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Printmaking By: Gabriella Torres

Posted by Gabriella Torres in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on
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My element is Germanium and the atomic number is 32. Germanium has been known as one of the useful elements known to be used for semiconductor industries. Germanium is used long during metals in compression pumps and fluorescent lamps.I first searched up compression pump levers which were very basic so I dug a little deeper and didn't go with something that is made from this element on a daily. From here, I decided to do a wide angle camera len that germanium is used in for the lens. I was able to   distinguish a way to show this by using negative and positive space. If I could print this a second time, I would like to try and experiment with mixed colors because I feel like it would of made the out lining pop more. I enjoyed the printing part because you were able to see the outcome of what you had created. 

Printmaking Element - Strontium - Jimmy Kry

Posted by James Kry in Art - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
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​My element was Strontium. The atomic number for Strontium was 38. Strontium are named after Strontian, a village in Scotland near which the mineral was discovered in 1790 by Adair Crawford and William Cruickshank; it was identified as a new element from it’s crimson-red flame test color. Strontium can increase the retention of calcium by the body, it is sometimes used to help prevent bone loss due to osteoporosis. It is known to contribute to the health of bones and teeth. It alludes to the presence of strontium in nuclear fallout. A soft, silvery metal that burns in air and reacts with water. Strontium is best known for the brilliant reds its salts give to fireworks and flares. It is also used in producing ferrite magnets and refining zinc. I researched strontium, clicked on images and saw there were images of crystals, so I used crystals as my idea for my imagery. It was hard getting all the detailed crystal lines and making sure when pressed onto the plate, that the pen won’t move everywhere. First, I had to trace my drawing on the tracing paper and trace/pressed it on the plate. I would probably do something other than a crystal because it was hard tracing it onto the plate. First, you draw your paper on a piece of paper or in a sketchbook. Second, trace the drawing from the sketch book onto the tracing paper. Third, flip your tracing paper to face the back of your drawing, then tape/paste it onto the white plate. Fourth, trace the drawing onto the plate and make sure your press down a little to see the drawing. Fifth, roll some paint onto the plate. Sixth, paste the plate onto a blank paper and then take a spoon and rub the plate. Seventh, peel the plate off of the paper. I enjoy putting paint onto my plate and pasting it onto the paper. I also enjoyed, ripping the paper because I found i satisfying.

Citations
“Strontium - Element Information, Properties and Uses | Periodic Table.” Royal Society of Chemistry - Advancing Excellence in the Chemical Sciences, www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/38/strontium.

Printmaking

Posted by Alexander Guigar on
2018-05-31 10-23
2018-05-31 10-23
My element was barium and it's number 56. Barium is not a very useful element. It is unstable in air or water so there's not much we can do with it. The only thing people use Barium for are fireworks and stomach x-rays. I got the idea to use a witch in my picture because after some research, I found out Baium has history in Witchcraft. Because Barium reacts with air and starts to glow  if anyone was using or holding Barium it would be glowing because of the air. A long time ago people though the glowing was a sign that the person near it was a Witch. So I was inspired to draw a classic Witch. First I sketched through the drawing-a lot, then I use transparent paper to carve in my design with a pencil. Then I rubbed paint all over it and pressed it on a regular sheet of paper. This was how I made the print. I really enjoyed making the print because we had this cool roller to make an even coat of paint. And of course it made a really great result for a lot of work.

Element Printmaking

Posted by Alyssa Williams on
​I was assigned Nickel for my project, Nickel is a chemical element with a symbol of Ni and an atomic number of 28. Nickel was first discovered in 1751 by Alex Fredrik Cronstedt. My element is often used to plate other metals to protect them from corrosion, it is also used in toasters and hot ovens because it resists corrosion even when very hot. Nickel is also used in coins, the Nickel (5 cents) is 25% nickel. 

For my image, I got my inspiration while reading an article on the history of Nickel. In this article I read that the name, Nickel, is the shortened version of the word Kupfernickel which loosely translates to "devils copper". This is why that the word copper is in the middle of my print. If you look on the "o" in Copper I drew devil horns on top of it, also on the end of the "r" I drew a devils tail. This is all to represent "devil's copper". 

