately captured the viewers attention and imagination. This type of poster definelty intreged me. I loved the simplicity of it, yet was amazed by how the little things had such a big impact on the message. This particualr image shows a smiling woman listening to a newly made radio for their time, 1928. S-fer 20, was the name of this radio. Words reading Madrid, Bruxelles (Brussels), Prague, Londres (London), Pais, etc. surrounded by curved flowing lines show the movement present in this image as well as all the different places around the world where the radio may be popular, thus helping with advertising. The motion of the flowing lines goes in an upward direction, coming straight from the music box, then drifting off into the air. These flowing lines give a sense of movement in the object. It is as if the lines are the sound, playing all around the radio. 

The poster art theme for this particular design included music, products, and social concerns. The radio, the product,  letting off sound to different places around the world shows music as well as social concerns because they are attempting to say everyone has this radio, you should too. This is known as bandwagon. 

This project was very challenging, yet amusing. It was interesting to explore the different types of posters out there in different time periods. 

Music Inspired Prints- Mariella

The music item I selected for this particular project was an image of Micheal Jackson.  Micheal Jackson was a famous singer/dancer known as the king of pop. His talent was recognized from a very young age and still is today although is death in 2009 left many heartbroken. His songs were very influential, touching millions around the globe. The images that follow show a dance position on the cover of his album called This Is It.

This first image shows a flowing rhythm. The curved, blue lines as well as white lines, running throughout the image provide a sense of movement allowing us to notice the printed image of Micheal Jackson in the center.

 This next image is an example of alternating rhythm. Dark and light blue circles behind Micheal Jackson are changing color and size. The rhythm goes Dark blue, big circle, light blue, small circle, Dark blue, big circle, etc.

Regular rhythm is being shown in this particular image. The white circles evenly placed behind the main aspect of the printed Micheal Jackson, create a regular rhythm because they are repeated throughout the entire frame with regular intervals at similar sizes and directions. Our eyes can follow this continuous pattern throughout the entire image.

 This last image is an example of progressive rhythm. Progressive rhythm shows a sequence of forms through a progression of steps. The progression of different colors and sizes from the bottom of the image to the top express this rhythm. The purple at the bottom being the largest, to the orange at the top, being smallest.

To begin this project, I needed to select an image related to music. After searching for several music related photos, I came across the image of Micheal Jackson in this dance position. After cropping the image to the desired size, I printed it and began the process of copying it onto the see-through paper with a B pencil. The copied image was then printed onto a yellow sticky paper known as mask-ease. Once copied, I then used the knife to carve out the aspects of the image that would be printed. This part of the entire project was the most challenging because at times it was very difficult to cut the small parts of the image correctly. After this step was finally completed, I proceeded to move the mask-ease onto the screen that would be used for printing the final image. In order to print these images, ink was needed. By using ink, an ink palette, newspaper, two wooden sticks, a squeegee, and the screen, I was able to complete the process. The screen was placed on top of the wooden sticks with newspaper underneath to keep the ink from making a mess everywhere. The squeegee tool was then used to move the ink across the image from top to bottom, adding more ink with a spoon if needed. To then transfer to the paper, you simply placed the screen on top of it while pressing firmly down with the squeegee. The end result of all the images were a success. Overall some aspects of this project were challenging, yet enjoyable.

Expressive Portrait- Mariella

In each of these images, the attempt was to emphasize the portrait; the image of the person, by incorporating items to it. These include contrast of shape, converging lines, contrast of temperature, usage of a darker/lighter value, isolation of the object, and an increase of the objects intensity. The process of making these portraits is very simple and has already been done in the past with the personal logo project for example. We simply took photos of different expressions, such as sad, fearful or appalled, and placed them on the computers (shout out to Gloria and Lisa for their faces used in the prints below). They then were fixed up in photoshop to meet the needs of the linoleum sizes. Once this step is completed, the image is printed and copied onto the see-through paper using a B pencil. The copy, was then copied onto the linoleum where it was carved using a linoleum cutter tool. After the carving was completed, the image was ready to be printed onto the paper. Using ink, a ink palette, the brayers, and an apron, one can go through this process of printing onto paper. The ink is placed onto the ink palette, which is rolled onto the brayer, which is then rolled onto the linoleum print. The linoleum print is then pressed onto the desired piece of paper. This process is simple and the finished product is truly remarkable.

Contrast of shape

Contrast of shape intends to show different shapes incorporated to the art piece. I used triangles as one shape to complement the square shape of Gloria looking surprised, that stands out in the center.

Converging lines 

This image is representing converging lines due to the different colored triangles pointing towards the image being emphasized. 

Contrast of temperature

Purple and blue are examples of cool colors. Yellow is an example of a warm color. These cool and warm colors in the image show a contrast of temperature. 

Intensity of color

Intensity of color intends to use different shades of the same color in the image. The color I chose, blue, was mixed with a certain amount of white and black to form these different shades. The portrait was printed with blue ink that wasn't modified, thus making it stand out from the rest of the shades of blue. 

Darker/lighter value

The lines that form Gloria's surprised face are pure white while the rest of the image isn't. Instead there is grey and black but no other part stands out like that of the portrait. 

Isolate object

Notice how the portrait is viewed far away from the other aspects of the art piece? This is a clear example of the isolation of the portrait from the other parts. This is what makes it stand out when viewed with the naked eye. The contrasting parts make them viewed separately but also make them unified when viewed as a whole. 

