Printmaking Butterfly

1.     Describe the overall composition of your artwork (balance, unity, rhythm and movement).

  

Basically, what I did was make a butterfly with a branch in the background.  I felt it was balanced really well. the butterfly took up enough space to show up and stand out, but the branches were long enough to support and show the depth of the picture. i feel that there wasn't any movement though.  unlike other pictures, i feel this print was very calm and not busy at all.

2.     How did you add texture and contrast to your print? Is this important? Why?

I used the thickness and thinness of lines to show texture, as well as used horizontal and vertical lines to show contrast. yes, it is important, because then we can see what the animal was compared to the background branches.

3.     Explain how you used positive and negative space to show your image.

my positive space was the butterfly and the branches. and my negative spaces was the empty spaces not taken up by those.  I decided to cut out then background because I wanted for the animal to stand out.

4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your print. (How good the project is technically crafted)

i feel it was done pretty well.  cutting out the small parts was a bit agonizing, but otherwise the lines were easy to cut and they turned out smooth.  I had some trouble with the inking because there was usually too much or too little.

5.     Were you able to achieve depth by showing a foreground, middle ground and back- ground? Explain.

yes i did, as mentioned, the negative space i used represented the background, and the branch was the middle ground.  the butterfly came out on top as the foreground when i cut a line in between the butterfly and the branch. 

6.     Explain your experience with Printmaking. What were the obstacles and advantages?

It was definitely not my strong point, i had never worked with prints or ink, other than the ink in pens. but it was fun.  Choosing the right animal and background to go with it really changed what the print would look like in the end, and i was at that stage for a very long time trying to choose between a dolphin and the butterfly.  The part i didn't like most was probably cutting out the tiny pieces of the linoleum.