I think that if I did this projectly differently I would not have written a word for my print. I would have put something symbolic to represent nickel. I would do this because I think it would make my project more interesting and engaging. Many of my classmates thought that my element was copper, I think that if I had done a symbol or something that represents Nickel my print would be much more thoughtful. My favorite part of the project was when we had to sketch out our designs on paper. This was my favorite part because it taught me a lot, I had to redo my sketch of my element many times, I also changed ideas many times. I think that this was a good experience because I also got frustrated a lot but I pushed through and came up with a pretty good element print. I also liked this part because of the freedom we had, we could draw anything that we wanted to represent our elements and we were really able to use our imaginations. 

Slideshow and Artist's Statement - Emmett Tsai-McCarthy

Posted by Emmett Tsai-McCarthy in Advanced Art · Hull · y1 Band on
Like last quarter, I used digital as the medium for all my drawings.  It's good practice after all.  Speaking of good practice, I found the Figure Drawing assignment to be very helpful in drawing women.  I haven't got much practice drawing the female form so the assignment gave me a reason to actually do so.  I also haven't been consistently using outlining when drawing figures, so it was also helpful in the sense that it made me realize the importance of drawing outlines and then adding everything on top.
Both the Line and Texture Drawings helped me practice drawing small details.  Trying to create the illusion of feathers and fur was what i was mainly trying to learn, but it was also very helpful to learn how to draw things like the texture of vegetables (i.e. peppers, onions, etc.).  The Value Drawing let me explore the textures found in the "brush library" of my digital drawing program as well.
The Illusion of Space Drawing helped me with.  .  . well, the illusion of space.  More specifically, it helped me draw hands that are in the foreground, and the body in the background.  It was also good practice for shading, even if all the effort of shading was only on the hand.  Either way, that's all I really did to make the drawing look third dimensional.  Because of that, I was worried anything else would look bad, so I just did the same thing for the Elements of Art Drawing, which is somewhat disappointing.  I thought it came out nice anyway, so I'm not complaining.

Printmaking

Posted by Xin Yi Zou in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on

My element is Mercury (Hg) and the atomic number is 80. Mercury is the only transition metal that is at a liquid state of matter in room temperature. Mercury was used for thermometers. When mercury was first discovered in Egyptian tombs in 1500 BC. Later on, mercury was used for ointments by the Greeks and the Romans used mercury for cosmetics. In the past, we used mercury for thermometers, but today we don’t use thermometers anymore because scientists found out that mercury is dangerous.

I got the design of the print I made from where mercury is found. It was found in Egyptian tombs so the theme I chose was ancient Egypt to symbolize where mercury was originally found. The two symbols in the middle of the print are hieroglyphics and they means the letters h and g, which are the atomic symbol of mercury (Hg). On the top and bottom of the print is an ancient Egyptian pattern. The process of making this print was interesting because we didn’t use any machines to print the design, instead we used a baren to put pressure on the print and transfer the design.

I first drew out three different designs of the print and afterwards I chose one design and used parchment paper to trace over it. We used a plate and formed the design on it. We used printmaking ink to transfer our design onto paper. Instead of cutting out our print, we ripped it. If I can do the print the second time, I would use different materials to form the plate so the print would have different textures. The part I enjoyed the most was transferring the design onto the paper and applying the printmaking ink onto the plate. I like it because I thought it was interesting and fun to see how it would come out.


Printing Press (kfolly)

Posted by Kankoue Folly in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on

My element is Bromine and the atomic number is 87. Bromine is known as one of the useful elements for fires. Bromine is liquid but is a strong retardant which makes it so useful.It is toxic. Bromine is used in many areas such as agricultural chemicals, dyestuffs, insecticides, pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates. Some uses are being phased out for environmental reasons, but new uses continue to be found.Bromine compounds can be used as flame retardants.


Over the course of this project, I lost the foam paper two times and the third one I was kind of messed up from the scrubing thus resulting in the color distress in the print. I originally got the idea of fire for bromine because when I was researching Bromine I saw fire and learned it was a flame retardant. Overall I enjoyed the painting part of this project the most because it was fun and I interacted with some of my peers.


