Dissertation Chapter 4

Instead of attempting to write chapter 4 right away, I came up with a load of bullet points that I could then expand on later. Doing this was really helpful when it came to editing it at a later date and will help me as I finalise the dissertation for 4/1. This has highlighted the importance of planning ahead, and also getting ideas down as and when I think of them.

Chapter 4: Reflecting on own practice

• Idea that images have historical connotations that are not always known or understood
• Torture / punishment
• Synthesis: Historical research into the witch hunts, the Inquisition, the control or society / repression of people through drastic measures. Witches were tortured horrendously until they were forced to confess for crimes that they couldn’t possibly have committed. But during this era the attitude toward punishment was completely different to today. Public displays of punishment to send messages. Just being seen tied to a pillary/in a scolds bridal/shame mask/in the stocks etc was humiliating. Became the subject of further ridicule, punishment, victimisation, torture, torment. 
• The tools were were symbols. Practical work: Turn these symbols of horror into beautiful, crafted images. Reflects the idea that something can look beautiful but be horrendous.
• Project rationale: research methods. Primary research through printmaking
• Deepened my knowledge: Learning about contextual research behind projects - importance of understanding, not just drawing image or symbols without knowing what they mean / represent
• Relates to CH2 & CH3: Public displays of punishment serving a function - to deter others / acting as a warning / to show the model way to live / reenforcing ideas of right & wrong

Chair of Torture

I was really excited to cut this image, although a bit nervous that I'd have to redo it a load of times like the thumbscrews. I was looking forward to trying to capture all of the textures. For this, I used a photograph that I'd taken myself while visiting the Kriminalmuseum in Rothenburg.

I thought that I'd captured the form of the Pear of Anguish pretty well, and by using shadows communicated the three dimensionality successfully. I wanted to do this again with this cut.

I was concerned for a while about how to describe the spikes as well as the shadows etc. But for the shadow of the band that goes across the chest, for example, I just left the area blank, and only cut anything around that.

I also experimented with a method of cutting to describe the texture of wood. By carving waving lines and leaving areas of lino to suggest texture and shadow, this worked successfully.

Pear of Anguish

I took a break from reattempting the thumbscrews, as I'm still not happy with it.
I had really struggled with the angles and straight lines, so wanted to do something smoother and more flowing. I felt that this would be a welcome break and would possibly be a little bit more forgiving.

I found some existing images to use as reference, but wanted to add a higher level of detail to the image so I researched some patterns that I saw as being relevant.

This cut was far more successful and I never had to recut it. It went much better because I really took my time, and any slight errors were easier to rectify, although I didn't really make many. I think that carving the smoother cuts and more fluid line work came more naturally than the sharp line work of the previous cuts.

Xmas break stresses

Over the xmas break I started considering the following, and worrying a bit about the outcomes for this module:

My linocut has developed a lot throughout this project and improved so much since my proposal and ideas for the final outcomes that I feel like my outcomes aren't as good as the level they should be now. I've tried to incorporate the new skills I've been developing on into the final designs, but I've really been struggling. What I've developed on is my detail and mark making as well as composition, but the final pieces for this project are floating images with restrictions certain kinds of restrictions on the marks that I feel I can make. Because they are existing objects, I've been struggling because I can't create more detail than there actually is.
In a way I'm really pleased with the developments I feel I've made as they boosted my confidence. But then my confidence was knocked as I tried to create all my final outcomes at the level that I've been wanting them to be.

A couple days after writing this though, and reflecting on it, I figure:

I'm being too much of a stress head. Of course I can create some interesting, detailed floating illustrations. I just need to get my head out of my ass and stop thinking 'I can do more' because if anything, it's more successful for me to be able to cut beautiful, detailed single objects than to rely on a background or surrounding details.

I can do this and I will do. I've just got to push through the crappy work to get to the good stuff.

Thumbscrews

After the struggles with cutting the garrotte, I moved on to the thumbscrews instead. I was feeling more positive after the whole Krampus thing, but this ended up almost driving me insane! I drew it and redesigned and redrew and threw away the sketches then redrew it again.. all in all I think it was redrawn about 7 times.

I recut it 3 times too.. but am still unhappy with the outcome. Really unhappy actually, the more I look at it the more I despise everything about it.

Problems

I had real issues trying to create sharp angles, and clean, straight lines.

I switched to using a new U blade for some details, and found that it kept undercutting sections too much and making it hard to get really crisp edges. I was testing it out because I hadn't used it before but realised that the V tools are the best for the really sharp corners.

Some of my tools are getting blunt and need sharpening (getting a sharpening stone thing for xmas) so they're dragging slightly.

Solutions

Keep going? Redraw again? Probably best to move on to another design

Test different blades on spare lino. I don't know why I tried to use it straight up on the real thing.

Sharpen dull blades!!

Work on getting more control for straight lines using other hand pressing against the top of cutter blade

Use a craft knife on some edges and corners

Cut alongside a metal ruler for longer straight lines

I found this really frustrating because after my little epiphany the other day, I couldn't get this to work agian.

BUT the shapes aren't flowing / natural and it has way more clean angles. If I draw a curve a little wrong, I can work with it, but if I bugger up straight lines and make angles wonky etc it sticks out like a sore thumb.

It sounds blatant but it's taken me a while to realise that 99% of the time, when the cut isn't working it's because the design isn't good enough. So I need to redesign this and revisit it, but for now I'm going to stop looking at it before I hurl all the drawings out of the window.

Using the print room

Following my stresses with the garrotte cut, I took a break from CoP and linocut something for myself.
I think I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do something good!
So I sketched and cut a Krampus print in the spirit of christmas..
This might seem irrelevant to talk about in regards to CoP.. but it made me realise a lot.

I didn't have any pressure when I was cutting this. I just did it because I wanted to.
I didn't overthink it or plan it out too hard. I just drew until I was happy with the sketch and then started cutting.
I spent a good four hours or so doing it, and I was absolutely stoked with the outcome.

