Expecting the Expected


Comparing the book “Taming of the Shrew” to the film “Bridesmaids”

Romance has been around for decades, and similar patterns seem to be clear by comparing the book, “Taming of the Shrew” from the 1500’s, to a fairly recent romantic comedy, “Bridesmaids” from 2011. Both examples have similar relationships, were in Taming of the Shrew Petruchio a bold and masculine character pursues to marry the infamously difficult Katherine, likewise, where the main character Annie is seen as difficult and complicated, where she can’t manage to handle a relationship with genuine and kind officer Rhodes. In a relationship, in both the book and the movie demonstrate how clashing expectations often cause another partner to change accordingly or to be changed so that a relationship might work. Although, in the movie and the book, Petruchio and Rhodes take on different tactics to effectively fix their significant other to have the ideal relationship.


“What, will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see

She is your treasure, she must have a husband,

I must dance barefoot on her wedding day

And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell.

Talk not to me. I will go sit and weep

Will I can find occasion of revenge.”

(Act 2, Scene 1, 34-77)


At the beginning of his scene of this scene, Katherine and her sister Bianca bickering about marriage. Katherine, being the older sister is frustrated by the fact that no man expresses interest in marriage unless it is with her younger sister. She is also often being overlooked by her father, where he only has his best interest for Bianca. Many suitors only are drawn to Bianca because of her endearing personality that many of them find very attractive opposed to Katherine who is very unpleasant at the beginning of the play. Katherine quickly becomes frustrated and expresses her feelings. She makes it clear that she is well aware that Bianca is the prefered daughter and that she is upset that she has not found someone to marry unlike her sister. With that said, this shows the audience the character Katherine , unwanted because of her unlikely character, yet she is annoyed by the fact she has no one to marry. This sets the stage for the initial change of Katherine, how she starts off as a bitter unwanted person, but because of the expectation she has to marry someone, and the expectation Petruchio has for her, it alters who she is as a person.



Similarly, Annie, the main character from the movie “Bridesmaids”, is also a conflicting character.





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(2:30)


Likewise to Katherine, she has her various problems which seems to make an impact in her relationships. In the first scene of the movie, Annie is introduced by having sex with a go-to hookup Ted, in which he has no interest in pursuing  a real relationship with her. Ted and Annie are lying in bed where Annie starts to bring up the conversation of what their status is, making it clear to the audience she has different motives than he does, where he quickly says, “I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.”, which refers to a relationship. After that Annie quickly agrees, lying about the fact that she does indeed want a relationship. Annie has an expectation for a relationship that Ted clearly can’t make, so she simply changes herself and what she wants to accomodate the relationship for Ted so that it will continue.


“And woo her with some spirit when she comes!

Say that she rail, why then I’ll tell her plain

She sings sweetly as a nightingale.

Say that she frown, I’ll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly washed with dew.

Say she be mute and will not speak a word,

Then I’ll commend her volubility

And say she uttereth piercing eloquence.

If she do bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks

As though she bid me stay by her a week.

If she deny to wed, I’ll crave the day

When I shall ask the banns, and when be married.

But here she comes - and now, Petruchio, speak.”

(Act 2, Scene 1 , 177-180)


Here in this part of the scene, Petruchio reveals that he plans on marrying Katherine, and in order to do so, uses various tactics to pursue her. Petruchio explains that he will try to change her bad habits by complementing or flaws or choices of action that she uses to push people away. With these tactics he uses, they are manipulating and almost aggressive to forcefully change Katharine into the wife he expects her to be.


Unlike Petruchio, Rhodes uses more nurturing tactics on Annie to more so change her rather than force her to be someone else.

Instead of playing mind games with Annie, he forces her to face her past where he believes is the root problem, where in this scene he lays out baking materials to help her connect with something that was once important to her. Rhodes hopes that by having Annie work through her problems, she will be able to fulfil the ideal girlfriend that he has in mind. Both Rhodes and Petruchio seek a relationship, but in order for that to work they have expectations that need to be met.

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(1:08:45)



“I am ashamed that women are so simple

To offer was where they should kneel for peace,

Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway

When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.”

(Act 5, Scene 2 , 177-180)


In the final scene of the play, Katherine gives her infamous speech of how women should not resist, but simply obey their husbands and give them nothing but respect. By this point in the play, Katherine has transformed into a new person after the countless mind games and tactics Petruchio used to change her into a more ladylike wife. As Katherine says in the quote, she explains how she is ashamed of women who would seek rule or supremacy, which was almost the type of person she was before. This shows how Petruchio changed Katherine to accommodate the expectation he has for a wife, while Katherine changes herself, practically criticizing the type of person she was before. In the end, Petruchio successfully chnages his significant other to have an ideal relationship for himself.


Lucky for Rhodes, he ends up with Annie like Petruchio does with Katherine.