Printmaking

Posted by Tayah Brunson on
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 My element for this assignment was sodium. The atomic number for sodium is 11. Sodium was discovered in 1807 by Humphry Davy. The most common use today for sodium chloride (common salt) for cooking. Salt is also used for numerous other purposes; the other uses for sodium is to melt winter ice, baking soda,etc. Soda can either be a flavoring or a tool of everyday life in order to make it easier.The way I chose my image is by doing research and discovering the exact way sodium was discovered and how it is used. And that is when I found out that baking soda helps with the putting out of fires. 
      The way I made my final picture was a multistep process. First, I had to trace my picture into a clear paper template.Then, I had to trace it onto a foam template. Next, I made multiple copies with paint and paper. I did this in the span of about 3 art classes. I made copies until I was content with what I had. When I made my print I had to press it onto a blank piece of white copy paper and press on it in order to get the picture to transport from the stamp to the paper. Finally, I chose the copies that showed the picture clearly.
If I did this project a second time I would do a couple of actions differently. First, I would try to research a little harder in order for someone to be able to connect salt more to or to educate people about sodium more. Also I would make as many prints as needed because some of them did not have the right amount of paint come off on them and that made them look faded. When I had free time I could have helped the people that may have been struggling or running out of time to finish. Finally, if I had the opportunity to do this project again I would have made sure that I used more colors for my prints.
The part of the project I enjoyed the most is the freedom we had to choose what we wanted to represent the element that was assigned to us. Also I enjoyed that I learned while doing this project. We got to have trial and era on our own. It gave us opportunities to make a mistake and learn from it and correct it in order to get a product that was worth turning in. Basically I enjoyed the printing step because I was forced to depend on myself to know if I was finished. I became frustrated and corrected my mistakes and just continued with my project. 

Printmaking Process + Final Product

Posted by Zoe Kwasnicki on
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​My element was palladium whose atomic number is 46. Palladium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. Wollaston was a famed chemist of the time due to his creation of pure malleable platinum. From his studies and analysis surrounding platinum he discovered palladium, a rare metal that strongly resembles platinum and has the lowest melting point in the platinum group of metals. He revealed his discovery by selling a large quality of the metal to a mineral dealer and then anonymously posting flyers throughout London, describing the new metal’s properties. The metal was denounced at first as just a platinum-mercury alloy, however, Wollaston publicly proved these claims to be false during a talk with the Royal Society of London in which he revealed himself to be the true discoverer. His reason for keeping his identity anonymous was apparently because he wanted to be able to continue testing and experimenting with the metal before claiming it as his own. He did this in order to avoid any discrepancies with his reputation as a chemist - just in case some of his original tests/claims turned out to be false.
Palladium has many uses however it is mostly used in dentistry, the automobile industry, electronics, fuel cell production, and jewelry. In dentistry, palladium is used to make crowns and bridge restorations due to its economic availability, corrosion resistance, and solubility with other metals. In the automobile industry, it is used in catalytic converters which convert close to 90% of the harmful gases produced by cars (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide), into less harmful gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. In fact, over half of the world supply of palladium is used specifically for catalytic converters. In terms of electronics, palladium is widely used due to its electrical conductivity and reliability and is therefore most commonly found in MLCCs (Multi-Layer Ceramic chip Capacitors). MLCCs in turn store energy in broadcasting equipment such as cellphones, computers, high voltage circuits, and electric lighting. For fuel cells palladium is used as a catalyst and for jewelry it is valued as a cheaper alternative to platinum.
For my print I decided to focus on palladium's function as a filter in catalytic converters in cars as, after a few tests, it was the design I liked the most.
From there I traced the image from my paper sketch onto transfer paper which I then flipped onto my foam plate - I did the step with the transfer paper in order to ensure that the letters and numbers would not be backwards on my final print.
Once I traced the image onto my foam plate I printed the image onto paper using a variety of colors and chose the 3 images whose print was best.
After that I had to prep the images for matting so I used a ruler to protect the print and tore off the excess paper which is a traditional printmaking technique.
After that I matted two of the images, keeping one unmatted, while being sure to measure an exact one inch border around the prints.
I would not change anything in my process besides using more paint when printing and my favorite step was tearing off the excess paper when matting as it was very satisfying.

Vincent//Selenium// Chicken

Posted by Vincent Cammisa in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on
For art we were introduced to printmaking in class so what we were assigned was an element an we were to print something that was relatively related to the element and we were to also include the symbol for the element along with its atomic number. Sleniu was the element assigned to me and the symbol is Se with an atomic number of 34. Selenium was discovered in the 1817 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius.