Another point is that I used my keyholder privileges and spent the day in the print room, using the press. I couldn't believe the difference.
I've always worked from home really, having bought some high quality blades and inks.. but using the print room facilities escalated the professionalism and quality of finish on the prints to a new level for my work. Using the oil based inks instead of my water based ink, and the press gave me much higher quality prints, cleaner lines and more even pressure. Plus the oil based ink stays wet for longer and goes further.
I came out with stronger, bolder prints.
I loved it too, the whole process was really good fun. I learnt a bunch about how to vary the pressure by swapping out the padding etc to get different quality of prints..

I feel like an idiot that it's taken me this long to realise how good the facilities are here and how much using them benefits my work.

I've been limiting my work quality by printing by hand at home
not making the most of the facilities when i really really should because I wont have them anymore after these next 5 or 6 months.

What this taught me about my work this module:

- I've been putting way too much pressure on myself to make something absolutely amazing. I'm not just getting on with it. Being less stressed out and pressured will result in better quality outcomes because I'll be enjoying the process.

- Using the print room will give me miiiiiles higher quality prints, as well as access to more coloured inks, and the benefit of having people around me that I can talk to / work with / share ideas with etc.

- I CAN do good linos still! I haven't lost it, I've just been too critical and too stressed out.

- The Holbein exercise has been the best thing I've done in the past year of linocut. It's definitely had an impact on the way that I cut now, the marks that I make, what I choose to leave blank / white / solid.

Lino Cutting finals - Garrotte

I started the cuts for the final outcomes with the Garrotte.

Immediately I struggled. I'd been trying to work on developing my cutting skills and the level of detail in my prints, and then was faced with making a single object, with not much variation in texture, seem detailed and interesting.

Going from the idea of floating images, to wanting to avoid floating images, to figuring out a setting / background, to going back to floating images again had me feeling a bit lost.

I attempted this cut twice before I figured it really wasn't working. The line work wasn't clean, the mark making wasn't relevant, and overall it looked boring as hell.

I realised that I was overcomplicating it. Instead of just cutting the object, I was trying to figure out ways of making it more 'interesting' and wasn't actually considering the textures that I could work with.

I decided to take a break from it and move on to something different.

I'm started to worry that the final outcomes aren't going to be the brilliant cuts I've been thinking they could be....

Tutorial 5 - 6/12

Written:

- Get CH4 & Conclusion finished 

- Cut word count down by about 1000

- See essay feedback & edit accordingly

Practical:

- Why backgrounds? Putting the torture tools in their context takes away from the essence of the practical outcome...

I didn't really think about this before because I got so caught up trying to design compositions that would allow me to be really detailed, and that would incorporate loads of different elements. I was hoping this would emulate the style of the Holbein cut, creating depth and using different mark making techniques to describe varying textures..

I was worried about not developing my compositional skills, and having work that always appears as floating images or vignettes. 

After discussing this in the tutorial, I realised that the whole point of the images is that the focus is on the objects themselves. They are supposed to appear interesting, intriguing and beautiful. If they're presented on a table in a dungeon, it takes away from this. People will see the dungeon first, and then consider the object in its normal context. The point was to take the object out of context and present it as a well-crafted illustration. 

In future, I will create illustrations that incorporate more elements. But for this project it isn't the best or most relevant outcome.

- Get lino cuts started & finished for before xmas, for printing after xmas break

Roughs and Compositions

I've been thumbnailing the final image ideas to make sure that I'm thinking about the composition, depth and value of the images. I want the torture tools to be the main focal point but I want them to be in a setting. Through this, I want to demonstrate an understanding of the lino cutting process and mark making methods.

I roughed up six different ideas for each and circled the best ones or the ones that I feel have the most potential. I want them to work together as a cohesive series, but obviously don't want their layouts to be too similar. So in some cases as with the smaller tools that will be in a dungeon setting, I've tried to come up with variations on the composition to make sure the images aren't repetitive.

Garrote - Scaffold setting / public courtyard / surroundings being buildings. Sky/clouds

Gibbet - Landscape - Sky/clouds and land / hills

Thumbscrews - Table top in dungeon, Stone wall bg, barred window and chains on wall

Judas Chair - Dungeon corner, stone walls, archway shapes, dark shading looking dingy - other tools hanging on wall?

Pear of Anguish - May look similar to thumbscrews. More table surface on composition, (less height) more tools on wall, neck torture & other mutilation / flogging tools and equipment.

Scold's Bridle - Resting on step / w placard. Texture of ground, dirt / weeds, wooden step / platform and stone wall.

I'm looking forward to refining these sketches for lino cut. I think I can apply what I've learnt from the Holbein cut and translate it into my own illustrations.

Backgrounds

When coming up with the compositional sketches and roughs, I realised I needed a bit more research into what setting to put the torture tools in. Like I've said, I don't want to just create floating images, because this is something I do a lot.

I've looked at Holbein again because that aesthetic is what I want to try to emulate. His compositions are all really well thought out and well balanced, so this is what I want to achieve with mine.

It was hard work but I really enjoyed recreating his woodcut and am hoping I can incorporate what I've picked up from that process into my own cuts.

Backgrounds:

Holbein Cut

In order to help me to understand better the aesthetic that I want to replicate, I decided to try to recreate a woodcut by Hans Holbein.

I'm hoping that this process of redrawing and cutting will help me to learn about the use of line and mark making better.

I printed it at about A5 - just smaller - and traced it out on a lightbox. Already I could see the intense detail and fine lines could potentially be a struggle when I cut it. The fact that I'd printed it relatively small was so that I didn't spend far too long making a big cut, but I could get used to the aesthetic. However, this could prove to be a bit of a mistake in regards to me trying to get the detail in.

The point though is to understand the lines and marks better, consider the way that they're used to shade and suggest texture...

I'm hoping that the small scale will also help me to practice getting some really tight details too. I'm wanting my final outcomes to be really neat and fine, so although it could be a downside in some respects, printing and cutting it on such a small scale could prove beneficial.

