Drafts Of My Etchings

Process of Art Making

 

Techniques I've Learnt and My Culture

Techniques:

I learnt the process of etching.

Firstly, I drew my etching, with a needle, onto a plastic plate.

In order to achieve a print, I spread ink onto my etching and pushed it into the etched grooves; I then whipped the surface clean with cloth, leaving only the etched areas retaining ink. The actual impression is made with a copper plate press which is similar to an old washing mangle with a large plank or `bed’ between the rollers. The plate is placed on the bed, covered with dampened paper and backed with three or four felt blankets.

These are then passed through the press under high pressure, the malleable paper is forced into the cuts and ridges in the plate and thus picks up the ink. When the paper is finally peeled off, it reveals a mirror image of the etched drawing.

This inking procedure is then repeated for each print.

I also learnt techniques from Kathe Kollwitz, to show something or an issue through my artworks. I am trying to show the issue that refugees still have to face in Australia. I have also learnt to inform my artworks, like she did. I did this by looking up articles on refugees, and pictures of refugees, as well as other etchings. Kathe Kollwitz did this by looking at people around her community, and the social experience that they experienced as well as herself.


How is my artwork reflective of my chosen culture?

My artwork refers to refugee culture in that I have used a portrait of a person, to show the suffering in a person faces, when they do not have very much in life. It shows the depression and hardship they have and have delt with, and that it still hasn't stopped, once they have come to Australia. Like Kollwitz's work showing poverty and the social conditions in her life my work is also black and white and emphasizes the eyes staring out at you.  The eyes are the darkest part of my artwork, so that you look there as the first point.  The cross hatching of the lines also emphasises different textures and ways of showing the face peering out from the blackness of life. The light and dark contrast in the different ways that the lines have been etched show that there is some hope for the person, as some light is shining on the face.

Asylum seekers were not as much of a problem in the time of Kathe Kollwitz, and thus serve as a contemporary influence.

My Prezi (Kathe Kollwitz)

This is my prezi on Kathe Kollwitz and her works.
Link: http://prezi.com/extm8zgkqhk3/

Kathe Kollwitz' Work

Kollwitz’s artworks are about her feelings towards life as she observed it in Germany at the time of

the First World War.  She is an artist who focused on the social conditions of the time in which she

lived and she used poor people, current events and the dark European landscape as the main subject

matter of her works.  To convey the desperate poverty of many of the people she observed around

her she used dark tones and mainly black and white in her drawings, prints and lithographs. 

 She liked trying new and innovative techniques especially in printmaking to convey different

monochromatic tonal effects in the artworks. To emphasise the suffering of the people she also

took ideas from German Expressionism, for example, heavy dark outlines around figures

and distortion of certain features as she was interested in creating artworks that distorted the

proportions of the people to emphasize their suffering.

Critical Analysis

Overall I was quite happy with my etching.

However I would have done some things differently. First of all I probably would have changed the background that I etched. It is just plain straight lines, at diagonals. I believe that I could have done a different background, with more detailed and unique lines to represent Kathe Kollwitz’ technique. I would have made the face a bit darker, if my background was different. My face is also not symmetrical; I could have made it a little bit more life-like, however this works in a way, as Kollwitz’ emphasised cerain featuresand distorted her figures, which is what I was trying to accomplish. Also my hair is not very distinctive against the background, and probably needed to stand out more.

In addition, with my etching process, to avoid the smudges that I have, I will next time work in a cleaner workplace.

What I did well in my artworks

I believe that I used Kathe Kollwitz lines effectively throughout my artwork. I used her style of drawing a figure, shrouded in shadows, instead of creating something with intricate detail. I also believe that I used an effective amount of positive and negative space well through my material.

Finished Etchings So Far...