One Week Book - Evaluation

 I think this week's project has been successful. The book showcases work from every team member and the discussions we had as a group throughout the week meant that we all had some input and suggestions for each other's individual images and we generally got on well as a group. I prefer working on my own purely because I rarely have to make compromises and I can run with a certain idea I have a good feeling about, whereas in a group, everyone has their own ideas and we somehow have to form all of these into a single artefact. 

Screen printing was a new process to me so I learned a lot from the induction and actually using the process. When mixing the colours, the orange looked like the colour we wanted to use but when it printed, it came out more yellow. The images still looked good but it didn't fit in with the Greggs colour scheme as much as we would have liked. I dont think our two layers were aligned as well as they could have been but I think this adds to the handmade quality of the book. Because this task was only one week long, I felt under pressure to get an image ready for print as soon as possible and I was one of the first to finish this step from my group. I feel that I put too much restriction on my time for developing and refining this image and I could have thought of something a bit more interesting if I had planned out how much time I actually did have available.

One Week Book - Screen Printing

 We completed our drawings on the two sheets of kodatrace and were ready to have our screens exposed as they had already been prepared during our induction. 

Blue layer

Orange layer

Both layers overlapped

Exposing the screen meant that anything black would block the UV light getting to the screen. The clear areas where the light could get through would go hard so when we wash the screen afterwards, they would not wash away. We washed the screen using a sponge to make sure the light sensitive emulsion had gone from all the areas we wanted it to and we then left the screen to dry in the drying room. 

Washing the screen

We applied tape to the edges of the screen inside of the frame where the emulsion hadn't reached and also taped off the part we weren't printing yet because we didn't want the colour to go through these gaps too. 

Taping the screen

Holding the screen up to the light, we could see some marks what we didn't wan to be printed so we concealed with some more emulsion and placed the screen back in the drying room.  

Concealing marks with emulsion

When the screen was dry, we clamped it to the vacuum table and lined up our paper marking the corner and edge of the sheet with masking tape so we knew where the it needed to be positioned in future. We then applied the printing ink which we had mixed earlier (two spoons of paint for one pot of printing medium), we put it in a line at the top of the screen so it could be dragged down by the squeegee across the image. We printed the yellow/orange colour first because the detail of the blue needed to be on top of this. 

First layer of screen print

We printed as many sheets as we could to use up as much of the ink as possible, when we had finished we washed the screen with soapy water to get all of the ink off. We then put it in the drying room to prepare it for screen printing with blue. When we got it out of the drying room, we removed the tape which had been covering the blue stencil - we learned we should have done this before drying the screen but in this case, the screen wasn't affected. We taped up the edge of the yellow stencil and then clamped the screen back onto the vacuum table. We lined up the two colours and completed the same process as before with the blue ink. 

We had a few issues with the colour bleeding and running so we printed onto some plain paper until the print quality was back to normal again. These smudged prints made some interesting effects which would be difficult to recreate in the same way. Screen printing seems like a really good way to get a lot of things printed the same (well, very similar) but it is happy accidents like these which makes you realise how individual each print is. 

At the end of the printing process, we had to clean the screen again, the same as before and remove all of the tape. I then volunteered to strip the screen so had to wear all the protective clothing and use the chemicals, hose and jet washer to strip the emulsion from the screen so it would be ready to use for someone else. 

Below is an example of one of our final prints which I then folded up into the book. When folding the book, I measured out the size of each page again so I knew exactly where the folds needed to be. 

Shape and Texture

This headpiece is very over the top in its design so I decided to use some loud colours and bold prints and textures to exaggerate this. I particularly like the texture I made using fingerprints in pink acrylic as the variation in pressure makes it more interesting to look at. The line detail on the face contrasts with the boldness of the headpiece and I feel the black background adds drama and class to the piece. I used a gold pen in a few areas of the image and I feel it connects all the components together well. 

I created this texture using large, dry brush with only a small bit of acrylic paint. I find this texture really aesthetically pleasing and decided to contrast the angular shapes of it with the smooth lines of ink using a brush pen. I found this a difficult position to capture but I tried to use the direction of the texture to show the fine pleats of the fabric on the dress.  