Technical stuff I'm learning about cutting:

- Contour lines can be used fairly sparingly in order to suggest a shape or form

- When cutting the fine lines, to avoid a 'wedge' kind of shape, I have to cut once one way, then carve back into it, either on one side or from the opposite direction. This sharpens it off to more of a tapered point instead of a dull block.

- Always cut the inside of tiny details before the outline

- Take breaks ! Having neck pain and crippled hands is no fun.

- The plates always take longer to cut than I think they will - So I need to factor this in when I'm doing my finals

- Move the block as I cut in order to get smooth lines and curves

- Drawing the stencil in pencil makes it easy to transfer onto the lino, but it also smudges and rubs off really easily - do I need to go over it in marker to stop it from losing the details? Even when I cut from top to bottom or the other way, it's hard not to lean on the rest of the plate - Doing curves or something where I'm moving the plate around means I end up smudging the rest of the drawing.

I've mentioned some of these and other things I've come across in the following issuu doc:

All in all this plate took me about 10 hours to cut. 4 hours on Friday, and around 5 - 6 hours on Saturday.

I love that I spent ages trying to get all the details accurate and the one thing that I messed up was the frame! The straight lines. So clearly this is something I need to work on. I'll guide the cutting tool along a metal ruler on my final prints.

It's made me realise that I definitely have the ability to cut the kind of refined prints that I'm after. It's down to my drawing and image making skills to come up with interesting, developed compositions, and accurate shading etc.

I feel happier now though about my final outcomes and what I could possibly achieve.

Illuminated Letters

I've mentioned that I want to include a preface style text or explanatory text to accompany the prints, and that I want it to feature an Illuminated Letter.

There's a range of different styles / images

I've referenced Hans Holbein a couple of times before, but he also created a Dance of Death alphabet:

The simplicity of the single colour prints makes them really striking on the page. 

The main priority at this time is to get the illustrations cut, but I definitely think that the accompanying text will be important to the final outcome, and that the use of an illuminated letter will tie the textual element and the illustrations together.

Lino test

I wanted to test out an example of the rough line work surrounding an image, and actually linocut it. I drew a pair of 'denailing' pliers, mmmmm....This ones a little messy - the lines should be more structured next time I reckon. But it gives the impression of the aesthetic I'm exploring. 

I tried to capture lighting hitting the top of the tool as well, using really fine lines. I cut the kind of shape below:

Then worked back into it to try to create a smoother finish: 

For next tests:

Background: Finer, neater, straighter lines

Dürer & Prints

Book: Renaissance Art by Tom Nichols pp.98 - 99

Reading about Dürer's background and his work is really inspiring. I didn't know how much he influenced the relief printing process. The paved the way for the single-leaf print taking dominance over text. I find this really inspiring because I've started to realise that I want to get into book illustration and making these kind of full page illustrations that accompany text is what I'd love to do.

The Rise of Renaissance Print

'Dürer's Hercules is a precociously new kind of work aimed at a wide international audience. Despite the classical theme, Dürer did not seek the serve the social elite with works such as this...it was not tailor-made to suit a particular set of cultural interests. For all its pictorial qualities and its classical subject-matter, the Hercules was made to be reproduced, its small scale and ready availability anticipating a potentially broad and diverse viewing audience. It may have been among the copies of Dürer's prints that members of his family sold in the local market in Nuremberg, for example.'

'He attempted to expand the visual domain, anticipating the widening interest of a new art-loving public, both at home and abroad. It was this that lay behind his attempt to synthesise diverse artistic styles. The natural medium for such an enterprise was the reproductive print.'

'Prints were immediately smaller, cheaper, and more quickly produced than traditional works of art: based on the principle of replication, they co-existed in many places at once and were easily transportable, contradicting the fixed or site-specific qualities of, for example, large-scale altarpieces or sculptures.'

'The ease and rapidity with which prints were produced and consumed promised the visual image of a new measure of ubiquity, and made it a suitable carrier for an expanded range of meanings and ideas. In addition to the more traditional diet of stories from the Bible, or from the lives of the Virgins and saints, printmaking artists often depicted topical or 'contemporary' subjects: accurate views of famous towns, cities and monuments, for example, or images recording the appearances and dress of the people of different regions...Even if it does not have a topical subject, Dürer's Hercules has its place within this dramatic widening of the established subject-matter of visual art within print culture.'

'The reproductive print formed part of the wider communication revolution that followed the spread of the printing press across Europe in the mid-fifteenth century. The discovery of moveable type allowed for the text to be brought into a new alliance with the printed image. But when, in 1498, Dürer published an illustrated book featuring sixteen woodcuts drawn from St John's Revelation - known as the Apocalypse - he made a very significant change. Though John's text was included, the words were relegated to the back of each sheet, with pride of place given to Dürer's large and complex images on the front. The more usual priority allowed to the text in early printed books was undone, with the 'illustrations' taking on a new place of independence and authority.'

Digital Mock Up - Scolds Bridal

Based on my research and sketchbook work, I decided to try and test out using the cintiq to digitally mock up a linocut, experimenting with contours and mark making.
I've just chosen a scolds bridal image in order to see if I can experiment with drawing more in the way that I cut. That way, there's less error in the translation of the drawing to the cut. I can be more confident when carving that I'm coming out with the aesthetic I want.
It also gives me the opportunity to incorporate the mark making techniques I've been trying to develop.

At first, I tried setting a black background, turning down the opacity and rubbing out areas. But this felt really unnatural, weirdly enough, and didn't seem to work. I just ended up with a really rubbish scribbled sketch.

So after this I just tried to use the contouring to give the object form, and then rubbed away some parts of the lines. I added in background and surface texture too.
I'm not totally happy with it, because it's not that detailed or intricate. It looks pretty rough. But as an experiment, it's interesting to see the effect of the linework, and the difference in the final image compared to the solid black linos I usually make.

As I develop more on my drawing and mark making, deciding on the final designs, I'll probably use this digital process again.
Drawing in the lines before rubbing them out again is similar in a way to the scratchboard artist's techniques that I've looked at in Extended practice and brought across to CoP.
I think I'm still needing to develop on my designs a lot more before I'll be happy to start cutting finals.