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(1:55:18)


In the last scene of the movie “Bridesmaids”, Rhodes surprises Annie at a wedding she was attending, after she had worked through her problems like he thought he would. Unlike Petruchio, Rhodes had hoped that by giving Annie the space she needed, and allowing her to figure out the issues she had on her own after he tried to help her, he ends up being able to have the relationship he initially wanted. Annie knew Rhodes expected her to change for the better so that she could be with him, in the right circumstances, and that’s exactly what she does.


In all relationships, from hundreds of years ago to know, still seem to have the same sort so expectation. In both the book, “Taming of the Shrew” and “Bridesmaids” they reveal that expectations in relationships need to be fulfilled in order for them to work. Both Petruchio and Rhodes pursued difficult characters to begin with, and in order for them to have the relationship they desered, they both had tactics on changing their partner to make it work. In respect to the time period, Petruchio used a much more abusive way to change Katherine, in which he plays mind games with her, and almost brainwashes her into hating who she once was. On the other hand though, this highlights how modern times have changed the types of expectations and respect there are in relationships. Rhodes, like Petruchio, needed Annie to change, but instead of using abusive tactics, he nurtures her to face her past and fix her problems on her own. In the end both of these relationship portrays that in relationships, in order for them to work, someone will have to change for the other person, traditionally a woman for a man.  


Work Cited

Shakespeare, William, G. R. Hibbard, and Margaret Jane Kidnie. The Taming of the Shrew. UK: Penguin, 2015. Print.

Bridesmaids. Perf. Paul Feig. YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web.



Love is a Trainwreck

Love is a Trainwreck

The taming of the shrew, Trainwreck.


       The film "Trainwreck" centers around two complete opposites who come together. Aaron is a successful doctor, pursuing a not-so-successful, small time writer, Amy. Amy is a non-monogamous woman; embracing her sexual freedom. Aaron has yet to venture into his sexuality. Aaron’s sexual encounter with Amy means the world to him, yet all Amy expects is a one night stand. Amy, who has never gone on a second date with a man, sets low expectations of all her relationships. Even so, she secretly wishes she could find love but does not want to be tamed. On the other hand, Aaron expects her to buckle down and become wife material. In the play, ‘The Taming of The Shrew,” Katherine is a hot-headed, independent woman, who is searching for love but has no suitors. Petruchio, a rich suitor, takes Katherine's hand in marriage. Petruchio expects his wife Katherine to become wife material also, but by employing much more extreme tactics. Aaron is persistent and sweet, yet Petruchio is harsh and essentially tortures her. Although expectations in relationships have changed, these two sources show: If the pursuer is persistent, then their tactics of achieving love do not matter.

    Petruchio is a wealthy suitor looking to win Katherine’s hand in marriage. Katherine is a strong woman with a tongue like a wasp, which does not take kindly to many people. In anticipation of this, Petruchio enlists tactics to help win her love.

¨Say that she rail, why then I’ll tell her plain she sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown I’ll say she look as clear as morning roses newly washed with dew. Say she be mute and will not speak a word, then I’ll commend her volubility and say she uttereth piercing eloquence. If she do bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks as though she bid me stay by her for a week.If she deny to wed, I’ll crave the day.”

(ACT 2 SC 1 lines lines 178-186)

In this quote, Petruchio has yet to meet Katherine: the woman he wishes to pursue, but he already holds expectations of their relationship and plans to counter this with his tactics. He describes his tactics to win the love of Katherine. The key to this tactic is persistence. Persistence will overcome the sharp tongue of Katherine.

Much like Petruchio, Aaron is faced with a woman who does not want his affections and has entirely different expectations of the relationship.Screenshot 2017-04-19 at 3.21.33 PM.png

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The main character, much like Katherine, is hard headed and blunt. Here we can see Aaron and her after having sex, she is clearly expressing discomfort. However, Amy stays the night, breaking her very own biggest rule: never sleeping over.The next day, Aaron calls to say that he had an amazing time and wants to see her again. This surpassess all of the initial expectations Amy had, a one night stand, and the persistence of Aaron bewilders Amy. Confused and flattered, she agrees to see him again. Although Aaron knows Amy was uncomfortable and did not

“Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed. And therefore, setting all this chat aside, Thus in plain terms: your father has consented that you shall be my wife, your dowry’ greed on, and, will you, nill you. I will marry you.  

(Act 2, Scene 1, 282-286)

     At this point in “The Taming of the Shrew” Petruchio and Katherine find themselves in a heated argument. Katherine is not taking kindly to a man walking into her life and demanding that he will marry her. Katherine does not want this in her relationship, she expects a loving husband. “Will you, nill you” translates to “whether you like it or not.”

Aaron takes this same approach, by once again ignoring the clear rejection from Amy.


