Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Politics, Peace, and Conflict: Fall '08

Here they are: the favorites of fall 2008. There were several images I started on and didn't finish due to having so much going at once, plus a great deal of time-consuming technical difficulties (and a lot of time commitments to lesser classes...). Enjoy, and if you see something you like, contact me at lund.dani@students.uwlax.edu or www.myspace.com/torch957


Naval Impact line etch, aquatint, multiplate, monotype


This print addresses the recent exemption of the Navy from environmental laws intended to protect whales in their natural habitats. These habitats are also common testing ranges of Navy sonar equipment. The sonar emits a frequency that disturbs whales and causes them to surface very quickly and die of decompression sickness, or to become stranded on shore. Examination of beached whales near testing sites has shown ear and brain hemorrhaging in the creatures, which scientists believe could have been partially caused by the piercing noise. These animals are dying unnecessary, painful deaths, all because of the Bush administration's emphasis on "national security". The aquatint still needs a bit of work, but I was satisfied enough with this print to share it in the printmaking online exchange with students at Carleton College. View the entire exhibit and commentary at http://exchangexhibitfall2008.blogspot.com/






Squawkers: Sean and Rush Line etch, aquatint

This is part of a series I hope to continue which caricaturizes popular figures in conservative politics and punditry. This is Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. They are loud, obnoxious, and they have absolutely no regard for intelligent debate or even listening to what the other side has to say. Listen to either of them on the radio-I guarantee you won't be able to take more than a few minutes. Technique-wise, I've continued with deep etching (the initial line etch was 48 hours or so on this one). I haven't tried it with color yet, but may later on.



Squirtgun Paintfight monotype





McCain/Palin '08 line etch, aquatint


The first print of the caricatured conservatives series, from which the idea stemmed. It was impossible to go through fall of 2008 without doing something that poked fun at these two. All I can say is the electoral college actually worked in the favor of the people for once! Another deep line etch-again for a couple of days. I'd like to somehow display the series (when i get more prints done) as kind of a zoo. More on that once I get further along with this particular endeavor.




Great Depression, cont'd. line etch, aquatint


Another big event of fall 2008: the economic crisis and the "bailouts" (wouldn't it be a great idea to send the American people those billions of dollars to stimulate the economy instead of making it impossible for anyone to borrow money?...except corporations that threw away billions of dollars and tanked?) I saw a newspaper headline talking about bank failures and felt very unsafe having all of my money in a bank, even though I know it's supposed to be protected. So this was a way of lightening the situation a bit.


Time Traveler monotype



Flesh and Bone line etch, aquatint, multiplate color

This print took forEVER to get right. I started out with the two figure drawings (from the anatomical drawings I've been doing a lot of in the last few months) on separate plates, and wanted to make them work overlapping one another. I had in mind two figures lying down and embracing; how that would look if you could see past skin. I had a hard time getting the figures to line up correctly because the plates weren't the same size, so had to do a lot of plate cutting and touching up. Then it was a lot of trial and error with color. I have no idea how many times these ran through the press, but I know that I have a lot of them that weren't worth keeping!



This print, and the following one, were done after it was suggested to me (by Miss Seth Boots) that I try it out with the plates side by side rather than on top of one another. For the background, I used the back of the skeleton plate because that had been eaten through in places by the acid, due to it being in a fresh batch for about 52 hours. Process: Ink the back of the skeleton plate with color, ink the muscle figure in black, print color, print figure, ink color again, print color, ink skeleton in black and print. It was complicated but well worth it. The figures side by side gives the image a different context, as well as different color schemes. The red I view as two people being torn apart by conflict (violence, war, personal problems). The blue I see as two people just unable to be together and missing each other. I would like to experiment with more color schemes. I'm just happy that i was able to get some decent images. I didn't want to ditch the plates because I like the drawings!





This is the first color scheme I tried and it didn't work very well. The lines in the muscle figure aren't as deep and bold as the skeleton. I do like the ghost-like effect the more I look at it, but it's not what I was going for.


one more experiment: I did a relief roll on the skeleton plate with black ink, then printed the muscle figure in red on top of it. I think I'd like to try this technique with different colors as well. Deep etches are great for relief rolls because the lines stand out and are bold, as opposed to being filled in or washed out when ink is rolled onto the plate.