Lino Print Roughs

Really rough ideas of potential prints:

I want to make sure that all of the prints work together as a cohesive set, but also have enough variation between them that they don't feel repetitive or tedious. Some of the crushing tools, for example, look quite similar, so I'll just one or two as long as they look different from each other. 

I really want the main point of interest to be in the quality of the cuts and the techniques of carving used. I definitely do want to experiment with the composition, but I'm not going to have that much to play around with as I'm mainly just focusing on clean illustrations of the objects themselves.

Contour Lines & Marks

Artists / Illustrators I've been looking at:

Tomas Shahan's woodcuts are so intricate and detailed. I love his depiction of light and dark, and his complex compositions. I want to try to emulate the form that he captures in areas of his work.

Hans Holbein is a reference that I've mentioned before, and for obvious reasons. He's created intricate, detailed work with clearly defined layers and sense of depth. He uses very few areas of solid black at all, and his use of line is really refined.

Mike from the print room put me on to Error Design, as they've got some pretty interesting hand printed work. I chose this example because of the communication of light on the hills/rocks and through the clouds in the background. Also the directional lines contouring the skulls.

Dürer, again, is an obvious one considering I've looked at his work within my dissertation. He captures an insane amount of detail in his ridiculously intricate woodcut series focusing on the Apocalypse. The directional lines are so fine, and his composition is incredible.

Michael Halbert is a scratchboard artist that I came across on Youtube. He draws all of his designs out in fineliner in intense detail on white scratchboard. Then he adds contour lines. He thickens the lines up in certain places, describing shadow or depth, and then finally he works back into it by scraping areas of the scratchboard away. He does this to sharpen lines, cut away shading, and add cross hatched highlights. He is ridiculously talented at fine pen drawings. I wish I had his talent and/or patience.

Nico Delort is another scratchboard artist, but I've chosen him because of the variation of tone and value in his work. Some of his line work is soft and subtle, and some is really sharp and aggressive. All of it describes form and texture really well. His illustrations are so striking, I absolutely love them. The variation of his mark making to describe different elements of the illustrations is what I find most inspiring.

Overall I want to practice mark making, and line drawings. I feel so out of practice having focused purely on carving flat, graphic linos for a while now.

Within my sketches I've been trying to introduce some contour lines and develop a sense of form, as well as build up some tone and vary the values. All with the use of line. It's been challenging in a way, because ordinarily I'll flatten things a lot when I draw them in order to fit a certain aesthetic when I linocut. I know that what I usually draw tends to look very different once I cut it.

At this stage I'm just trying to practice these contour lines, capturing the 3D form of something more than I usually do.

I've started by being quite free with it, like with the first Scolds Bridal sketch. This was really rough though, and it doesn't really make much sense. The lines are going in all different directions. Even if this worked as a sketch, this approach wouldn't work for linocut.

I moved on from it, trying to control the lines more to accurately describe the shape of the mask.
One of the small sketches, I based off a Holbein piece, where I noticed that he uses quite large areas of cut space with only small marks on the skulls and the foreground objects. The marks are then built up more in the background. This is great for small elements of a more detailed piece, but it wouldn't be striking or detailed enough for an A5 cut.

The Judas Chair isn't technically well drawn, (my light source is off and the line work isn't neat), but I was trying to get used to drawing in some directional lines / contour lines, and thinking about developing this to create areas of shadow etc.

I'm pretty pleased with the aesthetic of the thumbscrews. I know the structure isn't perfect but I can imagine this as a lino. It works well with the structured linework and the shading on the posts either side gives them form.

The Garrote - again, the light source isn't right but I'm just trying to get used to the way of thinking and drawing to cut. I like the way it's come out in regards to the contour lines and the sharp angles. This is another one that I can fully image as a cut plate.

I've been experimenting with line and cut some small lino tests, trying to explore the lines, textures and effects that I can achieve. Some of these I will take forward and incorporate into the final linos.

Practical Action Plan

- Made a new label OUIL601 Practical in order to identify the blog posts that relate to my practical response and find out what I'm lacking. Obviously research for essay and practical will overlap and weave in and out of each other, so it's not a means of completely separating the two. It's just a method of mine to see the direction of my practical work a little clearer, and check back at how I've blogged my thought processes and development.

- Making an intense effort to blog as I go along and ensure I'm properly communicating everything that someone needs to know in order to follow my thought process and the paths I've been taking

- Working like hell. I've designed a new time plan that means I'll be working my butt off in order to achieve everything that I want to. I wrote out a calendar to visualise exactly how much time we have left. I've tried to plan out when I will be cutting my linos, allowing a bit of time for flexibility.

- My main aim is to have my linos all cut for the 21st. I will test print them as I go, like I usually do, but will actually test print them properly, registering them and formatting them correctly after xmas. This is when I'll work on the presentation of the prints. I'm trying to plan getting stuff done early so that if I go off track, it doesn't impact me too much.

- I also want to get my essay finished just before the xmas break. I'm not sure how realistic this is as I won't have my feedback until next week. I'm hoping that it's a reasonable target. There may be a chance that Chapter 4 is hard to complete before I have a substantial amount of my practical work done. In which case, I'll be bullet pointing the chapter as accurately as possible and filling in the gaps as I go.

- I've been so worried about the essay that I put the practical on the back-burner. Although I've been researching for it alongside my essay, and beginning to create work, I haven't been pushing this far enough and really exhausting ideas. I'm determined to change this now. I'm disappointed in myself but there's no point in moaning about it.

Following Peer Review...

From this point onward I'll:
- Blog decision making, evaluations, reflections and practical development
- Work with 40 credits in mind. This should be a substantial outcome
- Prep questions for the final tutorial next week
- Look back through ILOs and module info to make sure I'm familiar with it all
- Double check dissertation guidance information
- Read back through CoP Lectures, especially 'Resolving research project' notes
- Look out for dissertation binding information
- Read over submission details

The FINAL CRIT will be on Friday 6th January for which I need:
- Final resolutions
- Relevant supporting work
- Proposed outcomes
- Design boards
- 250 word statement clarifying the project rationale and evaluating synthesis

This should all make sense as a body of work to somebody else looking at it
It is the final opportunity for any feedback
It should be all of the work that I am submitting the following Thursday 12th January

Consider:
- How I'm going to present my CoP3 practical project
- It has to speak for itself
- How can I best design my presentation boards?

