Original Prints 7/7 "Stop Staring" (SELF PORTRAIT SERIES)

For this series I intended to create a dramatic linocut that resembled me. I accomplished this by carving out the picture into a linoleum plate and using black ink to make my prints on paper. I also made some pink ink to create a distressed background for one of the prints. These pieces are about texture, interesting mark-making, and nice composition. The most difficult part about creating the series was printing decent prints. Sometimes the ink was too thick or too thin and it would screw up the outcome. I had to toss a bunch of them because they looked crappy. Trying to find the right way to lay on the ink was very challenging but I think it paid off. I overcame this challenge by trial and error. I tossed prints that were good and kept the ones that looked nice. My pieces really work in that it shows dramatic shading (hatched lines) and it somewhat resembles me. I didn't wanna capture a full realistic view of myself, just my overall look. Through printmaking, I've become better at it and I'd like to do more in the future for my artwork. I learned that sometimes art takes a lot of patience and that things don't always have to be perfect. A mentor that I had for these prints was Gordon Manary. I really like how his prints look and I think the amount of color he puts into his prints is really beautiful. A fellow classmate that I learned from is Jillian because I thought the amount of detail she put into her print was really nice and it inspired me to add more subtle lines and cuts as well. If I had to redo anything, I'd fix some cuts that I made into my linoleum plate. I feel like I could've executed some lines more nicely and I would make the cuts deeper. For this series, I feel best about how much work I put into it and how it turned out. I worked super hard on my cutout and I mostly like the results. I feel proud to have accomplished this all.