Dry Point
Fwd: Classified
Dry Point 23.5cm x 20cm October 2017 Exhibition Text
Fwd: Classified was made to highlight the controversial actions and events that surrounded her during her political career. This was inspired by the works titled Drowning Girl and WHAAM! by Roy Lichtenstein. The title is a reference to the email scandal that she had been investigated in relation to by the FBI. |
Planning
Inspiration
The inspiration for this piece came from the Pop Art works of Roy Lichtenstein and the controversies and scandals that Hilary Clinton have been involved in throughout her life. The pieces by Roy Lichtenstein that I used for my main inspiration were Drowning Girl and WHAAM!. I felt that it would be relevant to do another piece related to politics, as I am trying to keep a constant theme of conflict. I wanted to have something to somewhat contrast my Block Print about Donald Trump's controversies. Who better to choose than Hilary Clinton, who has here fair share of controversies and conflict surrounding her political life. There are many controversies that I wanted to focus on. Those are the email controversy, The attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi, how the DNC favored her over Sanders, and the controversial donations to the Clinton Foundation.
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(Click to enlarge pictures and for citations)
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Planning Sketches
Like my previous art piece, I wanted to sketch each separate component on the piece first before I did the final sketch. On this page, I did a lot of brainstorming and testing. The only aspect of my final sketch that I drew on this page was the face of Hilary Clinton in the style of Lichtenstein´s Drowning Girl. To get a sketch of her face, I found a picture of her on the internet in a similar position as the girl in the original piece. I then got a rough outline and tried to shade certain areas in relation to the surrounding aspects. I also tested the difference of crosshatching and stipling using her necklace. I also tested out different styles for her eyes and different designs for her mouth.
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On this page, I was able to get some of the other aspects of my work sketched out onto the paper. The first thing that I drew was my version of the hand bursting out of the water. I took a picture of my hand holding a small piece of paper for reference. I wrote "CLASSIFIED" across the paper to relate to the controversy of her storing government and classified emails on a private server, that being highly illegal. And instead of having the hand burst out of the water, I made it to burst out of explosions/ fire. The next thing that I designed was the text box in the top. I used the same style for the box and bubbles surrounding the text, but changed the text entirely. I tried to keep the words in the same format as the original, but use words that would fit the topic that I was trying to show. I used the style of the explosion from WHAAM! to replace the waves in Drowning Girl. Also, instead of saying WHAAM!, I used DNC! to relate to my theme. Besides Hilary's email scandal with the personal email server, there was a DNC email leak which revealed the plot by the party's leadership to try to sabotage Bernie Sander's presidential campaign.
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This was my final sketch of my planning, were I mixed together all of my separate aspects into one. I needed to add to line with the fires spreading off of it to use up some white space. I also created some other fires and explosions throughout to add some effect to the piece in relation the Benghazi attack yet again.
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Process
Experimentation
To the right, you will see the three prints that I made and my scratch plate itself. It took me a while to get in the system with my scratching tool to make sure I didn't let it slip and scratch off too much. It was difficult to figure out how deep and shallow I wanted to make certain areas of the plate. On one side of the plate, I was able to really get good experimentation for it and decide how I wanted it done. After I had finished scratching my first side, I had realized that I had scratched it in backwards, so it would have printed on backwards. This proved to be helpful in fact, as it allowed me to scratch in the other side with ease. The thing that I really had trouble with was getting the correct amount of ink on the plate. In the time that I had one day with this, I got those three prints done. I had not realized how difficult it was to do correctly until I had tried it myself. I had used far too much ink on the first one, and I took off way too much on the third one. I think that the second one has turned out to be the best of the three.
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Process
Drawing: The first step in this process is taking the sketch that you have and trying to trace it as best as possible onto the scratch plate. I just did very light marks in case I made a mistake so I would not have to restart.
Scratching: After I had finished with redrawing it, I began the process of etching it into the plate. With the tool that I had used, only one side of the tool actually dug into the plate the way that I had wanted it to. Scratching into the plate is definitely the most challenging part of the process if you have unsteady hands. I had to go very slow as to not mess up significantly.
Scratching: The printing process is rather complicated, but is easy to repeat in succession. Firstly, you must take the paper and soak it in a tub of water to loosen the fibers so the paper will press into the lines when you roll them. Next, you have to take the ink and spread a thin layer across the scratch plate to make sure you fill in the lines that you made. After that, you have to remove the excess so it won't just come out as a solid block of ink. I had used newsprint to accomplish this. When you have sufficiently removed enough ink, you must lightly dry off the paper, but not to completely dry it. Then, align the paper so that it is centered onto the plate and roll it under a roller. Then, peel the paper off of the plate and view the print.
Scratching: After I had finished with redrawing it, I began the process of etching it into the plate. With the tool that I had used, only one side of the tool actually dug into the plate the way that I had wanted it to. Scratching into the plate is definitely the most challenging part of the process if you have unsteady hands. I had to go very slow as to not mess up significantly.
Scratching: The printing process is rather complicated, but is easy to repeat in succession. Firstly, you must take the paper and soak it in a tub of water to loosen the fibers so the paper will press into the lines when you roll them. Next, you have to take the ink and spread a thin layer across the scratch plate to make sure you fill in the lines that you made. After that, you have to remove the excess so it won't just come out as a solid block of ink. I had used newsprint to accomplish this. When you have sufficiently removed enough ink, you must lightly dry off the paper, but not to completely dry it. Then, align the paper so that it is centered onto the plate and roll it under a roller. Then, peel the paper off of the plate and view the print.
Reflection
I do not think that this piece turned out the way that I had wanted it to. I think that I had done too much scratching on some of the "explosions" and the fire around her face. I had hoped that the lines would be more defined and not turn into solid black. However, I think that I was able to convey my message well with this piece. Politics nowadays are so divided and hard to talk about without getting into an argument. It is still an important thing to talk about and to know a lot about potential candidates for important places in one's government. My goal was not to convince someone to go one way or the other. I just felt it would be good to show the flaws of both Clinton and Trump, as they are both flawed in many different ways.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
As simple as Lichtenstein's art can look, I felt like it would actually be a good choice for this as I thought that I could still get a significant amount of detail.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While I was researching, I was unable to find Lichtenstein's political views.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I've learned that the media and pop culture can so easily twist the truth to the eyes of the populace, which I believe is what Lichtenstein was trying to portray with his work.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to focus on the political conflicts surrounding Hilary Clinton over the span of her political career.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
My research had shown me how corrupt people can become if it means great personal gain.
As simple as Lichtenstein's art can look, I felt like it would actually be a good choice for this as I thought that I could still get a significant amount of detail.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While I was researching, I was unable to find Lichtenstein's political views.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I've learned that the media and pop culture can so easily twist the truth to the eyes of the populace, which I believe is what Lichtenstein was trying to portray with his work.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to focus on the political conflicts surrounding Hilary Clinton over the span of her political career.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
My research had shown me how corrupt people can become if it means great personal gain.