Tuesday 20 April 2010

Haven't handed in my first module yet after eight months which has caused me to take stock. I don't like having a non existent tutor that you can't interract with but then if I haven't sent any work to her yet what do I expect? I don't like the on Line learning log although I chose it because it's not my preferred way of doing things (I like note books) but I wanted to get outside my comfort zone. On top of this printing is a completely new technique I am painstakingly trying to learn and I am also trying to achieve a quality of work that matches that I did for my Watercolour course for which I got an 'A' which is unrealistic (or is it?) considering I spent years learning how to paint water colours before I ever started the OCA course.

To be fair to myself I have had a slipped disc and sciatica this autumn which was a distraction and at the end of February I lost my job which initially I thought would give me more time but I actually spent most of it worrying and looking for a new job, which I have now found. Also my band have had some dates abroad and some recording to finish which has meant time rehearsing and writing material.

So I now find, after 8 months, that I have completed Project One of Module One of a five module course ie. a fortieth of the overall course!! Having said this the course is supposed to take 400 hours and the project I have done 10 hours but I have spent nearly 50 hours on it.

What have I to show for this time? About 30 A3 monoprints and a series of preparatory sketches and photographs which isn't bad for the time spent. I have at least 2 prints I think are quite good. I've also got to grips with the inks, the rollers, the techniques of this type of mono printing and worked out how to do things like registering. I've also done some things like stencilling that are part of later projects. So none of this is wasted and will pay dividends later on.

The next two projects are about mastering stencilling techniques using a single image which I should be able to complete quite quickly as it requires very little creative development other than in originating the image.

The image I have in mind comes from an excellent life drawing session I took part in recently with a pregnant female model. I generated several very interesting drawings which I will refine to a single outline for use as a stencil.

The final project in this module requires me to produce monoprints using the techniques in question from four diverse subjects. This will involve much more creative input so whilst I am completing the two stencil projects I need to be thinking in parallel about ideas for the final project.

The Royal Society of Printmakers exhibition starts at the Bankside gallery on 7th May and it would be great to finish the stencil project by then so that I can use the exhibition as a stimulus for the final project.

The bad news is that between now and then I have a new job to start and an Art exhibition to organise for my local Art Society plus framing my own paintings. Nothing I can't handle.

Taking impetus from the Bankside exhibition (for which I will include an entry in this log) I want to spend a lot of time, maybe May, June and possibley July completing project four. I want the work for this project to be up to the standard of my watercolours ie. exhibitable.

The next Module, which is basically introducing Linocuts, I'd like to finish by the end of September, spend the rest of 2010 doing Module 3 (Advanced and Experimental Relief Prints) and then I have until the end of Setember 2011 to complete Modules 4 and 5.

So completing the course and getting an 'A' is still possible!