Block Print - Peace of Mind
Title : Peace of Mind
Medium : Block Print Date : September 24, 2021 Exhibition Text :
With this piece, I want to explore the feeling of being in a state of calm and quiet on the inside, even when it may be the opposite on the outside. I wanted to show how it feels to finally be at peace, hence the name. This was created by block print, and inspired by the artist Kiyshi Saitō. His work showed a large variety of texture and line work, as well as lots of different floral elements that I pulled into my own piece.
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Inspiration :
While researching different artists to use as an inspiration, I was I came across the art of Kiyoshi Saitō, a woodblock printer from Japan. While looking further into his works, I noticed that many of them used a contrast of open space and clean lines, as well as more heavily detailed areas. The piece that first caught my attention was "Solitude," (far right). It is very simple, showing a face with flowers making up much of the hair. I noticed the contrast between the more detailed flowers and the simpler facial features. The single white flower is emphasized a lot, being much lighter than the rest and leading the viewer's eye to it right away. From this work, I continued to look further into what Saitō has done. I noticed that a lot of his art had a similar sense of contrast between detail and simplicity, and this really intrigued me. It is something that I did my best to pull into my own work, with the detailed flowers and solid-colored face. When reading about the artist himself, I found that he pulled a lot of inspiration from Japanese culture and themes, and mixed realism and abstract art. This is shown often, especially in the works "Steady Gaze" (far left), and "Red Flower" (middle). Both of these works have elements of realism, through the face, flowers, and eyes. They also incorporate more abstract concepts, such having parts of the face almost seem to be made out of the flowers, or the fact that there is an eye in the middle of the flower. The last thing I noticed when looking at these pieces initially was the use of flowers and leaves in itself. They are intertwined with human features, whether it is a full face or just an eye. I really like how they are combined in a way that isn't natural, but still tells a story. I wanted to use this combination of styles, as well as the use of plants, in my own piece, with the flowers spilling out of the figure's head. Overall, Saitō's work just gives off a very calm and peaceful feeling, and my goal was to replicate that as best as possible.
Planning :
When I began the planning, I started off with three initial sketches, in the top left corner of the first sketch page. I picked the last one, and started to go into further detail with it. I originally had the figures face turned more towards the front with the flowers more intertwined. When I thought more about how it would need to be carved though, I decided to go with a side profile and plants that only overlap very minimally. This way, the lines are very clear and don't get lost in each other. I wanted to incorporate some of the flowers that I observed in Kiyoshi Saitō's work. I had originally planned on doing more vine-like plants, but the artworks I was referencing had a lot of gorgeous flowers, notably the one in "Red Flower." I also really liked how, in the painting "Steady Gaze" the leaves and flowers were carved into the negative space, and thought a lot about how I could add that into my own work, hence the plants on the face. Once I sketched out something close to what I wanted(the top right of the second page), I took a photo of it and traced it in Procreate on my iPad. I was able to clean up the lines and make a more clear composition. From here, I created a new canvas and started drawing with white on top of black to get a feel of how the final piece would look(bottom middle of the second page). I printed the final sketch in the same size as what I would carve into, and got started!
Process :
STEP ONE
The first step I took toward making this work was printing out the sketch that I made digitally. I flipped the paper over and covered the back of it in graphite in order to transfer the sketch onto the block so I could eventually carve into it. Next, I traced over the sketch with a felt tip pen, as the graphite wiped off extremely easily, as you can tell from the photo. The pen did smear a little bit, but it was a lot better than what the graphite was doing, and wouldn't ever rub off completely. With the pen, I tried to make the sketch as detailed and as possible. I added in more lines and texture into the floral aspects, and from here on out, I was able to begin the carving process. |
STEP TWO
When I was beginning the carving process, I started with a less detailed section of the piece. This isn't a medium I had ever tried before, so I wanted to be able to get the hang of what I was doing before I moved on to the more important parts. For the flowers and leaves, I carved on the lines that I had drawn with the pen. Because of this, once it is printed, these lines would be white and made in the negative space. Since the background is black, I wanted to fill in as much space as possible so that it would look filled out and detailed. I began to fill in a lot of the lines within the leaves and flowers, in an attempt to add more depth and texture. |
When carving out the face, I wanted it to be less detailed than the flowers, so they would in contrast of each other. In order to achieve this, I started by carving out the main features, specifically the eyes, mouth, nose, and general outline. I also outlined the leaves and flowers that were overlapping the head, as opposed to carving directly over the lines like I had been for the ones in the background. To fill in the head, I carved out the space that I hadn't traced out, leaving most of it white. I had originally planned on adding a bit more shading to the face near the nose and eyes, but when I tried it I didn't think it fit very well. I did end up keeping some shading though, primarily toward the back of the head as well as under the jaw. Overall, there were a couple of changes that I made. Some of the flowers and leaves felt a little out of place once they were carved, so I ended up moving them around or changing them up a little bit. At this point, it was pretty much ready to print, so from here I made my first test print.