For the submission on Thursday 12th January:
- P L A N  A H E A D
- Factor in the time for issuu documents, blogging, evaluations, presentations, binding and hand in
- The practical needs to be really well presented. Consider the format in the same way that I have to consider the format of the dissertation.

BLOG EVERYTHING 
- Will lose the opportunity for any feedback is my work is not on my blog

Peer Review: Practical

Today's peer review of the practical side of this module put a lot of stuff into perspective.

It was a wake up. I know that I've split my time unevenly and dedicated far more time to the research and writing of my dissertation. From this point on, it's absolutely vital that I pull my finger out with the practical work. I know what it is that I want to achieve but I haven't been doing it.

At this point now, I have research, concepts, sketches, specific ideas for my outcome and some beginnings of compositional roughs. However I need to carry out tests and really explore lino.
After all, the whole point of this practical element is to get good at lino cutting and produce some really beautiful work.

For today's peer review I made some design boards demonstrating the direction of my work:

The feedback that I got was positive in some respects. However, I'm aware of my downfalls already and know that I need to produce far more work, blog more, really explore linocutting and experiment, refine the ideas and come out with some really well crafted, high quality prints.

One thing that was pointed out was the idea that my practical doesn't relate to the theories I have learnt about in the research for my dissertation. I will address this properly in a separate post, where I will analyse the aspect of synthesis and my thoughts and feelings regarding the project.

I'm fully aware that I don't have all that much time left, but I'm also aware of how I work and am confident that I can pull this back in my favour, and make the project work for me through hard grafting and no-life-ing it.

In the second half of the crit, I came up with a visual explanation of my project proposal. It contained roughs of potential outcomes, and details of the format, number, scale, processes etc. I pitched it to the group.

Feedback following the review: 
- Great that I'm considering stock, paper quality and printing methods
- Ask print room staff about slight embossing when printing linos. I think this would have a really great effect, adding an additional tactile element to the prints
- The leather wrap is an effective approach for presentation that could look really beautiful and authentic.
- Embossing the leather could be difficult, have I thought about laser cutting it? Is it even necessary?
- The idea of the illuminated letter ties the whole project together and is really relevant to the time period I'm looking into
- One colour could be more effective and more relevant to old woodcut imagery than two. Also less time consuming, meaning I can spread my focus across multiple outcomes instead of spending too much more time on each one.
- Focus on creating really well refined designs, and really push the quality of the linos. If this means making 8 instead of 12, it doesn't matter.

I'm hoping that because I'm a key holder, this will make it slightly easier for me to access the print room. However, I'm not relying on this because LOADS of people will be approaching deadlines and needing the facilities. I want to make sure I'll be able to get into the room after xmas (which is realistically when all of my linos will be finished) so I'll check with the print room staff as soon as possible.

I was concerned about this peer review, because I was aware that I had fallen behind with the practical work. But I'm so glad of it, because it's given me that kick up the arse that I need, and made me realise that if I knuckle down now, I still have the opportunity to make a really successful project.

As long as I focus on:

- Blogging: Everything. Make a note of all practical work, all thoughts, directions. Practical, conceptual and theoretical developments - to demonstrate synthesis.

- Practical Production: Don't just talk about ideas. Actually MAKE them.

- Proposed Contextualisation and Distribution: Formats / scale / media etc. What do I need to do before I leave for xmas?

- Realistic Time and Project Management: Set time scales / work out the time I have left and what I need to achieve. Is it achievable?

- Reflection and Evaluation: Do it as I go. Blog. Annotate all points to ensure effective communication of my thought processes and ideas

Mark Making in Relief Printing / Digital Mocks

I came across this video when I was looking on youtube for lino cutting techniques. The references at the beginning are really interesting, and the majority of them use line really well to create tone and vary the value within the images.
This is something I want to be able to do. Use line in a way that helps to balance out the values, but also in a way that describes form, like Tomas Shahan says.

Watching another of his videos, it's making me realise that I'm struggling with the process of translating my drawings into the lino cut.
A lot of the time, I draw the rough sketch, and maybe accent the areas that will be highlights or shadows, then once I transfer the image onto the lino to cut it, I tend to wing it. I make it up as I go along a bit and just draw with the cutting tool.

Because this project is all about the quality, I really don't want to go through this process. Mainly because on occasion it's failed and I've realised as I've been cutting that it isn't going to turn out the way that I want it to. So I kind of wing it again even more to make it work.

I had the idea after watching this video, that maybe I could be mocking these up digitally and planning them using photoshop. That way, I can fill a blank canvas with a colour, and use the eraser tool / a white brush to rub away the areas that I would cut.
This might help me to visualise what the cut will look like far better.
It also means that I can scale the design to whatever size I want, print it and then transfer it.
Because that's another issue that I've had in the past - trying to draw and redraw a design to the right size.

The image above shows layers of a digital sketch, that is then treated in the same way as a woodblock to create the more refined drawing.

I think this image above is just demonstrates that although the design is relatively simple, the texture and tone created by the line work really makes it.
Also it's a reminder to consider printing finishes and paper colour etc. The debossing adds a real quality and tactile element.

Dissertation Draft - Thoughts / Evaluation

I struggled in some ways with writing the draft. Mainly due to the fact that I was still reading as I was writing in some cases. I find it hard not to do this, but this draft has given me a cut off point for the research.

I'm not researching any more.

The research that I have up to this point, I believe is strong and pretty extensive. It's informing me well enough to give me a good understanding of the contextual background of my essay. I'm understanding the historical, social and psychological elements that I'm writing about.

