Below is a gallery of the bitmapped and halftone layers that I produced in order to transfer my images onto a screen in preparation for printmaking for printing.
I wanted the figures and totem structures to appear ghostly and transient so I decided to simply print the black drawn layer without cutting a section of background layer to overprint. In order to maintain the ghostly appearance of the figures I chose to keep them transparent so the landscape could be seen through them.
I deliberately chose not to give them a background as I wanted the viewer to question their transience. This is in contrast with the landscapes the skies and shadows which I chose to print in more opaque tones
The landscapes, skies and shadows will be printed in solid layers of colour.
When deciding on a colour palette and what inks to mix, I took inspiration from the subtle creams and muted tones from Gauguin's Noa Noa drawings and from the old ship log books in my previous blog posts.
These three videos below show how the acetate guider can be used to effectively position and place a layer over another layer. It is extremely useful for this print run that has very intricate halftoned layers and detail. It enables me to line up the layers to see where exactly it will print.
The sheets of newspaper laying around the print act as buffers to increase the pull of the vacuum bed which means the print is a lot less likely to move around and skew the accuracy of the print when lining up and printing layers.
On reflection, I was extremely pleased with my form and accuracy of printing, I kept the squeegee blade at a 45 degree angle at all times when printing which meant that I captured every single last halftone detail so I was very impressed by this. In addition, I did enjoy working on a slightly smaller scale of print (A3) as my screenprints in the past have been in the region of A2 and A1 sized.
It was a manageable size and unlike the more cumbersome size of A1/A2, the layers could be printed a lot faster and with a more economic use of ink.
However, I would have liked to have experimented with more colours If I had more time on this project, experimenting with using extender base medium to make layers more translucent and combing more colour combinations. I also would have loved to have experimented with printing on different types of paper such as the thicker Fabriano etching paper, thicker, creamier Hahnemuhle paper or some coloured paper. The subtle off-white of the Canaletto paper was perfect for capturing the vast, open spaces of snow however I would have liked to definitely print on a paper type with a colour similar to the cream of newsprint. These are all useful learning points that I will take with me for future print work.
Final triptych silkscreen outcome
I am so utterly pleased with how these screenprints turned out. I Love the precision of the screenprint that captures the grainy detail of my charcoal landscape drawings and the fine detail of my pencil and ink drawings. I am also delighted with my Moholy-Nagy-esque drop shadows, they work so well and fit well within the composition. In addition, I am very happy with how my decision to print the figures as a translucent/transparent layer worked out: as it really does portray these Totem structures and figures as ghostly spectres on this arctic landscape.
Furthermore, the scans of these prints does not do them justice at all and I will be so excited to showcase these prints in person in an upcoming Degree show. The gold ink used on the second print is fantastic and when it catches the light, it is a scintillating treat for the eyes. I must also commend myself on the juxtaposition of the grainy, hand rendered drawings of the figures, totems and landscape with the digital halftone skies, they compliment each-other particularly well.
In future however, I would have liked to have experimented with hand drawn typographical elements and footnotes such as Trek log entries and stamp elements, but I feel that I pushed myself as hard as I could with the amount of time given. If given more time, I would have maybe printed an additional screenprint that had a much different perspective - more of an aerial/birds-eye view.
On reflection, I believe these prints and the work produced on this project would be well suited in a museum space; to be used by a design team as a piece of complimentary exhibition or promotional ephemera for one of their exhibits on arctic exploration/the Inuit cultures exhibit. I am currently trying to reach out and get in contact with the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and suggest this collaboration.
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