I am really pleased with the detail on the jacket and face here, I changed my scalpel blade before cutting this and I found it so much easier to be accurate with my lines. I have realised I need to change by blades more often to make the process easier for myself and to achieve neater results. I found this an effective way of working - cutting out dark areas from the texture and placing them over paper coloured with a black marker pen. I think the texture used on the skin adds more life to the face. The hair was the last piece I added and because it was white, it didn't look right against the plain paper background. I added some pencil shading to the background which I then turned into a gridded pattern using a rubber. I feel I should have considered the background more before putting the image together, maybe using a colour to contrast the white hair. 

I placed this figure I made onto two backgrounds - I prefer the one on the left because it gives the figure a setting and suggests a story or someone making an appearance from upstairs. The arm is also confusing without the bannister there to show where it rests. I feel I have captured the figure well and it has a real presence on the page. The dress and the pose she is in speaks for her so I felt there was no need for facial features.

This piece is a brush pen drawing on a textured background, I then cut into the image to reveal some pure areas of white which draw attention to the ruffled collar. The unhappy facial expression contradicts the clown-like outfit so I thought using this texture with the brushstrokes going vertically suggests a sense of the image being dragged down, like her emotions. 

I cut out the black areas from this texture and places over some paper coloured with black pen which had its own subtle texture. I like the gradient of the pink in this image because it draws your eye up and down the picture to take it all in. 

One Week Book - Development

As a group, we decided that blue and orange would be the most relevant colours to use for this two colour brief as they are the recognisable colours of Greggs. Although some of our images will be about independent shops, the colours will remain the same to show how dominant and overpowering Greggs are in the food industry and how smaller companies are affected by them.

I drew a couple of portraits of Gail in my sketchbook to get myself used to the structure of her far and features. The pencil drawing above was my most successful as I achieved a better likeness so I used this as the basis for the development of this image. 

I decided wanted the image of Gail to be simple because I didn't want to overcomplicate the picture when I am using a process I am not familiar with. I thought about drawing her holding a baking tray of brownies. However, the point I wanted to get across with this image was that from our research yesterday, the independent shop we went to had a lot friendlier staff and focussed more on people. I wanted to strip the image of its association to moneymaking and commerce which is why, later on, I replaced the company logo on her apron with a name badge - I feel this further emphasises the personal touch of independent shops by recognising Gail as an individual. 

Using newsprint and felt tip pens, I experimented with blocking in different areas of colour. 

1.

• Too much solid colour - overpowering - doesn't fit in with the friendly and approachable impression I got of her character. 
• More white space needed for a more delicate image. 
• Colour on cheeks is too drastic.
• Where will the text go?
• The way I have drawn the hair isn't effective in showing her hairstyle.

2.

• The hair and shoulders look a bit lost.
• Added a name badge.
• I think the blue needs to span the whole image to keep the image tied together.
• The hatching on the face is too similar to the way they hair has been drawn - misleading. 
• Maybe have a stronger variation in weight of line and add a finer outline around the shoulders. 

3.

• The hair looks better here, the orange patches show darker areas and shadow. 
• An outline around the shoulders is still definitely needed. 
• I think I need to add some more detail to her face, particularly the creases in her skin. I don't want them to be too obvious and harsh so I will add these to the orange layer so they are more subtle than blue. Talking to the rest of my group, we realised that making the orange a but paler would benefit quite a few of our drawings but we will have to work on this during our session in the print facility. 

These are my two layers I need to trace onto the (photo emulsion?) paper in preparation for screen printing on Thursday. Layering these accurately to keep them in line was quite difficult so I added some registration marks which made this a bit easier. I had to adjust the positioning of some parts like the name badge to correct a few initial slip ups. 

Images layered up

The image looks simple which meets my initial proposal for how I wanted it to look. I hope this will work well as a screen print, I have realised that when the colours overlap, I may get a brown colour in some areas but I think this will make the image appear less flat and also give it a less 'digital' and perfected appearance. 

Experimentation with pattern and markmaking for background. 

I like the simplicity of the image but I think there might be a lot of white space in this book as a whole, and after feedback from Matt, I started to play around with the idea of a background. These small experiments made me realise I didn't want anything too heavy as this could detract from the image. I think the dots or dashes would be best. When reproduced the dashed marks using less pressure with the pen, it produced more delicate and playful marks which I felt were appropriate to the image. I plan to add these to the orange layer and I will avoid the area where the text is to create a vague white text box. 

