Part 2: Project 6: Single Block Print: Further Work

I’m starting to get decent consistent prints from this plate now. This is from using Japanese Hosho paper, oil based ink and by hand-burnishing only. The following prints will be submitted for Task 2, Assignment 2.

I tried adding gradations to the colour in the green print on Hosho paper. I think it’s quite effective, as though the sunlight is touching areas and leaving others in shade.

I feel that this piece, though initially inspired by a scene created by Jane Dignum “Poppies on the Allotment”, has more to do with the dictates of the governing state, as symbolised by an historical monument – St Albans Abbey – and how people’s lives, whether in their best interests or otherwise, have been and remain controlled from the top down. The eye travels down from this monument through the suggested toil of the land to individuals themselves as they go about precious leisure time. These people are essential elements of a scene to lend life as well as scale. They are also rendered almost insignificant by the vast wealth and magnitude of the institutions that govern them from afar.

In short, hopefully I have managed to express my feelings about the status quo under the guise of a simple image representing our much loved green and pleasant land.