Art Blog and Artist Statement

Printmaking is a medium of art that is made by carving pictures or designs on plates or blocks and stamping them into a surface. The ink allows artists to have very strong colors and high contrasts in the print. While engraving is one of the oldest art forms, relief printing techniques were first used by the Egyptians to print on fabric. However, printmaking first appeared in Europe in the 15th century. Johannes Gutenberg started to work on his printing press in 1436, but Master E.S. was one of the first to use initials as a signature on his plates. The subject of the prints also varied in different parts of the world. In Germany and the Netherlands the art was almost completely dominated by religious subject matter and Italian printmaking covered a more broad range. The Invention of printmaking was revolutionary for several reasons. For starters, no one had thought of using these techniques as a regular art form before. It also lasted longer that oil paintings and other mediums of art because the block was often made of wood or stone. It was also a new way for artists to show color and tone in their work. The print I chose is The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai. The print shows an ocean with large, restless waves. Amidst the blue and white waves you can see two tattered and beaten down canoes with rows of men in them taking shelter from the waves. In the background you can see a large, snow capped mountain. The piece has a lot of cool tones in the sky and the water and shows texture by creating wakes in the waves. The artist shows space by having a foreground in the ocean and a background with the mountain. I notice that the men in the bout are hunched down and have matching uniforms. I wonder if they were a part of some kind of crew or army. I also notice that the sky is grey and that the wakes are big and violent. I wonder if that means it is a big storm that these soldiers got trapped in.

A. Negative space is is the empty space around the subject of an image.

B. I found the negative space in my cut out by tracing the lines of the tree and cutting out the darker parts.

C. Seeing in negative space helps an artist because they can make their subject more defined, interesting, and detailed.

D. I think seeing in negative space enhances some drawings because if you want to depict a sharp image with high contrast, it can help get your message across to the viewer.