I measured and drew out the two A3 rectangles, split them into eight boxes and drew the registration marks onto our group's (photo emulsion?) paper. 

My final drawings ready to take to screen print

Evaluation so far...

I feel I could have been more exhaustive with my ideas during the stage of experimentation with felt tip pens but I knew I needed to have the image completed by the end of the day so I needed to work effectively and make quick decisions to keep myself on track. I am pleased with the simple layout of my image but I could have made roughs of some more potential layouts to make sure that I wasn't missing something more interesting or appropriate. I think I have done well to get my head around the idea of screen printing today and how the images need to be prepared because this is a new concept to me. 

One Week Book - Research

Examples of sketchbook work - observation drawing of people in Greggs and other cafes. 

Conversation and things overheard:

Greggs sales assistant: "Ooh are you feeling festive?"

Man's phone conversation: "Yeah?...Greggs...Town...Opposite River Island." He then got up and left.

Conversation with owner of 'The Smoothie Company: 

"I bought it in the recession, if you want to be stable go into the food business."

(When asked about large chains such as Greggs) "Luckily, we're okay but its getting more of a problem."

"It kills you when someone comes into your shop with a Costa Coffee."

"Gail's the lady who cooks all the brownies."

(When asked about his weirdest customer experience) A man ran into the shop and desperately asked "You sell cake!?"

Online research:

Quotes from an article about Greggs in The Telegraph

Drawing from my photographs:

I feel these results are better than my drawings done whilst out and about - I found it difficult to find a comfortable place to sit or stand and draw. I was disappointed I couldn't find somewhere I could sit for a while and focus solely on drawing because I usually enjoy drawing people going about their day to day business. 

When we got back to the studio, we collectively looked at everyones research from the day and decided which quotes, images and experiences we were going to take forward and put into our final book. I made a small mock-up of a hotdog book so we could see what the layout of the A3 sheet would need to look like. Someone suggested drawing a map of our journey and as this idea started to develop, we thought that this would make an interesting front and back cover - the same image folded over both sides would be an effective way of tying the images in the middle together. We realised that we had four images relating to Greggs and only two relating to independent shops but we realised this fits in with the fact that Greggs are so much more common - it gives the impression that they are taking over to book as well as taking over the city of Leeds. 

The image I need to work on is of a lady called Gail who works at 'The Smoothie Bar' who we found out makes all the brownies in the shop when we were talking to the shop owner. She seemed like a a friendly and happy lady so I want to portray this in the image I produce.

Summary - what we found out today

Photography Induction

EXPOSURE: How light or dark the image is, this is affected by the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. 

Aperture (F): A wide aperture is a lower number and a narrower aperture as a higher number. The wider the aperture, the more light is allowed in. 

Shutter Speed: a slower shutter speed will exaggerate any movement in the image, light trails for example. A fast shutter speed will capture the position of something at that point, as if the scene is frozen. 

ISO: A slow ISO is a lower number, it lets in less light and is finer. A fast ISO is a higher number which lets in more light and produces a noisier image. 

COLOUR: dependant on the white balance and picture style.

Picture style: hue, saturation and contrast levels affecting how the colours in the image appear. 

White balance: different settings for different light sources. Below are some examples of adjusting the white balance settings.

Photography examples

Slow shutter speed

Slow shutter speed

Shallow depth of field

Drawing Faces

I felt like I needed some practice drawing faces quickly and in a simple way so I spent two evenings producing these thirty drawings using a variety of media. I used Instagram to search for selfies so I could look at photographs of faces from different angles and with different expressions, I used these as reference imagery for my drawings. The idea for this was inspired by Jon Burgerman's 'Tumblr Girls' project which was mentioned during our talk with him via Skype. 

These drawings were not meant to be realistic, they were to get me used to getting the information of a face down onto paper quickly and effectively. I struggled with the proportions of the features on some of these drawings, especially when the photographs have been taken at awkward angles. I don't feel this really matters because overall, towards the end of this exercise I was producing better drawings which shows that my skills are improving. The images below are the images I feel have been particularly successful. 

 This is something I will definitely continue to do to improve my drawing skills. I might start looking at figures as well to get some more practice with this too.