I've also read a fair amount to inform my contemporary counterpart in Chapter 3, learning about relevant theories. At this stage I need to stop worrying about finding more and more information.

Even with the information that I have now. I've realised something important. Although I've been more specific with my project, and although at first the idea of writing 9000 words was terrifying, I'm actually struggling to keep the word count down! Elements of my topic are broad, and I'm struggling to stay concise. There's always still so much more I can write.

And even though this is a bit frustrating, I'm seeing it as being a positive thing... That I actually have too much to say as opposed to not having enough.

I had an issue when trying to write chapter 3, I felt like something wasn't clicking. I think what I've been doing is overthinking and overanalysing instead of just getting the information down.

I went through a period when writing it, of constantly questioning myself and second guessing what I'm writing about. Never that I wasn't interested, and never that I was second guessing my subject choice or anything. I just felt like what I want to say is too big for me. I kept side stepping into points that were pulling me in a different direction and so what I've struggled with is staying specific and focused.

I did end up going over the word count in both chapters 2 and 3, by between 400 and 800 words. I think this will be easy enough to rectify after receiving feedback as I'll be more aware of what it is that needs to be omitted. ... Hopefully...!

I'm proud of myself that I've pushed through the parts that I've been struggling with, and am feeling as though it's a bit of a weight off my chest now that I've finished this first draft.

Part of me is a bit apprehensive that I could have to change a looooaddd of it or something. But for now my focus needs to be on the practical side of my project, which as of now is severely lacking!!

Time management has never been my strong point, so it's vital that I organise myself for the final month or so of this module.

I really really want to do well. I've never been the biggest fan of CoP, so would love to be able to look back on this module to see that it finally made sense to me and that I managed to produce something that I can be proud of.


---------------

As an additional note, when it came to moving the information about the Cathars to Chapter 3, I could not get it to fit right. It didn't feel as if it flowed. It appeared to be an irrelevant piece of information. However, due to the way in which witches were treated in the same way as heretics, I felt it was important to keep the information in the essay. So I left it in Chapter 2, but altered and refined it as much as I could in order to get it to flow and contribute, as opposed to seeming like a big block of information in the middle of the chapter.

Woodcut

Just using wiki to read up a little about woodcut

In Europe, woodcut is the oldest technique used for old master prints, developing about 1400, by using, on paper, existing techniques for printing. One of the more ancient woodcuts on paper that can be seen today is The Fire Madonna (Madonna del Fuoco, in the Italian language), in the Cathedral of Forlì, in Italy.

The explosion of sales of cheap woodcuts in the middle of the century led to a fall in standards, and many popular prints were very crude. The development of hatching followed on rather later than engraving. Michael Wolgemut was significant in making German woodcuts more sophisticated from about 1475, and Erhard Reuwich was the first to use cross-hatching (far harder to do than engraving or etching). Both of these produced mainly book-illustrations, as did various Italian artists who were also raising standards there at the same period. At the end of the century Albrecht Dürer brought the Western woodcut to a level that, arguably, has never been surpassed, and greatly increased the status of the single-leaf woodcut (i.e. an image sold separately).

As woodcut can be easily printed together with movable type, because both are relief-printed, it was the main medium for book illustrations until the late-sixteenth century. The first woodcut book illustration dates to about 1461, only a few years after the beginning of printing with movable type, printed by Albrecht Pfister in Bamberg.

Michael Wolgemut woodcut:

Synthesis

I feel as though this project is still cohesive, and the practical and written both tie in well with each other. At first I was concerned that I was branching off a bit randomly, but I'm finding that it really makes sense and the common themes between the essay and the practical are clear. The tools of torture and punishment all stand for symbols of repression and control. In the same way, the concept of persecuting witches / witch hunting stood as repression and control. Although I'm not illustrating the essay, there is still a clear link between the two.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to document my thought process clearly enough to communicate this throughout my project, and make proper use of the opportunity to explain in Chapter 4 of my dissertation.

Practical Presentation Considerations

Rough sketches of potential presentation ideas following the tutorial with Fred:

- A5 size cuts, given space and a wide border by printing on A4 paper

- 12 prints on high quality stock, preferably torn edges. Experiment with white / off white

- Page of text accompanying print, featuring an illuminated letter. Or, if I have time, a brief explanation of each print ft. illuminated letter. 

- Can I hand letter the text or should it be digitally printed? Digital print may take away from the process, but hand lettering could be really difficult in the appropriate kind of style - ink pen / dip pen / calligraphic?

- All prints presented in a box? 

- Wrapped in tissue then boxed?

- Leather strap keeping them all together?

- Piece of leather / heavy cloth to wrap around all prints like a book binding?

- Could leather be embossed / printed onto in some way? Does it need to be?

- Wrapped together with some kind of ribbon / string?

- Some kind of seal? Printed / stamped / embossed / wax seal?? 

Tutorial 4 - 24/11

In today's tutorial, it was a bit of a briefing on the interim submission and the practical element of the project. 

I had some questions about the structure of my essay that were answered, which I think will help me to write more fluently and finish my draft for the submission on Sunday.

Campbell and Jung should be addressed in my introduction, so that I can reference back to them in my Chapter 3 without having to define them.

I am feeling confident in my practical ideas, but I know that I'm behind on my blog, and I don't have all that much development work. I've struggled with managing my time and splitting it between the two elements of this module. 

I feel as though I've been spending a lot of time on writing and I definitely should have spent more on producing practical work. 

It's been suggested that alongside our practical proposals, we have a plan b. Just in case some things don't go to plan. Check print bookings before and after xmas. Have a 'worst case scenario'.

My whole project is about quality and presentation

So what is my minimum amount of outcomes necessary that still convey what I want them to? E.g. If - worst case - I can't get 12 prints made, can I focus on making 6 really beautifully refined ones? Might mean that I'm not rushing and that they are of a higher quality.

What do I need to have to answer my brief?

Consider my propositions - e.g. an exhibition of prints. I don't have to plan an exhibition, just propose in some way.

Consider final presentation of prints. Do they come with a transcript?

