Printmaking-Londyn Edwards
My element was gold (Au) with the atomic number 79. Gold is considered the most malleable metal of all in addition to being a good electricity conductor that doesn’t tarnish and alloys well with other metals. The element Gold was discovered in America in January 1848 by James W. Marshall. This finding resulted in the 1849 California gold rush. Gold has been being used for centuries with its earliest uses being in the crowns and headdresses of Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs and Queens. Today, it is commonly used in jewelry, as money, in dentistry and medicine, electronics and technology, aerospace, and for medals and awards.
I got the idea for the imagery I chose by trying to think of things that had the potential to be made out of gold. Immediately, jewelry came to mind, but Ms.Hull advised for us to think outside of the box and eventually, I thought of the fact that many of the awards given at prestigious award shows are either dipped in or made of 24k gold. I started out by researching a little bit about my element to find out some more things I may not have already known. Second, I brainstormed different ways to represent gold and solidified my ideas by researching if the symbol was actually made of gold. Next, I narrowed down my ideas to one and began sketching it out in my sketchbook. After that, I minimized my sketch, inverted it (so that it was backwards), and transferred it to a 4x6 piece of tracing paper. I imprinted my design into the printfoam and began to roll paint over my design. Finally, I pressed my paint covered printfoam onto a piece of paper and pressed the foam down so the paint would transfer.
If I were to do this print a second time, I would spend less time trying to sketch out a design. It took me a while to sketch out my design, only to realise that it probably wouldn’t fit within the size constraints so, it made me start printing a little late meaning my printing process was a little more rushed than it had to be.
Ironically enough, the part of the project I liked the most was brainstorming and sketching out ideas of what I could do. I was excited to have the element gold because it was a pretty easy element to find symbols of since gold is really popular and very familiar to our society but, it was also really interesting to try to think outside the box for something atypical to represent the element. I came up with a few ideas, and even had my friends give me some ideas, then it was time to sketch out a final design. Sketching was enjoyable because it gave me time to focus and despite all the noise usually in the room, it gave me peace of mind to think and focus on the way my pencil was gliding across the paper.
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