Postcard- Mariella Beaurpere

Postcards are a great way of communication amongst people living far from each other, even today. They became extremely popular during 1800's and early 1900's. Nearly any image can be placed on postcard, being a destination, a famous person, a holiday, or simply art. They are a way of expressing a certain subject to others. Earlier, postcards were known as mail cards, simply a letter with a post attached. In 1861, postcards were finally created by John P Charlton. After its creation, many different periods of postcards were made. The pioneer postcard for example, one side was for a message and the other for the recipients address. These periods have evolved the postcard to what it is today.

This picture was taken on a boat at Inle lake in Myanmar over interim. These boats provided us our transportation for the last few days in Myanmar. They brought us out to villages located out on the water, one of these villages we visited was called Linn Kinn village. These villages are unique to the region because they do everything over the water. Their transportation are boats, their food is grown atop the water, their cable made out on the water, and so on. It was very interesting to see how much their lives varied from my own. The houses seen at the sides, in the picture below are typical housing for the Burmese people living in these villages on water. Moreover, the sticks, sticking out of the ground seen in the picture below hold the land together creating landmasses, thus helping with the agriculture. These characteristics of my destination make for a perfect image on a postcard.

As soon as I looked over the image, I knew it would look pleasing and perfect on a postcard. While it is clear that its not a mirror image, each visual weight offsets the other. The boat is slightly located towards the left of the image, and the houses on either side are not identical, not in the same place, and even differ in size, however the look of balance is clearly visible. Moreover, the image doesn't show any form of asymmetrical balance, where either side is differs immensely, thus only allowing the image to show symmetrical. There are certain aspects on either side, whether it be the houses, the sticks, the water, or even the boat itself that provide the image with this symmetrical balance. 

While creating a postcard may be challenging, it was at times for me, it can be fascinating to see the final result through all the work put into it. When beginning this project, I obviously needed an image, and after my image of the boat was picked, I added effects to it in photoshop to make it easier to carve the lines when that stage arrived. The picking of an image and what effect to give it was a particular success during this project. After printing the image out with the effect, I got my plastic platter and a carver, placed the image behind the platter and began carving over the lines. During my process of carving, a piece of white paper was placed into water to dampen. Once making sure that the lines were all complete and carved over, I moved on to the painting part of the project. The black and brown paints with turpentine were used. I also used a roller to paint my platter, making sure that I was painting over the lines and not on the wrong side. My troubles when making this intaglio postcard came while removing the paint from the platter with a cheese cloth, in order to print it on the the paper. At this stage, I often forgot about removing the ink with the cheese cloth, so I would print the inked up platter onto the paper. The result was a completely black image. This aspect was challenging and difficult to remember for me, making it very amusing. In the end, I was able to get a good, final image. After these images were printed, they were missing one aspect; color! By using watercolors, I was able to give each part of the image its own unique color that added to the overall appeal of the postcard. 

Below is the end result of the intaglio design. The colors included further add to the balance of the image, showing on either side, which parts are similar and how they all give the same tone, order, formality, and permeance to it. 

Talking Walter- Mariella Beaurpere

Walking Walter- Mariella Beaurpere

Collagraph Prints- Mariella Beaurpere

This first collagraph represents proximity. I started with the collagraph on the right and was trying to find a way to have it include proximity, so I simply made another collagraph. One collagraph on either side represents proximity. It is simple yet doesn't fail to achieve unity. 

This is the final result of my collagraph after being printed onto the paper. It is clear that once seen, there are two groups of shapes on either end of the page.

The second collagraph I made was based on repetition. I started with this piece and wanted to achieve repetition with it. With the help of teachers I was able to do so. Also, the materials I decided to place onto the printing paper consisted of glue and cardboard cut into different shapes and designs.

 The final products looks like this. The one piece was used to print multiple images of the same thing on a page, creating a repetitive collagraph. The elements of the image are repeated such as the lines and circle in the middle. Also to add a little more I added different colors to each part. The shape, texture, line, direction, angle, and size are all similarities among each part that unites them to form repetition.

The final simple collagraph I created was based on continuation. For this particular piece, I used pieces of cardboard and attempted to unite them to form continuation. This simple part of the piece would have easily formed continuation, because ones eye would follow the line or shape formed from one side to the other, however I wanted to add more to it. So, just like the previous collagprah, I printed multiple parts of this onto one paper to add to it.  

As seen below, the one image was made into multiple in order to further achieve continuation. They are connected because they are grouped by continuation and can be followed from one end to the other when looking at it. 

This last, and most intriguing piece was amusing to create, because I was adding multiple elements to the piece, making it mixed media. The image below was what I added to the mixed media, as the collagraph. For the materials I simply used tissue paper, ripped it up, made circles, and glued them to the printing paper. 

The final result looked like this. The incorporation of the collagprah can be seen on the right side of the image. And the use of an image from a magazine is the volcano on the left. The other parts I simply added to it to make it flow better including acrylic paint, cutting parts of the portrait, and the scratching tool to reveal color underneath the black. All of the these tools made the two parts fit together as one.

To summarize, this project was challenging yet truly enjoyable. Creating a collagraph is simple if you understand how to do so. You start with really any material, being cardboard, yarn, tissue paper, bubble wrap, or even glue from a hot glue gun. Then you simply add to your piece using these materials, paint over the materials by using a brayer, and print the image onto a new piece of paper with a barren. While doing all of this however, you have to keep in mind how each of these will achieve harmony/unity. Repetition, continuation, and proximity are all ways of doing so. I believe the hardest part for me was creating the image with the materials provided. I believe with more thought and imagination I could improve my pieces and add more detail to them. However, I also have many successes, one being my mixed media piece. I like the look of an explosion occurring seen through the cut up paper and the small elements I added to help it achieve unity.