For the first step we were to draft three sketches and we had to pick one for our final print. In the end i ended up picking my second choice the chicken which is high in selenium. but next we had to trace the drawing onto light tracing paper that we were able to see through both sides. This came in handy when we had to transfer the image on the tracing paper to the printmaking frame or board.  We had to put the image on backwards first, then we had to get some printmaking ink and spread that across a tray with a roller that we had to roll out until we heard a sticky sound then we would cover out printout with the ink then transfer it to printing paper. In the end i had fived done btu to hand in we have to matte one and not. To matte we have to rip the image out with a ruler that we put against the line. At that point we were finished.

If I were to do this again the only thing different was further develop my imagery to have a really cool printout, even though I am already happy with the wokj that I had produced. The best part though had to be doing the actual printing because it felt like you were doing something productive and it felt like something that I can teach everyone else
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IMG-2057 (1)
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Titanium Print!

Posted by Randy Le in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on
My element is titanium and the atomic number is 22. Titanium has been known as one of the useful but expensive elements known to our knowledge. Titanium is lighter than steel but is as strong which makes it so useful! Most of the times, titanium can be used for aerospace science. I first searched the SR-71 which is made of titanium but now it is a retired aircraft because satellites are now used as a more efficient way without using extra materials. From here, I decided that maybe a jet engine would be more unique because there are distinguishing ways to show this by using negative and positive space. If I could print this a second time, I would like to try and experiment with mixed colors because it would look better in my opinion. I loved the printing part because it was more physical and seeing the outcome of what you printed is so satisfying.  
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Final Printmaking Post-Rene Hart

Posted by Reneke Hart in Art - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on

  • What is your element? Name and atomic number

My element was Helium and it’s atomic number is one

  • Tell the reader about your element, history, function/use and so on.

Helium’s  name originates from Helios, which is the greek word for the sun. Helium was detected in the sun before it was found on Earth years after.In 1868, Pierre-Jules César Janssen noticed a yellow line in the sun while he was studying a solar eclipse.Sir Norman Lockyer, an English astronomer, realized that the yellow line could not be produced by any element known at the time.  It was guessed that a new element on the sun was responsible for the yellow emission. The element was named helium by Lockyer.Helium is not gravitationally bound to the earth. Helium gas is used to inflate blimps, scientific balloons and party balloons.It is used as an inert shield for arc welding, to pressurize the fuel tanks of liquid fueled rockets and in supersonic wind tunnels. It is also used in rockets.

  • How did you get the idea for the imagery you chose?

I felt like a balloon wouldn’t be original because many people know there’s helium in balloons. I did a blimp because I didn’t know helium was in blimps so I thought others probably wouldn’t know that too.

  • What process did you go through to make this print?

First I sketched out three 4x6 inch designs for my printmaking. One big thing I had to focus on was negative and positive space so I made sure not to draw too many details. After I finished all three of my sketches, I picked which one I thought was the best. From there, I got a thin piece of tissue paper that was also 4x6 inches. I placed the paper on top of my design and traced my design onto the tissue paper. One my design was on the tissue paper I grabbed a styrofoam 4x6” template where I would created my print. I flipped the tracing paper so I could trace my design backwards onto the template. When my template was finally finish I was ready to print. I spreaded printing paint on a plate so I could use my roller to as a paint brush for my template. After rolling a couple layers of paint on my print I took a white piece of paper, and placed my print backwards on the paper. I flipped the paper and print and used a wooden spoon to ensure my full design would get on the paper. Once I thought it was printed I lifted my template off slowly to look at my creation. I repeated the painting process two more times. Once I was finished I put my prints on the shelf to dry and washed off my template.

  • What would you do differently if you did this print a second time?

I would have taken more time to smooth the print out with the spoon because I felt like some prints could have came out better.

  • What part of the project did you enjoy the most? Describe the step and what you liked so much about it.

I liked the step where I smoothed my print with the wooden spoon because it felt soothing and it was fun to look at the results.


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IMG_E4629

Printing Project

Posted by Sarah Cohen on

For our final art project, we were each assigned an element. I was assigned the element Potassium which has an atomic number of 19. Potassium was discovered by Sir Davy Humprey in England in the year 1807. This was the first element to be isolated using the process of electrolysis. This is a process where an electric current to extract something from a piece of material. Before potassium was formally discovered potassium carbonate and animal fat were combined in order to make soap. This is what gave me the idea to make my print be of soap. I wanted to do something that not many people would know of. To do this, why not go back to the beginning?