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    Much like the Taming of the Shrew, we have the pursuer ignoring all obvious signs of being rejected. Amy explicitly says no she would not like to start dating him, but Aaron is not deterred in the slightest. Trainwreck is in a much less severe setting, as Amy is not being told she will marry Aaron, like Katherine is to Petruchio.

     In both “The Taming of The Shrew” and “Trainwreck,” men meet their match with the woman they are trying to pursue. Petruchio of Shrew has a very harsh demeanor of winning over Katherine, yet his persistence causes Katherine to defy her expectations of their relationship and find love with Petruchio. Similarly, Aaron insists on seeing Amy after she makes a strong impression, and wins over the woman who has never had a commitment in her life. This proves to show that love is unpredictable, and will shatter the expectations of any party.


Works Cited:


Shakespeare, William . Folger Shakespeare Library. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. N.p.: Washington Square Press Drama, n.d. Print.


Trainwreck . Prod. Judd Apatow and Joshua Church. By Amy Schumer. Perf. Amy Schumer Bill Hader. Cinemax, 2015. Xfinity. Xfinity, 17 July 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.


Money Hungry

Money Hungry
Comparing “Taming of the Shrew” to “Monster in Law”

"The Taming of the Shrew" demonstrates that parental influence on relationships has existed over centuries. In "Shrew" the father of Katherine, Baptista, enforces the importance of wealth in marriage. In the 2005 movie "Monster in Law", the parent of the son to be wed values the same thing. Though in this situation, the parent fails in having this tactic affect the couple.

Though Baptista and Violla share a lot in common, such as their status and economic situations, the outcome they end up receiving regarding this specific scenario is different. They both enforce the importance of wealth when dealing with their children being wed, but in one scenario. Baptista is able to get what he wants, which is getting his daughter to marry a man who is wealthy. In the other situation, Violla is not successful in making her son marry a wealthy daughter. Even though this is the case, the parent in this second situation, Violla, still manages to drive the fiance crazy in lowering her self esteem. All in all, these stories reflect that parents definitely have an influence on marriage, though it has become less powerful in today’s society because wealth is not a huge value anymore; it is more of an addition. True love is valued more.


“Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste, and every day I cannot come to woo. You knew my father well, and in him me, left solely heir to all his lands and goods. Which I have bettered rather than decreas'd. Then tell me, if I get your daughter's love, what dowry shall I have with her to wife?” says Petruchio. “After my death, the one half of my lands and, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.” says Baptista. “And for that dowry, I'll assure her of her widowhood, be it that she survive me, in all my lands and leases whatsoever…” says Petruchio.

(Act 2 Scene 1, 120-132)

In this part of the play, Petruchio assures to Baptista, the parent of the woman to be wed, that he will bring to the table his wealthiness in exchange for some wealth on her part. Baptista then reassures that wealth will be granted. This shows money is an important factor to having a “successful” marriage.


The parent in the movie finds herself overwhelmed with frustration after meeting the bride and finding out she is not wealthy, which contrasts with the situation from the play.


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In this early scene from “Monster in Law”, Viola is angrily fisting the air because she is upset about who her son has chosen to marry. Viola is upset for many reasons, but the one that seems to matter the most to her is that the bride has no money, which would be an addition to the family. Viola then makes this awful plan to split them up so she can have her way. Viola is in dire need of control of this situation, which compares to Baptista actually having full control of his situation when finding a suitable man to marry his daughter Katherine.


“Because I know you well and love you well, leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.” says Baptista.


(Act 1, Scene 1, 53-54)


In this part of the scene, Baptista explains that he knows exactly what his daughter likes and wants. Therefore he has the right to choose who she weds, and when that happens thereof. Parents have a clear influence on how their children wed and this is reflected through the movie too.


In this scene, the parent in the movie is complaining about the wife and plotting all the awful things she plans to do to split the couple up, which compares with the situation from the play.

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In this moment Viola says that she intends to find out all about the bride’s past, to find something that will make her son not love her anymore. She mentions again that the soon to be bride has no money and will not be a good match for her son. Which implies that she knows what her son wants best. She lives in a grand home, and has lost her job recently, so it makes sense why money will be of huge value to her. Viola feels that as a parent it is her responsibility to have a strong say in her son’s marriage.

The fact that in the end of “Monster in Law”, the parent’s intentions of having her son not marry this woman fails, shows what the modern audience wants to see. Of course everyone likes when the bad guys lose, and that is what happens in this movie. Throughout the film parent’s effect on the couple got weaker as the love got stronger, but still proves that parents can influence a marriage. Whereas in the play, the parent’s effect remained instilled in the marriage, allowing Petruchio to gain more wealth in the end.


