Dry Point Print
Exhibition Text
Wave is a dry point print made with intaglio ink, and is made to show how sometimes we need to go with the flow instead of trying to fight. It is easy to get overwhelmed by life, and you need to learn how to find balance and "surf", otherwise you will drown. I was inspired by Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Bierstadt's After a Norther, Bahamas.
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf" - John Kabat Zinn
It is easy to get overwhelmed by life, and as cheesy as this quote may be, the first time I heard it, it really spoke to me. In my life, I have learned that it's really important to find balance so you aren't stressed out all the time. If you aren't able to balance responsibilities and personal life, life can easily overwhelm you.
The other way I thought about this quote was how important it was to just go with the flow sometimes. Water is a natural force, and similar to life, you can't control it. There are always going to be things in life that you can't control, and I think it is really important to just look beyond it and learn to make the best out of the situation, otherwise it will consume you.
The other way I thought about this quote was how important it was to just go with the flow sometimes. Water is a natural force, and similar to life, you can't control it. There are always going to be things in life that you can't control, and I think it is really important to just look beyond it and learn to make the best out of the situation, otherwise it will consume you.
Planning
Inspiration
Hokusai. “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” The Met, 2 July 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York, www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/great-wave.
Bierstadt, Albert. “After a Norther, Bahamas .” 1878, The Haggin Museum , hagginmuseum.org/Collections/AlbertBierstadt/AfteraNortherBahamas.
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This was my main inspiration for my piece, as a lot of the elements are reflected in Wave. I really liked the asymmetrical balance in this piece, which I incorporated in mine as well.
This was my other inspiration. This piece wasn't as heavy of an influence on my piece, but I used it to help me get the movement of the wave down, as well as how to shade it correctly. I also liked the balance between the foreground and the background, which was represented in my piece. |
My research
My research
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Minor Inspiration
Rodriguez, Lorena. “La Ola.” Mexconnect, 2018, www.mexconnect.com/photos/10185-v-0507l-p-la-ola-the-wave-a-painting-by-mexican-artist-lorena-rod.
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When I was first thinking about how I wanted to portray this theme, my first thought was to base my piece off of this art which was made by a not very well known artist. I really liked her piece, though, because it had similar themes of being overwhelmed, and so I based one of my sketches on this artist. The reason I didn't end up doing this design was because I couldn't get the perspective right on it, and it didn't look right.
(notes above)
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Sketches
(Click to enlarge)
These were my sketches that I used to plan out the print. I really wanted to work on the fluidity of the wave and how well the movement was shown. Each sketch was a little different, and I experimented with the size of the wave and how much balance there should be with the foreground and the background.
Experimentation
One thing that I had to experiment with was the amount of pressure I used while making the scratches into the plate. In the beginning, I did not really know how deep to do the scratches, and I wanted each one to be exactly as it was in my drawing. Because I was trying to have it be exactly the same, the lines I made in the beginning were not very straight, since the carving tool did not exactly do well with details.
After I realized that the lines I was making were not so good, I decided to make the scratches more freely, and they actually turned out a lot better. Because this piece relied so heavily on movement, I really let the carving tool do most of the work in order to have as many fluidity as possible. |
Some of the first scratches I made
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This was my first print that I did. Even though the lines were pretty crisp in some places, the darkest edges were too dark in comparison to the rest of the piece. I concluded that the next time I did a print, I would just wipe more of the ink off of the plate before printing so it wouldn't be so dark.
The second print went better than the first one in terms of being even, but this one turned out too light, which means I either wiped it down too hard and the ink in the scratches was taken out, or I wiped it for too long. I decided that in the next print, I would wipe it down for less time with less pressure, but in the darker areas with more fine lines, I would scrub a little bit harder to really have that detail in the print. This is the last piece that I made, which turned out the way I wanted it to,however, I later found out that I had used the wrong kind of paper. I had used drawing paper instead of watercolor paper, which is why they came out wrinkled. Even though I was disappointed, it was not the end of the world for me because I saw it as practice before the real printing. Because I did these prints, it would be easier for me to do the final print on the correct paper. |
I also had to experiment with the positioning of the silhouettes I wanted to trace. For this, I took pictures of my sister in the poses that I wanted and then traced them.
Process
- After I had my sketch done, I took one of the plates and placed it on top of the sketch. Then, I taped it down on the edges
6. Once the ink was spread evenly on the plate, I took thin strips of newsprint and gently rubbed off the ink on the surface. I did this until all of the ink was wiped off of the surface
7. Then, I took more of those strips of paper and went gently over the areas where the scratches were so that the print would not be so dark and smudged in those heavily concentrated areas. |
Ink all over plate
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Ink being wiped off white spaces
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Reflection
Critique
In the end, I like how my piece turned out. It definitely took a long time, and it took a long time to get it to look the way I wanted it, but I like it. The hardest part of the process was finding the balance of how much ink to wipe off of the plate before printing. It definitely took many trials, but I got it to a point where I think it turned out how I wanted it to look. I like the movement in the piece, and I think it turned out clear enough to show all of the details of it as well. If I were to change something in the final piece, I would add more details in the background of the piece to add more dimension. This piece looks kind of simple at first glance, but I like the simplicity, and when you understand the meaning, it gives another dimension to the piece, which I like in art.
Compare and Contrast
Hokusai. “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” The Met, 2 July 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York, www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/great-wave.
Bierstadt, Albert. “After a Norther, Bahamas .” 1878, The Haggin Museum , hagginmuseum.org/Collections/AlbertBierstadt/AfteraNortherBahamas.
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Similarities
Differences
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Wave by Lexie Snyder
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ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?The nautical themes in both After a Norther, Bahamas and The Great Wave off Kanagawa were reflected in my piece, as well as the asymmetrical balance in both my piece and The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
It is easy to get overwhelmed by life, and we need to learn how to find a balance in order to maintain stability.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are easily overwhelmed, and speaking from personal experiences and the experiences of many people, we need to learn to go with the flow and accept challenges so we aren't consumed from them.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The idea of my inspirational research is being able to "ride the wave of life"
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I could infer that being able to overcome challenges and go with the flow is hard to adapt to, which is why so many people often aren't able to keep up with life, and are therefore consumed by the "wave of life"
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
It is easy to get overwhelmed by life, and we need to learn how to find a balance in order to maintain stability.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are easily overwhelmed, and speaking from personal experiences and the experiences of many people, we need to learn to go with the flow and accept challenges so we aren't consumed from them.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The idea of my inspirational research is being able to "ride the wave of life"
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I could infer that being able to overcome challenges and go with the flow is hard to adapt to, which is why so many people often aren't able to keep up with life, and are therefore consumed by the "wave of life"
Bibliography
Bierstadt, Albert. “After a Norther, Bahamas .” 1878, The Haggin Museum ,
hagginmuseum.org/Collections/AlbertBierstadt/AfteraNortherBahamas.
Hokusai. “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” The Met, 2 July 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York,
www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/great-wave.
Rodriguez, Lorena. “La Ola.” Mexconnect, 2018, www.mexconnect.com/photos/10185-v-0507l-p-la-ola-the-wave-a-painting-by-
mexican-artist-lorena-rod.
hagginmuseum.org/Collections/AlbertBierstadt/AfteraNortherBahamas.
Hokusai. “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” The Met, 2 July 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York,
www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/great-wave.
Rodriguez, Lorena. “La Ola.” Mexconnect, 2018, www.mexconnect.com/photos/10185-v-0507l-p-la-ola-the-wave-a-painting-by-
mexican-artist-lorena-rod.