Making the actual print took a few steps. The first step was to draft ideas for what our print was going to be. Once we had chosen our design we had to transfer it to a piece of tracing paper. Once this was done we etched the design onto a plate. Then you move onto printing. To do this, you first, roll ink onto your plate. Once this is done you put a paper on top of your plate and use a spoon to transfer the ink from a plate to your paper. After all of the prints are dried you can choose to either matt or not matt them. No matter which way you choose you have to cut out the leftover paper that is around your printed piece. If you do choose to matt you glue your printed square to piece of colored paper. Your final step is to measure out one inch from your image and then cut your paper using that measurement. Below is my final product


My final matted print
My final matted print

Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I think my favorite part was actually making my design- drawing it. I really liked getting to see an idea become more than an idea.

Looking back, if I could do this project over again I would probably want to spend more time working on the actual skill of printing the final product.


Element Print

Posted by Maureen Kelly in Art - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
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My element was Iron. It has atomic number 26. Iron has been for a long time.  People say it has been around since 3000 B.C. No one knows who discovered iron. Many people say that it came down on a meteor. Iron is used to manufacture steel and civil engineering. In the human body, iron is essential for blood production. I chose to make this design because of the discovery of iron. It came down in a meteor, so I drew meteors coming to earth with iron in them. To make this print, I first had to make sketches. Then, I had to trace this design on a piece of tracing paper. When is was time to put it on foam, I flipped the tracing paper so it would be backwards on the plate. I pressed my pencil into the paper and traced my design. When I actually printed, I rolled the ink onto my plate evenly and pressed it into my paper. It took a few times to get it perfect, but I eventually got the perfect print. If I were to do this project again, I would make my design have more depth. Looking at it now, it is a little flat and adding more depth would make this more interesting. My favorite part of this project was printing. It was fun to see my final product. The big reveal after you peeled back the paper was really fun. Overall, I loved this project and would do it again. 

Printmaking Blog Post

Posted by Lillian Bromley in Art - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on

  • What is your element? Name and atomic number

My element is Selenium. The atomic number is 34.

  • Tell the reader about your element, history, function/use and so on.

Selenium was discovered in 1817. It is a nonmetal element that is used in supplements, dandruff products, and it is also used in glass. Some people have a selenium deficiency, for which they take a selenium pill or supplement.

  • How did you get the idea for the imagery you chose?

Selenium is named after, Selene, the greek goddess of the moon. I chose to make my image the moon, because it was connected while not being too obvious.

  • What process did you go through to make this print?

I designed my idea, and put it on tracing paper. Once it was on the tracing paper I put it on the block using pressure. I then made the prints by rolling on ink and pressing them onto paper using a wooden spoon. I carefully pulled the paper away, let it dry and matted it.

  • What would you do differently if you did this print a second time?

I would make my atomic number and symbol easier to see, as they are a little blurred

  • What part of the project did you enjoy the most? Describe the step and what you liked so much about it.

We had to think of ideas for our print and I really liked making the concept and sketching out my ideas, I really like drawing so it was fun to think of new ideas and hash them out.

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IMG_2982 (1)

Printmaking Final Project

Posted by Ami Doumbia on
2018-05-31 09-43 (1)
My element is nitrogen which has the atomic number of 7. Nitrogen is an odorless and colorless unreactive gas that forms about 78 percent of the earth's atmosphere. It also makes up 3% of the human body. I got my idea of imagery for this element because when researching  I found out that nitrogen was first suggested to be called azote; and though it's not what we call it in english some languages do translate azote as nitrogen.
When making my prints I went through a lot of steps that had to be executed in a specific manner. First I had to sketch out my idea, but also make sure that I wasn't using any straight lines except for the numbers and little symbols. Then I went on to outlining my sketch on tracing paper which was pretty easy and after doing that I proceeded to retrace the outline onto the styrofoam sheet. This step was slightly difficult because since I chose a word to represent my element I had to retrace the word backwards. After all the tracing was done that's when the printing actually began. Printing, for this project, was rolling a thick layer of paint onto the styrofoam trace so that once it was placed and smoothed out on a piece of white paper the color would distinguish the positive and negative space.
If I were to do this project again I would change my design and try something different/more unique. Though this is true, my favorite part of this project was painting because I've never been able to work with paint in my own creative way. It also added an element of fun to a project that takes a lot of our grade.