Works Cited

“The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare

“Monster in Law”


Love, Lies, and Coincidentally, Italy

Love, Lies, and Coincidentally, Italy

The Taming of the Shrew and Roman Holiday


From Padua to Rome, love always lies. That much, William Shakespeare and Dalton Trumbo are certain to agree on. Shakespeare’s play, “The Taming of the Shrew” and Trumbo’s 1953 film, “Roman Holiday” are evidence enough of that. The Taming of the Shrew, a victorian drama following the strange romantic mishaps between a love-polygon of unknown sides and the unlikely marriage of an overly-confident, moderately misogynist man to the titled "Shrew" of a woman, lends us its message through a number of characters. The first are Bianca and her many suitors, although most importantly the rich Lucentio who disguises himself as a teacher to reach his object of affection. The others, of course, are the aforementioned unlikely couple, Petruchio and Katherine, the former of whom decides to pursue marriage with the ladder because he really just wants a wife with money.


Roman Holiday, on the other hand, follows a mid-twentieth century princess from an undisclosed country, Ann, as she flees her overwhelming responsibilities for a day to fraternize with an American journalist in Rome. She lies to him about who she is, which he already knows, and he lies about who he is. Outside of the coincidental fact that both tales take place in Italy, the two stories share a striking similarity when it comes to how honesty, and more importantly, deception, play into romantic relationships built to last. As long as in the end, according to these narratives, the two parties fall in love, then the end justifies the means. Although one takes place 400 years in the past, and the other in the nearly modern day, the two pieces make it evident that lying and deceiving can be an acceptable course of action in a romantic relationship.


“I am Lucentio- 'hic est' son unto Vincentio of Pisa- 'Sigeia tellus' disguised thus to get your love- 'Hic steterat' and that Lucentio that comes a-wooing- 'Priami' is my man Tranio- 'regia' bearing my port- 'celsa senis' that we might beguile the old pantaloon.”

(Act III, Scene I, 33-38)


Lucentio, in his bid for Bianca’s love, disguises himself as a philosophy teacher, and sneaks his way into her daily life. In the quote above, Lucentio explains this ploy to Bianca, and how Tranio was disguised as himself in order to deceive Gremio, one of her other suitors. Though he readily admits the truth to Bianca, he still initially lies to her, and, as shown in the quote, he wants no one else to find out. For this reason, he is pretending to construe a Latin phrase, so that no one may hear them.

The leads of Roman Holiday find themselves in a somewhat different type of situation, with a different kind of lying, yet one that is no less deceitful.

(Roman Holiday, 1:03:50)

Midway through the film, the two star roles run into each other in the city after having gone their separate ways. In their conversation, both Princess Ann and Joe Bradley lie to one another about their current lives. Princess Ann claims to have run away from school, rather than her royal duties, and Bradley claims to be in the selling game. Bradley, of course, knows she’s the princess, but Ann (or Anya, as she tells him to call her), does not. Not only that, but their “accidental” encounter wasn’t nearly as accidental as Ann believed, considering how the American Reporter had followed her in secret. This is the interaction that truly sets their relationship into motion, and it’s one that’s founded entirely on lies.


“For patience she will  prove a second Grissel, and Roman Lucrece for her chastity. And to conclude, we have ‘greed so well together that upon Sunday is the wedding day.”

(Act II, Scene I, Lines 312-315)


Upon his first meeting of the titled “Shrew” of the play, Katharine, Petruchio starts his plan to “tame” the woman into marriage, and into becoming what he believes to be a proper wife. After his first private conversation with her, in which he makes little headway towards his plan and invokes nothing more than hatred from the young woman, her father, Baptista, along with several other men, enter the room. Petruchio, in what is likely the most bold faced lie one could possibly make under the circumstances, tells them that Katharine has fallen for him madly, and the two are to be wed on Sunday. Baptista, trusting this strange man’s words above his own objecting daughter’s, agrees to let the marriage happen. In this scene, Petruchio makes it clear to the audience that he is willing to weave the most dauntlessly false tales to anyone in order to marry his beloved Kate. He may not have been lying to Katharine herself, but he was forging the entirety of their coming relationship on a foundation of lies, and because she ends up loving him in the finale, it passes without issue. Of course, because the ends justify the means.


On the other side of the same coin, the main pair of Roman Holiday find themselves not only forming their relationship upon a fountain of deceit, but also ending it bathing in that same fountain.


“I have to leave you now. I'm going to that corner there and turn. You must stay in the car and drive away. Promise not to watch me go beyond the corner. Just drive away and leave me as I leave you.”

(Ann, 1:37:28)


(Roman Holiday, 1:37:28)

Before the very end of the film, the two lead characters find themselves at the end of their time together. Princess Ann must return to her royal duties, and so she asks Mr. Bradley to drive her and drop her off. Before their last loving embrace, in which they kiss for the very first time, she tells him the quote listed above. She knows that she has to leave, and yet she still can’t bring her to tell him the truth of the matter. They both know she’s lying, and yet still the two come together for a kiss and a show of love before their final goodbye. Even right until the very end, the lies still flow through the veins of their relationship. But still, they are in love. And if they are so in love, any lies they told to one another no longer matter. The deceit can be excused. While they may not have entered with the intentions of falling for one another, they found themselves tumbling regardless. Once again, the ends justify the means, and the intentions aren’t even needed.


