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Titanium Print!
Final Printmaking Post-Rene Hart
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.
Printing Project
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
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
Printmaking Blog Post
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.
Printmaking Final Project
Printmaking Blog Post
Element Print (Fluorine)
Element Print
Q4 BM: Voyage of the Fallen Sun
Element Print
My element is Tungsten, or Wolfram as it is sometimes called. Its atomic number is 74. Tungsten has the highest melting point and boiling point of all the elements that have been found. It is a transition metal. My element was found in 1783 by two brothers in Spain. They found it when they isolated it from acid. Tungsten can be used for a lot of stuff from military weapons to lights bulbs and x-ray tubes.
I got the idea to do a cello because I learned that Tungsten is used for one of the strings on the cello. The C string on most cellos are made with Tungsten. Because Tungsten is so dense, it gives the C string extra projection. Since this is a less known use, I decided to do that.
First, I sketched out what my cello would look like in my art sketchbook. Then I traced it onto the tracing paper Ms. Hull gave us. After that I traced it onto styrofoam. From there, I painted it and put the image onto paper.
If I was to do this project again I would have a more interesting texture in the back and I would try to indent more so the image is clearer.
The part of the project that I enjoyed most was painting the styrofoam and putting onto the paper with a wooden spoon. I enjoyed this because it was fun and gave me a better understanding of negative space.