Print Pathway Aesops' Fables

For this project I have chosen to re-tell the fable 'The Wolf In The Sheeps' Clothing' using the story of Harold Shipman. The moral to the story is that 'appearances can be deceiving' so I think Shipman's story is perfect. I want to keep elements of the original animals, so for example, the elderly ladies will be the sheep. The animals in the fable portray the characters brilliantly...sheep/elderly - innocent, defenceless and the wolf/Shipman - cunning/deadly.

I want to include dark imagery, with very limited colour. I took these images while watching archive footage of the NHS and shows just the kind of style I want to adopt.

 

I will be taking some more images like this soon to work on. I need some of elderly people. I find this still of working is much better than simply finding internet photos as I need some that are a bit more natural and not 'posey' to fit the story. 

Paul Hickey/ Date 13/10/2010

How many Prints did you make this week?

I made a some etchings this week of sheep and elderly people and then combined the two. It seemed to work really well for the sheep as it seems to be a really effective way of creating fur. It also has the potential of making some really dark, sinister work which is good. 

How many of these taught you something new?

I have never done etching before so pretty much everything I did was new to me, but I think the main thing I learnt was just how many different types of mark making is possible with it. I felt I was developing with the style quickly, so I'll be ready to do more next week. 

How many hours did you spend in the Printmaking Workshop?

I spent about five hours in there.

Competence in practical printmaking techniques - 50-59 - I was a bit reluctant at first, but mainly because I didn't really know what I was doing. Once I started I was fine.

Thoughtful and imaginative use of printmaking -50-59 - Although the images I was printing were the same, I was trying to experiment with negative space and mark making. I feel it was a good basis for next week.

Visual Sensibility; understanding and expressing ideas in images- 40-49 - I don't feel like I did this as well as I could have. I was simply concentrating on actually doing the printing process right. I need to get my confidence up in this first.

 Using research to expand knowledge, enrich thinking and affect your work - 60-69 - I feel like I did this really well. I've been reading up a lot on the subject, going through the BBC archive looking at related articles, watching old news footage on it and researching the town it occurred in - Hyde.