Untitled: Line etch, aquatint, monotype (left print)
This print was just something for fun after working on some things that were more technically or subjectively frustrating to deal with. (I also wanted to freshen up the aquatinting skills a bit). It's based on a self-portrait I snapped of Dan and I in our Halloween costumes. We were Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz. That night was fun, and our expressions in this picture kind of summarize how we are together. The print on the left has some subtle color added, just painted onto the plate, and the one on the right is just black and white. Title suggestions are more than welcome!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

WHAT A SLACKER!!!

Hey all-I haven't posted on here in forever!  One of my projects to kill time over winter break will be to photograph and upload everything i've done this fall.  There's quite a bit-I'm excited.  Keep an eye out for new prints coming soon...

Friday, April 25, 2008

Almost the end...

The end of the semester is almost here *tear* and I still have a lot I want to get done, as always; finishing up new things and revisiting prints I was working on earlier in the semester and never got around to completing because I have a hundred things going at once all the time. They'll get there eventually, I'm sure. Here's a little bit of what I've been working on lately...


The Skeleton Monoprints
These have been so much fun, and I'm absolutely intent on making more of them. I found a glow in the dark rubber skeleton dude hanging around in the printshop and twisted him into contorted positions, then rolled up black ink on plexiglass and drew in the figure by wiping ink away with Q-tips. Nice, quick little studies. On the last two, I started playing around with adding red ink to the plexi after I pulled the print the first time and running it through the press again-I like that because it looks even creepier that way...








"Inhaling Depleted Uranium"-line etch, aquatint, subtractive method, monotype
I posted this one before in just black and white; this time I wiped the plate with black and rolled a really oiled down green over it. I was going for a radioactive look to go with the content, and am happy with the results. I got the idea for this when I was doing a bit of research on the environmental impact of the war in Iraq. There are currently over 4 million tons of depleted uranium in Iraq from the weapons used in the war. Depleted uranium is bad news-and it never goes away. I read that if you inhale just a tiny bit of it (which I'm sure millions of people have done), it's like getting an X-ray once an hour for the rest of your life, and it stays in your body until...well, until your body ceases to exist. And then it goes into the earth. The stupidity of the human race never ceases to astound me.



I posted this one earlier as well, but just tried it in reverse this time, doing the heart/heads plate in red and orange and the guitarists in black. I can't decide if I like it yet or not, since the line drawing isn't really all that clear in red. But then again, the guitarists aren't super clear when they're in red. Maybe I'll try it again with ink that's a little thicker and see what happens. Either way, I still really like this image.

Friday, April 11, 2008

a few more

Just playing around with different colors. I think the one in orange and blue is my favorite. It's nice to have an etch so deep that the lines are still readable in the ghost print. That makes for a lot of options as far as what I can do with it!









Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Sexy ;)

"Fierce Embrace"

Continuing my exploration of intimate expression...I wanted to do something figurative this time so I sketched this out off the top of my head. Another long line etch with aquatint, which I may lighten up a bit, I haven't decided yet. In this image I wanted to convey the continuum from gentle to intense in an intimate relationship-how you can be sweet and loving with someone, and in the same moment want to just go absolutely insane with them, letting primal instinct come through. I tried to show that (gentle/intense) through the hands-she's barely touching his neck, and digging her nails into his arm; and he's lightly caressing her back and holding her up on his lap. I'm having fun with this print, and the subject matter ;)


-line etch, aquatint


-ghost print of the one above (clear due to all the ink those 22-hour lines hold!)

printed in black and white, then color added via monoprint on plexiglass. More color schemes to mess around with, but this is good for the first one.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Springtime!


Like a Tidal Wave-line etch, multiplate monotype

Yet another deep line etch-altogether, this plate spent about 36 hours in the acid (including aquatinting time). I printed the image in black and white, then resoaked the paper and reprinted it with the color painted on plexiglass. The text is written on after it's printed, so that I can alter it with every edition. This is a new direction for me as far as content goes. I wanted to explore the expression of the romantic/sexual aspect of my personality in my work, which I haven't really done before. It certainly helps that I now have plenty of inspiration for it, and someone in my life with whom I can openly express it. I love the way this came out and am eager to continue experimenting with this new area of subject matter, as it is quite different from what I usually do.




