"The Working Man"
Artistic Inspiration |
The inspiration for this piece came from the German Expressionist movement. First, early 20th century artist Kathe Kollowitz, who mainly captured the struggles of the working class in drawings, paintings and prints. Prints became a much more important medium to her later in life as they could be reproduced easily and were inexpensive, allowing her to reach a large audience. The style was high contrast, whether in print or other. The prints were made up of a collection of lines, especially when detailing the fact and portraying emotion in specific ways. The figures in Kollowitz's pictures were sometimes ghastly with how the lines contoured the face. Hermann Max Pechstein was another artist of the german expressionist movement. Trained conventionally in paints, Pechstein was always attracted to unconventional color schemes, which made him a perfect candidate for the rising expressionist movement (he was inducted into Die Bruke). His prints were blocky, depicting distorted images through shapes and contouring. Prints like the block print rely heavily on high constrast, there being only two colors available. German Expressionism is also known for it's disturbing themes, meant to warp reality and disturb viewers. The subject matter was shaped by the second world war, and while not always horror, can go hand in hand with it in it's intention to create a reaction from viewers (shock, disgust, etc.).
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Kathe Kollowitz, Frontal Self-Portrait 1922-23. Woodcut. The museum of Modern Art.
Hermann Max Pechstein, Kopf / Head. 1920. Woodcut. Fritz Gurlitt's Almanach 1920.
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Planning Sketches |
For the brainstorming and planning portion of the process, many mediums were considered, with varying themes and subject matter for each. Once settled on block print, it started with: a ghost. The idea of businessmen came from the ghost, sprouting into the theme of undead businessmen. The zombie print was directly influenced in framing and composition by Kathe Kollowitz, while the ghost and the mummy took more after Pechtein.
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Process |
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The first step was to sketch, free hand, on the linoleum. Each print in the series was sketched and carved separately, starting with the ghost print. For this print every area without marks was carved out, with the exception of certain areas marked with x's, indicating they would be filled in with ink and should not be carved out. The whitest areas, the body of the ghost, are carved the deepest, and sometimes break through the back of the linoleum. This is fine and won't affect the print, in fact it might make it whiter, but shouldn't be done for the whole area, even if it means some ink gets onto those parts. For the outer shell, these follow the thickness of the marks there, carving out marks to be near-white around the left side of the ghost and having them get thinner and farther apart as they fade away into black.
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The second piece, the zombie print of the series, involved many more details and edges. For these small details, the carving tool shaped into a v is pressed at a higher angle so as to get deeper quicker, instead of at it would be used with longer, gradual lines. To be totally sure what details have showed up, a pencil can be taken across the surface. The third print, the mummy, was much more block-based. Large areas can be carved out much better using the rounded carving tool. The body is mostly made up of black portions divided up. The background is white carved all around the body with spikes of varying length and weights, carved in an unplanned motion away from the mummy. To make prints out of the carvings, ink is rolled out to make sure it's even, then rolled against the surface of the linoleum, then the print is placed on paper and the ink is pressed into the paper. Once the linoleum is peeled away, the print is placed on the rack to dry. these are scanned in and edited into a picture next to each other.
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Experimentation |
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There were a few moments of experimentation during the project, with areas that could have been carved out but plans were changed (zombie's exposed jaw, mummy's bandages). There was also experimentation in how details were handled, finding new ways to handle the carving tools for small areas or how to place marks in a planned-yet-erratic way. Also every print before the final ones are considered experimentation, finding the amount of ink that should be rolled onto the linoleum, amount of pressure that should be applied, what parts needed to be carved out more, ect.
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Reflection
This project can be seen as somewhat of a success. Overall the shapes that created the figures were executed well, and the artistic inspiration and meaning were well conveyed. I believe I applied my research on German Expressionism and the artists in my research well when creating the pieces, from meaning to formal qualities. The three pieces do not fit as well together as intended; they're not supposed to transition necessarily, but they seem disjointed even set next to each other. The application of the block printing process went over decently, with some development along the way from piece to piece. Overall I think that certain ones did better, although there were focuses for different ones; for example, the ghost print focused a lot on shapes creating the image, with wide open space. Th mummy expanded on his a little, with less open space. The Zombie had lots of small detail that the other two lacked, which contribute to it being the strongest piece. If I were to change things I would probably rework some of the details, factor in the flipping of the image into the final print, and try another approach to the lines coming off of the figures in the ghost and mummy prints. I do not believe those were very effective.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Stylistically the original artworks had a huge effect on the composition of my pieces. This came through in how the figures were framed, how the extreme contrast of the medium was used and how texture could be applied.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors sought to give an overview of the artists and their basic influences as artists, with brief overviews from early life and interests/training in art, development of art over the years, movements they were involved in, and life events that influence their subject matter. Very little information about the formal qualities of the art.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The experiences detailed in the sources led me to come to conclusions about the war's effect on the country. With the general economic struggles that Germany faced after world war one and into world war two, and personal losses such as Kathe Kollowitz's loss of her son, terrible events such as a world war can shift movements in theme and subject matter as a nation shifts together.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
To find out the events that led up to the artists creating the prints that they did. What were their influences, why did they create their art in such a way, what techniques or qualities in the art were common among all their work.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Stylistically the original artworks had a huge effect on the composition of my pieces. This came through in how the figures were framed, how the extreme contrast of the medium was used and how texture could be applied.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors sought to give an overview of the artists and their basic influences as artists, with brief overviews from early life and interests/training in art, development of art over the years, movements they were involved in, and life events that influence their subject matter. Very little information about the formal qualities of the art.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The experiences detailed in the sources led me to come to conclusions about the war's effect on the country. With the general economic struggles that Germany faced after world war one and into world war two, and personal losses such as Kathe Kollowitz's loss of her son, terrible events such as a world war can shift movements in theme and subject matter as a nation shifts together.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
To find out the events that led up to the artists creating the prints that they did. What were their influences, why did they create their art in such a way, what techniques or qualities in the art were common among all their work.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Bibliography
“Käthe Kollwitz.” National Museum of Women in the Arts, National Museum of Women in the Arts, nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/k%C3%A4-kollwitz.
“Käthe Kollwitz.” Kathe Kollowtiz: 25 Artworks, Bio & Shows, Artsy.net, www.artsy.net/artist/kathe-kollwitz. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.
“Hermann Max Pechstein Biography.” Hermann Max Pechstein, Art directory, www.max-pechstein.com/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.
“Käthe Kollwitz.” Kathe Kollowtiz: 25 Artworks, Bio & Shows, Artsy.net, www.artsy.net/artist/kathe-kollwitz. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.
“Hermann Max Pechstein Biography.” Hermann Max Pechstein, Art directory, www.max-pechstein.com/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.