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STEP THREE
For the first test print, the main thing that I first noticed was the fact that I clearly didn't add enough ink. Though, once I looked closer, I realized a lot of little details that I had missed while carving. For the most part, it was just the lines and details that went inside the flowers and leaves. There were also some spaces that just felt empty, so I made a note to go back and add some more. After doing a couple test prints, most of which looked similar to this one, I washed off the block and got out the carving tools once again. In this second round of carving, I paid much higher attention to detail, making sure I went over all of the spots I missed the first time. I used the test print as a reference to see what I needed to add onto and alter. I also filled most of the empty space with more flowers and leaves. From here, I was able to go on to making my final print. I played around with how much ink to put on, which is recorded below under the experimentation, until I was able to make an even and crisp looking print. Though, while I did want the final to look crisp, I did like some of the unique textures that came from the printing, and how each print was just a little different. From then on, I just had to make a couple more, and then I was done! |
Experimentation :
As seen above, I had to do a lot of experimenting when it came to the printing process. After I did the original test print and finished the final carving details, I started working towards the final print. I had never tried block printing until this point, so a lot of the experimentation was me using trial and error in order to use the right amount of ink and the most efficient way to press the paper onto the block. The prints above are not in any particular order, but I will go through the process of how I got to each. The first print in the list was one I had done right after washing the print, and I don't think it was all the way dry. Because of this, the lines were blurry and unclear. It was difficult to see what was going on, as the leftover water had seeped through the ink and onto the paper. After complementing this one, I made sure to always dry my block all the way before starting another print. For the second one, the main issue was not enough ink. I hadn't put enough on the block, and I hadn't put enough pressure on the paper when printing it, so it came out way to light. This was easily fixable, and from then on out I made sure to use more ink. In the third and fourth prints, the ink was not applied very evenly, so it came out splotchy and many of the lines were lost. This was something I had to work through a lot, and it was mainly just up to practicing to make sure the ink was applied evenly throughout the block.The last one was actually one of the first prints I made overall, before going back in for a second round of carving. It was pretty close to what I wanted as far as the amount of ink I used, but there were quite a few spots that had been missed when applying the ink, and a lot of the details were lost. I think the issues of the details being lost was the fact that I hadn't cleaned the block after some of the previous prints, so there was leftover ink that was being pushed into the crevices. After this, I made sure to rinse off the block every few prints. With all of this experimentation, I was able to find what does and doesn't work in creating a clean, even, and crisp looking print. For my final piece, I paid close attention to the block being clean and dry before starting, making sure I applied the ink and pressure evenly, and making sure I had enough ink overall. Paying attention to all of these small details helped me to create a much better set of prints then I had previously.
Critique :
For the critique, I will be comparing my own piece to the three by Kiyoshi Saitō above.
Similarities May Include :
- The use of flowers and leaves as a subject matter. I drew a lot of inspiration from Kiyoshi Saitō's artwork in general, but especially from "Red Flower." I loved the flower in itself, with a simple eye at the center of a very detailed flower. I included these flowers throughout the plants in my own piece, since in my mind they portrayed a sense of calm in a storm, due to the contrast of simplicity and detail.
- There is a contrast between very simple line-work with open spaces and detailed line-work with lots of texture. Throughout all the pieces, there is a large contrast shown through the different types of line-work, details, and texture. For example, "Solitude" shows a simple and resting face, and this contrasts with the details of the flowers and leaves that are shown throughout the hair. In my own work, the background is covered in detailed plants, which is contrasted by the simplicity of the subjects face. This contrast helps bring emphasis through texture.
- All of these artworks show heavy repetition. In my own piece, as well as the others, repetition is shown in both the subject matter, through the flowers and leaves, as well as the individual texture within each of these elements. This helps to portray a sense of busyness and shows how they subjects mind is overflowing with thoughts.