If one thing can be learned from these two pieces, it’s that love and deceit are almost always intertwined. Italy may be a coincidence, but those two features most certainly aren’t. And, according to these creators, love makes the deceit worth it. It’s a common sentiment, in these days, that love wins above all. So why would simple lies be made the exception? Whether it be a princess and a reporter, or a brash man and a wealthy shrew, lies may come about, and as long as the love survives it, there is reason enough to ignore it. At the very least, William Shakespeare and Dalton Trumbo would say so.


Work Cited

  • Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library, n.d. Print.

  • Roman Holiday. By Dalton Trumbo. Dir. William Wyler. Prod. Paramount Pictures. Perf. Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck. N.p., n.d. Web.

The Making of Printmaking

Printmaking3
Printmaking3
   - Made By Annie B. on November 9, 2006 -

Printmaking takes places with different process of many pictures or designs from special prepared tools or blocks. The first technique of duplicating images goes back several years to the sumerians caves in 3000 BCE. Printmaking is important because the process goes back many years before and it is was one of what developed modern creative art today.

Print did influence every aspect of European culture. Some suggest that print was used in bringing about all the major shifts in science, religion, politics and things that are commonly associated with modern Western culture. The printing press quickly became central to political and religious expression in Europe as well. Writers and printers like Benjamin Franklin were heroes of the time. Print was a leading tool that helped spread visionary ideas that shaped the American Revolution. Printmaking also helped develop scrolls, during the early 1 AD, for things like maps and blueprint.

In the picture above you can really see a release of negative and positive space. The artist also depicts words that flow with the picture. The artist creates color value and varies them in the shading of the darker images. In the picture you can also see some of the designs giving you dimension into the picture.

I can interpret that this picture is symbolizing a act of greed and your conscious telling you it's okay. The words that you can see are: "You need it all all", "All yours", "You want more", "Stock" and "Money". All of these words have something in common and that is want/need. The guy portrayed in this printmaking art seems to be very focused on the money and happy. But this happiness could come from the rewards of greed.

Lastly, I think this is a great picture to express emotions and a situation through positive and negative space. It struck out to me personally as a picture to reflect on and unfold. The detail in stroked lines really brings out the person in the pictures face and how he's feeling about the money and almost his story as well as what looks like his conscious around him.

I noticed that in the picture the guys conscious looks like almost devilish. I wonder if the guy in the picture always listen to these "bad" conscious, maybe that's the reason why they have come to look the way they are. What if this printmaking is showing what greed can do to a person's mind to make them believe that it is okay.

The Idea of Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making any art printed of regular paper. This technique is important because it has a individual creativity to it instead of using photography for painting. Printmaking was originally created in China around AD 105. Towards the 15th century Relief printing came around. For 500 years printmaking has evolved in many ways. These different techniques with printmaking has been used by plenty of well-known artist such as Janet Fish and Walton Ford.This is the “Sharecropper” which was sculpted by Elizabeth Catlett who known from this type of work. This relief print drawing caught my eye because I have seen it before. Yet I admire how Catlett put plenty of detail of the bone structure of the the woman.

Printmaking, Rasa

Printmaking is an art form that transfers images carved out onto a medium of your choice. It originated in china around 105 BC. as printmaking traveled around the world, it became used for different prints and branched off into different versions of printmaking. Printmaking created a way for people to replicate the same image on paper fabric or any medium they pleased. It became a form of art used for printing on fabric, and used as a way to create a way to duplicate a writing like a newspaper. This is an easy form of art that is accessible by many people. That can be simple or extravagant.




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I found this piece particularly interesting because of the contrast between positive and negative space. The contrast between the white and black creates helps you establish the texture of the trees. The brightness of the positive space helps to create what looks to be a reflection of the tree. I have noticed that everyone had a different take to print making. I wonder what the world would be like without printmaking, because it is used not only for art but for everyday things like creating a graphic t-shirt. What if people knew more about printmaking? Would it be something that everyone would do?


Donald Moses Printmaking Blog

Printmaking is when you carve a image in a piece of wood then cover the wood in ink to make the carving on the wood a picture on paper. Printmaking goes way back to the egyptian time as egyptians used relief printing to and design to their fabrics. Printmaking also was used to make the first books. The invention of printmaking was revolutionary as it made comebacks with a new technique after being replaced until digital printing was made. Printmaking was all around the world when it was popular. Printmaking was also used to make famous paintings like the “Bison Couché”. Some ethnic groups had to use stone for printmaking. Chinese also used stone but to only print their names on their work.