For interim submission:

Introduction

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Bullet point Chapter 4

Bullet point Conclusion

To do:

For practical, get up to date with blogging

Consider timescales and access to print facilities

Consider print quantity and scale

Practical: Outcome Considerations

I don't want to draw people in the illustrations, I want to keep it specific to the tools and contraptions. As I've sketched, I haven't enjoyed drawing the victims, I don't want it to be about that.

The way that I draw people would not suit the tone of voice that I'm looking for. I want the images to have a really mature feel about them; really well developed illustrations.

I'm not confident linocutting people / faces etc. Plus I find that it takes away from the whole feel of the prints.

I don't want it to be instantly 100% apparent what the torture tool is.

I also don't want them to look gruesome. I want them to look beautiful, but the idea of them is gruesome.

When people fist look at the prints they should see the process first. The illustration secondly, and consider the concept after that.

This project is all about getting better at a skill, and developing on what I already know. Therefore the emphasis is on the quality and the aesthetic.

I've also been considering the colours. I always use black, alwayyyysss. And although I'm looking at old woodcuts, that also use black, I want to push myself away from this if possible. I think it will mean that there is more of a focus on the details of the lino cuts, as the high contrast and high impact of black on white won't be the first thing you see. So in keeping with the historical feel, I'm considering sepia tones or a deep gold of some sort. This is something I can experiment with the more work I produce. There is a chance though that black just has more impact and looks better.. I'll have to see as I go.

Sketchbook Update

I'm trying to ensure that my sketchbook work is exploratory of drawing, and that I'm not just documenting things then totally moving on. Obviously I'll be selecting certain objects I've been drawing to revisit them later for further development. But I started sketching some shame masks and trying to capture some kind of texture and form using line. I tried to add some contour lines on some of them, for example the hog-like mask. But I was way too rough and sketchy, and didn't really consider it very much because it ended up giving the mask a completely wrong texture. It looks like a wicker basket .. So I'm going to have to consider this far more and experiment with different mark making to try to achieve the texture I want whilst getting the old woodcut aesthetic I'm after.

Kriminalmuseum Rothenburg

I suddently remembered that I have photos from the Kriminalmuseum in Rothenburg from when I visited Germany a couple of years ago. I could potentially use these to draw from:

Campbells Monomyth / Storytelling & Brothers Grimm

The Golden Age of Folk & Fairy Tales

Zipes, J. (2013). The Golden Age of Folk & Fairy Tales. USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., p.xxxiii.

One of the books I got out about the Brothers Grimm drew a parallel with what I've been reading about Campbell's functions of myth & storytelling patterns etc...

On discussing the 'pure German' nature of the Grimm's tales...The Grimms recognising in their collecting of stories that their tale types could be found in many other countries across Europe.

'Undoubtedly, the tales revealed more about the particular conditions experienced by the storytellers about their "national" identity. At the same time, they also reflected and continued to reflect that humans throughout the world invent and use stories in very similar ways to expose and articulate common problems and struggles as well as their wishes to overcome them.'

'This human urge to tell and to share experiences so that listeners might find ways to adapt to the world and improve their situation account for the utopian current especially in wonder and fairy tales. We tell and retell tales that become relevant in our lives, and the tales themselves form types that we use in our telling or reading to address carious issues such as child abandonment, the search for immortality, sibling rivalry, incest, rape, exploitation and so on.'

Campbell Quote = Challenge to The Burning Times

In contrast with 'The Burning Times' when feminist & witch Starhawk says:
'...for around 5000 years or longer we have been propagandised really to fear women's power...'

BILL MOYERS: There are women today who say that the spirit of the goddess has been in exile for 5,000 years, since the events that you…

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Well, not that… you can’t put it that far back. 5,000 years. She was a very potent figure in Hellenistic times in the Mediterranean. And she came back with the Virgin in the Roman Catholic tradition. I mean, you don’t have a tradition with the goddess celebrated any more beautifully and marvellously than in the 12th and 13th century French cathedrals, every one of which is called “Notre Dame.”

Moyers, B. (2014). Ep. 5: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth — ‘Love and the Goddess'. [online] www.billmoyers.com. Available at: http://billmoyers.com/content/ep-5-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-love-and-the-goddess-audio/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2016]

Essay Progress

Following my tutorial, I separated my essay out and split the information between the 2 chapters.

I now have 3504 words for Chapter 2.

Obviously, I need to reduce this down which I will do when I cut out the mass of info about the Cathars, some of which can potentially go into Chapter 3 instead.

Chapter 3 plan

Considering the importance of Triangulation throughout the essay, I've chosen 3 examples for each of the 2 archetypes of the witch and will compare / contrast between them.

- Because of the female focus in the witch craze, how were the women perceived? 2 Stereotypes of the witches. What characteristics did they have and why? Hag being the pagan wise woman. Seductress being the epitome of female sexuality. 400 words

- 'Why are these stereotypes of the witch enduring images?'
- Jung's Archetypes and Campbells Theories of myth - 200 words

- The Hag - 200 words
- Example: Historical - Durer - 200 words
- Example: Contemp - Grimm - 200 words
- Example: Contemp - Drag Me To Hell - 200 words

- The Seductress - 200 words
- Example: Historical - Durer - 200 words
- Example: Contemp - Grimm - 200 words
- Example: Contemp - Game of Thrones - 200 words

- Mini Conclusion: - 200 words
- Why are these representations of women as witches enduring images? Why do their characters still exist in film, art, literature etc today? Have they changed? - The Teen Witch. As a symbol of female power. Empowering young women.
- Link back to Jung and Campbell

Sex in Medieval Europe

In relation to sex being the force behind the seductress witch

...‘abstinence and adherence to the aims of nature became the basic tenets of Christian sexual teaching. No sex at all should be the highest Christian ideal…’ (Brundage, 1987, p.577)

p. 162

Brundage, J. (1987). Law, sex, and Christian society in medieval Europe. 1st ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p.577.

