Printmaking: Cyanotype

Cyanotype is a process developed in the 20th century originally used to produce blue prints. It's similar to the photograms I created during my foundation course at college (http://amberatlantis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/skills-rotation-photography.html) except the result is blue and white.

Since our project is based around identity, we were asked to bring in objects that have significant relevance to ourselves. I bought in a CD case and ear phones because I love music, as well as some ocean animal figures to signify my relation to the ocean. I also produced a shoe print onto a sheet of acetate by painting acrylic onto a pair of boots that have the anarchy symbol moulded into the sole. We put them on paper that had been coated in light sensitive paint and put them under UV lamps / in direct sunlight to expose them.

After the exposure the green / yellow paint turns a dark green. The print is then washed them in a tray of water with a tiny amount of peroxide in, and then rinsed them in pure water. This removes any of the paint in unexposed areas and develop the paint into it's blue colour. We left them to dry and then the process was complete!

I was really happy with my shoe print because it's quite detailed and you can see the lines from where the acetate was - I like how ghostly and x-ray like it appears. The print that I used 3D objects with didn't come out as I expected because I left it in the sun as the UV lamp was unavailable, and this created shadows at an angle, where as if I put it directly under a lamp this wouldn't have happened. I tried to create an ocean scene where the ear phones formed the sea and waves then the dolphin and shark would be characters in the scene, but again the angle of the light makes it hard to tell, but I'll keep that in mind for next time!

 

Skills Rotation: Photography

Photography was the workshop that I was most excited to take part in by far. I had never had a proper photography lesson in my life, but I have had a passion of taking pictures for several years. I got a DSLR camera for my birthday last year (Nikon D3100), and I was eager to learn how to use it properly! 

We were given the theme of 'Street' and was told to focus on a subject relating to this. For the first two weeks we went on a self guided exploration in the town surrounding our college to take photos. On the first shoot I decided to focus on urban decay, and more specifically areas where posters / stickers had been put up then torn down:

I was moderately happy with my photos, I feel that I could've been more inventive with angles but I wasn't too fussed as the first shoot was only to get ideas going. On my way back to college I bumped into my friend, Dan, and he told me to take a picture of him walking. This made me think about fitting the theme of identity in with street, but in the end I didn't carry out this idea. 

The second time I went out I was photographing some more decayed posters near a park, and on the way back I came across a telephone pole that wires had fallen down onto a tree next to it. I thought this looked like the tree was wired up, and I could link the concept to my ideas in other lessons as I was looking at neo-futuristic imagery subjects and forests. Therefore I decided to create my street series around the tree on the street: 

In the third week we worked into prints of our favourite photos using art materials and techniques such as collage, paint and stitching.

The last week was probably my favourite part of the rotation, as we learnt how to make photograms. Our teacher showed us how to use an enlarger to expose objects onto photo paper by focussing the light and altering the aperture. For my photograms I decided to use the same barbie doll I used in the plaster moulds rotation (http://amberatlantis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/skills-rotation-plaster-moulds.html) as well as some ivy and twigs.  

Once the objects had been exposed to the light on F-11 for 10 seconds, I put the paper in developer solution and then into a series of water baths to wash off the chemicals. This was done under red light in the dark room, I just took the photo to the right after everyone was done. Since I want to incorporate photography in my career (I photograph live gigs outside of college), the tutor showed me some more advanced techniques, such as painting onto the paper with a paintbrush dipped in developer solution, and creating handprints with the developer too!

Here are my final photograms presented in my portfolio (apologies for the terrible quaility and horrible lighting haha) :

Cardboard City

Following our trip to London (http://amberatlantis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/london-trip.html) we were given the task of creating a giant city out of cardboard in our collage’s theatre. In preparation of this, we individually produced small scale models – I decided to make Tower Bridge as I have memories of visiting it as a child, and I also wanted to focus on other aspects  of cities (e.g. bridges) as opposed to just buildings.

We then teamed up to create slightly larger models before attempting the final city. We were encouraged to steer away from our views of what a city does or should look like, and instead create organic shapes and forms. My group based our building around a triangular structure, like ‘The Shard’.

Making the final city was very tiring but great fun. Here’s a video of us in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf_o3uEE7M4

During the first two days of construction, I worked with my group to make what we called ‘The Rocket’. Originally this was going to be pyramid shaped, but my friend had the idea of suspending it upside down from the ceiling, and then various elements were gradually added such as the cut out shapes, string fringing and pipework.

    

On the last 2 days of construction I took an individual approach to put my own spin on the city. I wanted to create a giant hamster ball that would also be suspended from the ceiling, but I had difficultly trying to maintain a spherical shape, so I simply ‘went with the flow’ and ended up creating a piece that resembled a clove of garlic.

  

Lastly, here’s some photos I took of the whole city and a few close-ups:

       

(for anyone wondering I use a Nikon D3100)