You have to think, what would the world be without the invention of printmaking? Here is how the invention of printmaking is important and revolutionary. Without printmaking education might of been different as we couldn’t get a lot of educational books. A library would be pretty expensive to get books from as the books would of been rare to get. Teachers couldn’t print out many copies of worksheets or instructions for a experiment or project. There's more things that couldn’t be possible without the invention of printmaking but i'm not going to write them all down.

Image result for relief printing



I found this image from google leading me to a wikipedia site: url to page


I think the painting is about an old man waking up to a rooster on the wall and sees his son and grandson in the distance. I noticed the maker made it look like it’s sunrise instead of the blue sky and yellow sun high in the sky. What if the rooster is the old man’s wife as the old man as his cheeks are red. I noticed there's a cliff side to the right with a tree on the edge. What if the  two people in the background are going to that cliff and passes by the old man’s house everyday


Printmaking a revolutionary art form

Hello and welcome to my blog about the art of printmaking. What is printmaking you ask? Relief printing is a process where protruding surface faces of the printing plate or block are inked; recessed areas are ink free. This art form is one of the best because it is mobile and pretty easy to complete.

There are 9 different ways to perform relief printing. The relief family of techniques includes woodcut, metalcut, wood engraving, relief etching, linocut, rubber stamp, foam printing, potato printing, and some types of collagraph. The most common way to do a relief print is wood cuts. This style of printing was established in the 15 century. Johannes Gutenberg started work on his printing press around 1436, in partnership with Andreas Dritzehn.

Now this form of art can take a place on almost any canvas. It’s most common place is paper. There are a lot of different things you can use to print it aswell. It uses ink the most. The ink is what you see on the paper that makes up the image.

This art form is revolutionary because of its features. It has a feature that makes it movable. Another thing about it is that you can make more than one painting by using the same template multiple times. This form of art is really cool. Another cool thing about it is that it doesn’t just make art. It can make money and newspapers.

"Gopher Tortoise" - Mary Wolfe

Image result for relief printmaking The image above is Turtle eating a branch of leaves. The artist use positive and negative space to create the turtles shape. The white lines on the turtle create a pattern that we normally see on a turtle’s back. I think this was a picture of the artist pet or something. They probably caught it in action of eating. I think this is a good painting because the artist uses the space well darkens the spaces perfectly. I wonder how hard it was to make this artwork. I notice the lines in the background that give a sense ground so the turtle doesn’t look like it was floating. I can’t help but think what if there was more picture, it might have deeper context.


Week 2 - Day 2 - Printmaking - Little

Printmaking is the art of of making pictures and images and printing them from blocks or plates with some type of design or decoration. Printmaking originated in China, and shown up in Europe mainly on decorating cloths. It was also used to spread religions.  The invention of printmaking is very important. Printmaking basically made life a whole lot easier when it came down to some type of art or design, printmaking allowed the production of printed books.

A type of printmaking that really fascinates me is monoprinting. Monoprinting based on water color, water based inks, and can only be made one time.


I notice: that there is a lot of detail and emotion within this painting. Every little line of the sky and every dark shade of the trees were painted with feeling and real interest.

I wonder: what the painter was feeling when he/she painted this?

What if: the picture had some other type of color to it? It just wouldn’t be the same.




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Printmaking-Carlos De Jesus

Printmaking is something that has been around for a long time and will probably stay around for a while. It was first used around 500 BC-100 AD and it was used by Egyptians to print fabric. Now Printmaking is mostly a hobby taken by artist, or anyone really, to create pictures by printing them which is why it’s called printmaking. I really feel that printmaking is important because it’s a different type of art and people should be able to express their feeling thru different ways. Printmaking is just so amazing with it also being high quality and low price which is one good reason to which it became so revolutionary. This picture down below it’s a demonstration of printmaking. I noticed on this picture as well how well detailed it is and how they put effort into the little things on the hat. I wonder if the artist of this art drew the whole body would he keep that detail by like adding the skeletons shadow and all of that. Overall it’s amazing art made in an amazing way and I hope that printmaking continues to live on

What is Printmaking?

Printmaking is an art that is designed by printing a picture to a paper, block, or plates. Printmaking is important because it attract creativity and corporate arts to other people. The invention of printmaking was revolutionary because it first started from the Chinese and then was inspired by the Europeans. This is so important because many people was inspired by it and they want to go try it as well. It was past from generation to generation and from countries to countries and soon it was world wide.

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I found this printmaking interesting because it shows the different contrast of the work and that because of the space that is around it. In this printmakig, I noticed that in the background, half of it is black and the other half is white. I also noticed that there are multiple lines on the picture. I wonder how the artist make the contrast of the colors for half of the picture. What if there is only a white background?


Briannie Matos: Printmaking

Printmaking is a way of making art. Printmaking are designs and pictures printed on a more likely a plate or block. Sharpening tools are used to carve a design out. After your design is carved out, you would use ink to transfer the design onto the surface you want the design on. Printmaking is important because art has a way of speaking to everyone. There are so many beautiful designs that people have carved out. Engraving is one of the oldest art forms and throughout the centuries, it has turned into printmaking.