Campbell's Monomyth Applied to Melisandre

'Monomyth' / 'Hero's Journey' Elements & 'Archetype' applied to Melisandre - GoT

In this case I'm treating Stannis as the hero, even though his story doesn't actually follow the hero's journey through to the end. This is in order to highlight the character of Melisandre, or the Red Woman / Red Priestess. Game of Thrones characters are pretty complex and their stories are often really interwoven so I'm trying to draw parallels against the Monomyth and Archetypes in order to relate to the question of why the witch figure is an enduring image. 

In Melisandre's case she epitomises the Seductress form of the witch character. She is a contemporary example of the description of the sexual temptress that lures men in order to get what she wants. In the case of Stannis she achieves control over him in order to direct his actions to supposedly reflect and favour the will of her god, the Lord of Light. 

Melisandre has a striking appearance in contrast with her surroundings. She is tall, slim, pale, with red hair and red clothing. She is immune to the cold and doesn't wear much considering her environment. She is aligned with the archetypal image of the seductress witch as she uses both her magic and her body as tools of manipulation against men. 

She acts as 'Supernatural Aid' and close counsellor to Stannis. Offering 'help' to the 'true king' through information, prophecy, and ultimately through manipulation. She convinces him to follow the Lord of Light, ensuring him that she has prophesied his victory, although we actually see that this leads Stannis to defeat. She represents the 'Meeting with the Goddess' as she and Stannis form a bond in that he feels gives him greater power.

Her character is heavily sexual, and lives to serve her god. This sees her performing rituals, or convincing others to perform rituals that are essentially just glorified murder. Her character is so influential on Stannis that she takes advantage of his desperation as his attempts in battle fail, and even convinces him to brutally burn his own child at the stake, in the name of the Lord of Light and for the good of his cause. We see that nothing comes of this except more death and defeat. 

Melisandre carries out ceremonial or ritual magic, most of which revolves around her sexuality. For example when she retrieves royal blood from Gendry, she ties him to a bed and removes her clothes, taking advantage of his arousal to draw his blood with leeches. 

Game of Thrones sounds really mental when you write about it...

Basically she's always getting her kit off. (<-- Not putting this in essay)

She convinces Stannis that she can provide him with a son, resulting in him giving in to his carnal urges despite having a wife. Although later it isn't a child she bears but a supernatural shadow assassin. HA! whaaat? Also in regards to her sexuality, we see her try to tempt Jon Snow to have sex with her, but he rejects her advances. She is the 'Woman as Temptress'.

Supernatural Aid

Description: Some help is given to the hero, sufficient to make them wiser and stronger, and hopefully better able to face the challenges of the adventure. The aid given may include maps, information, weapons or some special talisman. It may be discovered by the hero, but is often furnished by a mentor of some kind. The hero may also be joined by a companion of some kind or perhaps an entire party, who will provide help along the way but cannot do what the hero must do. Discussion: The hero starts out as an ordinary person who would perhaps not be able to defeat the terrible opponents who will block his path. The aid acts to redress the balance somewhat, giving the hero some chance of success. Depending on the story, the aid may be magical or supernatural in nature. In 'real world' stories where magic is not allowed, then more normal aid may be given, such as where an older detective gives sage advice to the enthusiastic young rookie. A critical attribute that the mentor often gives is confidence. This gives the hero the ability to accept the call and face the slings and arrows of the unknown adventure. Note that this aid must not be too powerful or else there would be no excitement in the story. An 'invulnerability suit' would likely be just too boring. Thus, for example, Frodo's ring has the downside of trying to take over his mind and exposing him to Sauron's gaze. The hero's companions serve both as support, much as a football team who makes the space for the actual score. Companions also act as contrast, throwing light onto the hero and highlighting their special and heroic qualities. The Meeting with the Goddess Description:

On the road, the hero may meet a powerful female figure with whom he find unity and bonding of some kind. The goddess may be a mystical or supernatural being or she may be an ordinary woman with whom the hero gains support and synergy. Discussion: The goddess represents the female side of the hero (his anima) which, if he can join, will make him whole. Joining with the goddess may indicate unconditional and perfect love. In combination, the hero and their other half form the syzygy of the 'divine couple' or the sacred marriage of a joining of souls and hence the hero gains greater power. In mythological history, one of the earliest representations is in the Greek story of the earth mother Rhea, who saves the baby Zeus from his Titan father, Kronos. The earth mother also appears across many cultures and represents the living embodiment of the planet. The mother figure symbolizes creation, birth and nurture and in Christian religion, Mary has special a position. When the hero is female, then this may be a reversal, with her meeting a God who represents her animus.

Woman as Temptress

Description: Along the way, the hero may meet temptation, often in female form. This offers the hero short-term relief or gratification but giving in to this urge would cause the mission to fail and prove the hero unworthy. Discussion: The purpose of the temptress is to test (and hence demonstrate) the integrity of the hero by placing easy gratification or other gain in their path. By refusing this, the hero demonstrates himself to be true to heroic values and dedicated above all else to achievement of the primary goal. In contrast with the perfect love of the goddess, meeting the temptress represents material and carnal love that, whilst providing short-term pleasure has no longer-term value. Where the journey has a spiritual nature, the temptress may represent material things or the physical flesh of the hero and associated passions. The temptation may be deliberate and perhaps sent by the villain. It may also happen by chance. The Goddess may also play a role of temptation. Temptation can have uncertain outcome, perhaps even helping the hero, such as when the goddess has some tempting element. This may be used to further test the hero's ability to make difficult judgements. Mythology is full of temptresses, from goddesses who seduce humans to nymphs and sirens. Gods also are sometimes beguiled by human women. In the broader sense, the temptress represents temptation of any kind or distraction away from the hero's main task. In the Christian religion, Eve represents temptation. Mary Magdalene is also portrayed this way, although she repented and can represent the recognition of woman by woman of their power to tempt. Men are easily tempted by women, but it is less archetypal the other way around. Female heroes may or may not meet with male tempters -- the real concern is with temptation rather than gender. Changingminds.org. (n.d.). Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' Monomyth. [online] Available at: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/hero_journey/hero_journey.htm [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].