Artist Research: Ancient Greeks

Following on from my earlier studies on a Greek rock, I decided to take a closer look at the various forms of art the Ancient Greeks had, particularly focusing on the pottery....

This is my information page. I compare the different techniques used for making the decorations, either red figure (left),or red figure (right). All the difference is made depending on what sort of clay is used, and in what order it is applied.

I also did a quick artist study  to replicate the technique and image. I, though, instead of using clay, used a pen and a piece of paper. Which, for a sketchbook, is probably the most preferable of the options.

I then took a look at the Greek Alphabet. I chose the letter sigma ∑, as it is also used in maths. I have this strange ability to like Maths and art. It's a toss up between which I like more. Those and physics.... but anyway. Cardboard printing makes a very interesting pattern, and an effective print. However, I get frustrated over its simplicity. Beyond the excitement of cutting out the image with a craft knife,printing is relatively boring.

This is a second information page, this time specifically focusing on the pots, their shapes, and forms of decorations, looking at colour combinations and average proportions.

This would later directly influence my final piece.

Printing

In our Art Induction, we experimented with 3 types of printing:
Monoprinting
Polystyrene Printing
Cardboard Printing.

This is what I came out with.


















I had to start off by drawing a still life in tonal colours. I, being vaguely musical, decided to draw my cello. It's called Marvin. I then had to do several print experiments inspired by this still life.

The first one that I did was the Polystyrene Printing. Here, we had a sheet of polystyrene and etched into it, etching away sections with different layers. It is the school version of Lino cut printing, as it is cheaper, and more school-friendly, as it can be etched using a Biro or a sharp pencil, instead of requiring a lino cutter.

This is the double page spread that I produces, including the printer, my plans, and several examples of the prints I produced. It is always best to produce more prints than is necessary, just in case one goes wrong

I quite like this method. It's a bit messy, but then all printing is. It's more precise than any of the other methods.

I then did a page on Cardboard Printing. This is where you have a sheet of box card board, and, using a Stanley knife, you peel off the top layer to reveal the corrugated area beneath.

This type of printing leaves a printer that is nearly disintegrating by the time you are finished with it, but I do like the textured look achieved with it.

For these prints, I switched my inspiration from the cello directly, to the sheet music, and more specifically, the bass clef in which a cello plays.

This theme of inspiration continued through into my Monoprinting page.

I think out of all of the printing method, this is my least favourite due to its inaccuracies.

Monoprinting, is where you ink up a board, lay a piece of paper n top, and draw on the paper. this can lead to a variety of unpredictable results, and that lack of control is what bugs me. A lot.

So those are the printing experiments that we did... not too exciting for most, but to Marvin and his depressing music, it was the highlight of his year.