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This design is a common design but very beautiful. I notice how the top of the design is white over black and the bottom is black over white. I wonder what made the artist to it this way but it was a good choice. I also noticed how the background of both trees aren’t similar. It’s cool like that because it’s like giving you 2 sides of the tree and the weather of where the tree is at.


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.

​Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa
​Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa

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.

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What is Printmaking?

​Printmaking is the process of making artworks with the use of printing. There are different types of printmaking which are woodcut, metalcut, linocut, lithography, and etc. People all over the world use printmaking. Everyone knows the importance of printmaking and the techniques of it. Printmaking can create a variety of special artworks. Printmaking is important to more people than others.
  Printmaking began in China after paper was invented around AD 105. In Europe printmaking began showing up in the 15th century. Another type of printmaking is relief printing. Relief printing is the process where protruding surface faces of the printing plate or block are inked. This technique was created by Peta Jayne Smith. The tools she used were a brayer, roller,paper, and a printing plate or block of course. I picked this image because it was eye catching to me and everything wa artistically drawn.  

What is Printmaking?

Do you know what printmaking is? It’s simple, printmaking is a technique in art that transfers ink to a paper. There are different kinds of printmaking. Some include woodcut, linocut, lithography, and more. Printmaking is important to people all over the world. It is a well known technique all over the world. Many people use it. There are a lot of artworks that are made from printmaking techniques.

Printmaking began in China, around AD 105. The relief printmaking process was invented by Daniel Hopfer who was from Augsburg, Germany. Printmaking started to show up in Europe in the 15th Century. This was invented when paper was made, which was in China. As mentioned before, there are many different printmaking processes created by different artists. Relief printing prints what is on the left of the original surface. This method uses different materials. It requires wood or linoleum blocks. On the other hand, intaglio requires copper, zinc, as well as plastics. There are also different basic tools that is should be used for relief printing. This method uses tools such as a knife and a gouge.

This technique is created by Robert Mangold. This is a woodcut. I decided to choose this print because it is simple. It is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The image was carved onto a wood surface and then inked and printed.


Printmaking and Relief printing

Printmaking is the activity of making pictures of designs by printing them on blocks, and plates. It is originally an ancient technique that were used by many tribes and nations such as China, Germany, Egypt, Japan, etc. Printmaking is important because it’s a way of expressing yourself, and designing stuff such as armor, plates, traditional materials or just plain art. People even used to use printmaking to communicate. A kind of printmaking is relief printing, which is when the image is a relatively simple matter of inking the original surface of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper. Then remove (by carving) away areas intended to print white.

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This is an example of relief printing. I notice how the artist made this art look simple. I also notice how the beautiful this art looks like with just black and white. I wonder what inspired the artist to make this art. I also wonder how long it took for the artist to make this.

Printmaking Traditions

Nasya Ie


Printmaking is a form of art, for religious use, mark an animal or prisoner, and there are different techniques to printmaking. Printmaking can be in different forms, Intaglio, stencil etc. Each Type of printmaking uses different materials and techniques. The form of printmaking was originated from China, China they used it for religious show their religious idols.

The one of the oldest type of relief printing is engraving, engraved designs were found on bones, stones and cave walls. But what was their ink back then? They used clay to make that impression. Printmaking was spreaded to Europe and Europe used it for religious use also. At that time it was getting popular, they would print things on thin pieces of paper and some people would eat it. Whatever the image was on the paper it will protect them or the will make wishes. This shows that printmaking we different for everybody they will use for different uses.

Here is an example of Chinese printmaking

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I chosed this printmaking because you can see every detail and it shows you that you can do a lot with printmaking. You can see the texture, different color and how real it looks.


Overall for printmaking it can be different, printmaking can be used for traditions, religion, art, and communicate with each other.




The Significance of Printmaking

Printmaking is a form of art that originated in China in the year 105 AD. It involves carving an image into a surface -- such as wood or metal -- and then rolling ink onto the surface. Then, the artist places paper over the image, and presses it together revealing a unique work of art. This technique came about soon after the invention of paper, making it almost ancient.

Printmaking was an important invention because of how different it is from other forms of art. It uses negative space to create beautiful art. Printmaking was also used by famous artists including Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol along with artists from all over the world.


Print for art blog
Print for art blog

In the foreground, this print shows thick tree branches with two birds. The background shows a person. His shadow stretches along a road lined with buildings. I notice that the man is alone and I wonder how the image would be different if there were multiple people. It might have a less gloomy feel to it. What if the artist had made the man larger, and the tree portion smaller?