Differences May Include :
- My piece is in black and white, whereas the others have a wide variety of colors present. In the pieces that Kiyoshi Saitō created, he uses color to portray a sense of unity throughout the piece. Even across his different pieces, his use of primarily dull colors with a bright color to contrast it show that these were all made by the same artist and have similar meanings and connotations. With my own piece, I had to stick with using only black ink. While it makes the piece look consistent throughout, there isn't any way I could've created emphasis through color.
- Another difference is the medium used. While my print was carved into rubber, Kiyoshi Saitō uses wood-blocking. This is evident by the texture in more open spaces. For mine, the black in the background is very smooth, and only shows white when there are indents in the block itself. Saitō's on the other hand shows very clear texture from the wood grain. Even in the "flat" sections, there is texture and depth due to the materials used.
Reflection :
Working on this piece challenged me, but at the same time I learned a lot. Having never done block printing before, the whole concept was very new to me. I wasn't sure how the tools would work, and I had to alter how I was working very often in order to get the best outcome. I was able to develop my skills as an artist, and transfer skill that I knew previously to work on this. My inspiration was the artist Kiyoshi Saitō, a wood-block print artist. I wanted to incorporate his use of contrast through simple and detailed line-work, as well as his combination of realism and abstract art. I did this by creating a simple subject, which detailed flowers and leaves spilling out of it's head. My biggest challenge for this project was primarily just getting used to the medium. Since this is the first time I had done anything like this, I struggled a bit with getting used to the tools and materials. I was challenged a lot with creating lots of fine lines, as well as the fact that I couldn't go back once I carve something. To help with this, I though a lot about other similar techniques I had used. I tried to treat it as though I were doing line-art on top of a pencil sketch, as opposed to carving into something. This helped me visualize what the final piece would look like. I also started with the portions of the piece that wouldn't stand out as much, such as the flowers and leaves. Since they were very repetitive, I was able to practice before going into the most detailed and precise sections. My favorite part of the project was being able to finally see what it looked like printed onto paper. I had to go through a lot of trial and error in order for the prints to look good, but once I made some I liked, I was very pleased with them. My least favorite part was probably carving out the plants, mainly because it was very repetitive. There isn't a lot of variation in how they look, but it covers the majority of the piece, so it took a very long time. Overall, I want people to look at my piece and feel the sense of peace and quiet that I was aiming for. I based a lot of it on how I feel while creating art- having a clear mind, but still being full of new thoughts, ideas, and feelings.
ACT Questions :
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration for this piece was the artist Kiyoshi Saitō. He uses a great variety of both simple and complex line-work and details in his woodblock prints. I attempted to mimic this, especially in the contrast between the detailed flowers and simple face.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Creating art can make you feel at peace, while also opening your mind to new ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I've learned more about how I feel while doing art, as it is one of the only things that makes me feel calm, yet it pushes me to keeping thinking and coming up with new ideas.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Life is oftentimes extremely overwhelming, and it can be difficult to find peace and quiet. Even when you do seem to feel at peace, your mind is still overflowing with new ideas and feelings.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Contrast between simple and complex line-work and details can pull a piece together and add lots of overall interest.
My inspiration for this piece was the artist Kiyoshi Saitō. He uses a great variety of both simple and complex line-work and details in his woodblock prints. I attempted to mimic this, especially in the contrast between the detailed flowers and simple face.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Creating art can make you feel at peace, while also opening your mind to new ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I've learned more about how I feel while doing art, as it is one of the only things that makes me feel calm, yet it pushes me to keeping thinking and coming up with new ideas.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Life is oftentimes extremely overwhelming, and it can be difficult to find peace and quiet. Even when you do seem to feel at peace, your mind is still overflowing with new ideas and feelings.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Contrast between simple and complex line-work and details can pull a piece together and add lots of overall interest.
Citations (in MLA Format)
Saitō, Kiyoshi. Steady Gaze. 1950. Woodblock print on paper.
Saitō, Kiyoshi. Red Flower. 1948. Woodblock print on paper.
Saitō, Kiyoshi. Solitude. 1947. Woodblock print on paper.
“About Kiyoshi Saito.” Kiyoshi Saito An Artist Whose History Is the History of Art, https://www.town.yanaizu.fukushima.jp/bijutsu/tocurators/en/profile/.
Saitō, Kiyoshi. Red Flower. 1948. Woodblock print on paper.
Saitō, Kiyoshi. Solitude. 1947. Woodblock print on paper.
“About Kiyoshi Saito.” Kiyoshi Saito An Artist Whose History Is the History of Art, https://www.town.yanaizu.fukushima.jp/bijutsu/tocurators/en/profile/.