Two Possible Outcomes-line etch

This one is not completely finished; some aquatinting is in order, I think. I did this drawing immediately after a discussion in my Violence against Women class that focused on battered women who kill their abusers. The justice system definitely works against these women in a lot of cases. In this image, I wanted to depict what would possibly happen in two scenarios-one where the victim kills her abuser and one where the abuser kills his victim. She would be more likely to be charged with first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, even if she had no previous criminal history and evidence of domestic abuse was present. He would be more likely to be charged with manslaughter, and could even be released in a few short years. This is exemplary of the way domestic violence is still not taken seriously in our society, and the way victim blaming is a system which prevents victims from the justice they deserve.


Landing-monotype

The Greatest Word in the English Language-line etch
This is an idea I've had for awhile, just kind of a silly print. I drop f-bombs abundantly, and I thought about all the different ways in which the word "fuck" can be used. It's pretty universal. It can be a verb, an adjective, a noun...used in negative or positive connotations...it's just a great word. I looked in the dictionary and found several definitions and variations of it, and used urban dictionary to fill in the rest of the space.

If storm clouds could bleed-monotype


Dissentigration-line etch, monotype
This one is still in the works, as I added some aquatint to the background, but this is one of the first proofs I pulled. Yet another deep line etch. This image came to mind after hearing about plans to install microchips in consumer goods to track purchases, and it got me thinking about the chips that are being implanted in people (which they volunteered to have done...). It's a scary thought, something out of Orwell or Huxley. What if you were implanted without your knowledge, what if these things could be developed to mess with your mind and make you some sort of drone? With all the secrecy and manipulation that goes on from those in power, thoughts like that don't seem too far fetched.


Dancing in Twilight-monotype

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Maniacal printing weekend!

What a productive weekend! Straight up printing like crazy, and it was a blast. Maybe it was the nice weather or something. Spring is flowing into my bloodstream...



From the Heart-line etch

My very first long-ass etch: this plate was in the acid for about 22 hours. I was a little afraid that the lines wouldn't hold ink but they're perfect. I drew with my scraper to get the thicker lines, and got the base facial expressions from photos of some metal shows, after kind of doodling on my plate and getting the idea. Then I prepped another plate and got this...


From the Heart-line etch, aquatint, multiplate

For the background plate, I have two silhouetted guitar-playing figures, also from photos. I wiped the aquatinted areas (just the figures) with red and rolled yellow over the top. I was skeptical as to whether the images would work when combined, but they both work well on their own so I wasn't terribly concerned. It worked, though! This print is the second in a series of metal-related images that I started last semester with "Stage Presence". It kind of speaks for itself, I suppose. I'm having fun with this series, and look forward to continuing it. Big thanks to all the bands I've seen and listened to for enabling me to have awesome photos to work off of (and to Metal Pat for the ones I used that were his), and of course, to the man with the iron lungs for the inspiration to begin this.


Tiger(Lily)-line etch, multiplate, monotype

The second print I've pulled of this image-I painted the background on the back of the plate, printed it, then inked up the tiger and printed that on top. This print was inspired by my current relationship-the first real one I've had in years, and the first truly excellent one I've had..ever...so it's really exciting, and I wanted to symbolize it in a way that's not obvious to everyone who looks at this. I think I'll leave it at that and let some mystery remain.


Catching Rain-monotype

Just playing around-this is the first time I did a monoprint using a large sheet of plexiglass. I spread ink on in all directions and then took a Q-tip to draw in the figure by wiping off ink.

Dark Angel Ascending-monotype

Another monoprint with the sheet of plexi. I had And Hope to Die cranked, played with ink along to the music and this is what came out of it. I'm ecstatic about this one-it turned out great. AHTD...the fuel behind many works of art



Untitled-monotype

More playing-I rolled red and yellow on, then drizzled on some oiled down blue. And it actually didn't run all over the place, which was surprising. I'm probably going to do something more with this one, haven't decided what yet, though.


Untitled-etch/open bite

This is the same plate as the one I used in the monoprint above. I had been working on an image with this one, but it's an old plate and was too beat up, so I just said Fuck it, splashed some asphaltum on it and threw it in the acid for about 20 hours so it could be a plate to play around on. And I will. We'll see what else happens with this one.


Untitled-Monotype

Same thing as above, just dripped oiled down ink onto the plate and let it do its work, then saw kind of a head shape, so I took white ink and painted on facial features.


World is on Fire-monotype
Another one with the large sheet of plexi, just experimenting. I'll likely do something else with this one as well. Updates as they come along, of course.