(Artwork by Leon Sidwell)

Printmaking Blog

MIcah Carrera  ART 9




Printmaking is when a picture or design is printed from a special stamp, block, or plate that is specially prepared. This is important because it is a beautiful addition to the category of art and is a profession that many people do today. The invention of printmaking was revolutionary because these prints were sold for a lot of money and was seen as something that brought people together.




This print stood out to me because it is very detailed. I notice that the artist used many lines to create the face. I wonder if the artist intended the whole print in general t make the Lion look very angered, not from his facial expressions.

How Printmaking Changed Us

Printmaking is important and easy to make. The history of printmaking starts with a block some carvings and it produces many of the same copy. It’s art with a hint of a beautiful meaning and it’s easy to make around the house. Printmaking is important because it makes copying easier, it takes a small amount of time to make many types of art, it even evolved throughout history and now printmaking saves people time and effort and it’s easy for us to get copies of homework to do every night. People back then used wood, rubber, and stone, they also used ink to outline their image or text and they had to press it on paper. It evolved from Europe to China to the west, books and tests were printed easier for money, and Chinese people would print charms for lucky beliefs. The art that I chose conducted with dark and light lines, there is space between the person, the buildings, and the tree branches. I notice the contrast and how this specific art is divided between dark at the top and light at the bottom makes this a very interesting form of printmaking. I wonder why the artist had to add the person to the picture too instead of keep it an empty space between the two sides of the building. What if the artist didn't add any living form in there?



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W2 D2 Printmaking-Rivera

Benjamin Rivera


Printmaking was a revolutionary form of art that has evolved into art we see today


Printmaking is when you carve shapes into a piece of stained wood,roll ink on the wood ,put pressure with a piece of paper


Artist wanted something unique as sculpting and painting.Goes back to 255 B.C. Came from China


It created new art in Mexico.It gave ideas for more printmaking processes.It help create mechanical moving printing


Printmaking is interesting because you can make a flat surface turn into a 3-D Design

Relief Printing is the most interesting because it is the easiest to make and it doesn’t take a lot of materials to do it


The Work of art is fascinating there is an endless amounts of different art that are appealing to the human eye


W2 D2 Printmaking - Ossowski

Printmaking is the process of carving on a surface, then rolling ink on it to print on paper. This is useful because you can use the same surface with the carvings again to print on paper. You can copy the picture again and again with the same surface.

It was invented by Daniel Hopfer, the invention started in China, then moved to the Middle East. Printmaking was used on walls, stone, and even bones from long ago. It is believed that the Egyptians didn't start using wood blocks until the 6th or 7th century. When doing this process the Hopfer not only invented the idea of multiplying something, but the roller also. Before that, they used the rubbing method.

This artist decided to do a animal near a tree when it is snowing. You can tell it is snowing from all the white on it. The artist creates space by making the hill and the tree close but not on the same angle. The face on the animal shows that it is scared of the viewer or is cold because of the snow. The contrast shows that it is dark. The tree in this also has texture so you know there aren’t any leaves, you know it is winter. I notice that the animal looks at the viewer with such sadness that you actually feel sad. When I saw this I knew I had to critique it because it gave me emotion. I honestly love this print because of that.


WOLVES PRINTMAKING!!!!!!!!!!
WOLVES PRINTMAKING!!!!!!!!!!

Oxacana Cavalera

Printmaking is important because a lot of artists find a way to express what they want through it, like a lot of artists find their happiness in printmaking. Also, a lot of process are involved in the printmaking. It also inspired other streams of art, like graffiti.  

The invention of printmaking was revolutionary for multiple reasons. The most relevant one is probably that it allows to produce multiple images, it was totally new at this time. It also made a redemption with the other styles of art at this time, mainly when it has been discovered in Europe.  


I find this printmaking interesting because it translates a lot of expressions and feelings through a skull. It represents the Mexican Day of the Dead, which is a very important event outhere. This artist is very satirical in his drawings, we can see as well that the people behind him are bourgeois, the main character is actually the representation of what these people are afraid of, he is the allegory of the poor mexican people that terrorise the higher class.




(Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-calaveras-of-jose-guadalupe-posada/)


How printmaking revolutionized art - Sam Gualtieri

Printmaking originated in China in 105 AD. It was an efficient way to copy designs to be re-printed. Over the next 1912 years it massively increased in popularity. In the 1400’s Daniel Hopfer popularized the method of relief printing after using it to add designs and textures to armor. During the Han Dynasty, woodblock printing was popularized being used on silk. Printmaking is a unique art form because it has multiple mediums that all come out with products unlike any other art form. Such as using wood engraving, a letterpress, or woodcutting.

Printmaking revolutionized the way we copy artwork and literature as well as designing an entirely new artistic look. The image I've included was once being sold at https://www.etsy.com/listing/241668864/ but is no longer available. I'm a fan of this piece because I noticed way it depicts the light in the sky and how it hit's the building. I'm also a fan because it references a television show called Futurama which I am a fan of.
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