Linoleum Prints

This is a self portrait linoleum print on cream colored paper. This is my favorite edition out of 10 prints. You can't see it well at all here, but the lines have a faint brown tint underneath the black, which shows up on the white lines. I enjoy this aspect of the print, and also the way it looks like my mouth is oozing some kind of gas-like substance. That was a nice mistake. I printed the other images on white paper, and grayish paper that I made the other day. To make paper, I basically ground newspaper and magazine to a pulp with a paper shredder and then blender. Then you put that pulp on a screen and squeeze out the excess water. I also tried making paper out of newspaper and ground grape leaves. It looks interesting so far but it has not dried yet.

This is a copper etching that I did the other day. Here are 3 of the 5 editions. I sat outside in Rome on the Capitoline steps and drew a small cityscape. It is slightly hidden, but if you look carefully you can see the head and eyes of a man behind the domed building. This was unintentional because I found the copper plate in the print room, and it had this etched into it already. I actually sort of liked the way it came out.

Self Portrait A Day

A couple of weeks ago I assigned myself a small project to do every morning: An informal self portrait in my sketchbook. Most of them are in pen and watercolor. Here are a few of the recent ones:

Printing With Plants

I needed a change from doing self portrait monoprints. I decided to try using leaves to experiment with textures. Not only do the plants add texturous imagery, they emboss (imprint) the paper when I put them through the printing press. Here are a couple examples:

Monoprint. This is a portion of a larger print. 

Today, instead of using ink, I let the plant secrete its own pigment. I added no color here. I plan to continue experimenting with this and pushing it further. I have 16 days left in Rome and only a week to work!

Matera, Italy

This weekend (Friday until Monday) I went on my last major trip with my instructor and most of my class. Matera is located in southern Italy, next to the heel. We had gorgeous and hot weather almost the entire time. This place was amazingly beautiful. It's what one would imagine Italy to look like. It is very quiet in most of this city. We jammed packed so much into the weekend... Fun fact: Passion of the Christ was filmed here.

 

 On the wall of our patio in the hotel, overlooking the caves across the canyon.

 

This town is interesting because the homes (sassi) are carved into the rock, and are refaced in the front with stones. We discovered a cave which was overgrown, and stumbled into the complete darkness. It used to be a church.

 

These caves were the first homes of neolithic inhabitants of this region.

 

Structures built into the rock next to the cliff. That structure on the top  right of this photo is a church built into a huge boulder. It was incredible!

 

On Saturday we climbed down the ravine (la gravina), crossed the stream, then climbed up the neighboring mountain to explore the caves. It was an intense hike in the hot sun and it was definitely my favorite thing that we did the whole weekend. The whole hill smelled of oregano and wild mint. I pulled some out the the ground and brought it back to Rome and it was the best I ever tasted. There were lizards, snakes and frogs everywhere. A kid almost got attacked by a scorpion!

This is a church carved into the rock. Inside we found a cow trying to seek shade. The cattle roam free here, and so do their feces.

 

Taking a quick break in a cave at the top of the mountain.

 

Inside some of the caves were eroded religious frescoes. These used to be Byzantine churches. A lot of people carved their names into these religious icons which was unfortunate but also interesting...

 

On top of the mountain!

 

Picturesque from every angle.

 

The next day we went to Castle del Monte. Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the bus, but the important thing to know is that I caught a really cute lizard. The castle was also pretty cool. It was built in the 12th century by Frederick the Second on some hill in the middle of nowhere, Puglia.  

The little town in this photograph, Alberobello (beautiful tree) was where we got lunch. We were only there for an hour (It's just sandwiches and trinkets), but it was cool to see these homes built in this fashion of only limestone. It is a similar style to that of the Greeks, but apparently there was no influence.

 

Grotte di Castellana

The Castellana Caves, located in Bari, Puglia, was our next stop. It was a huge cave with many underground chambers. We had a guided tour, and the lady kept likening the stalagmites and stalactites to gelato, the Virgin Mary, and animals such as shewolfs, owls and jellyfish. Other than that, the cave was awesome, and it took us at least an hour and a half or two hours to walk through the whole thing. We weren't allowed to take pictures because of "copyright reasons," which meant we all took as many pictures as we wanted. After this we took a bus to a town called Ostuni, where we had dinner. We got back to our hotel in Matera at midnight. See? It was a jam packed weekend.

More Monotypes
                              

Magnolia Ficus Tree

MUNICH, GERMANY

I headed to Munich this weekend on a whim to visit my friend Genny. We had an incredible time!

This is a path of gold stones marking the side path of the Germans who refused to salute a monument devoted to Hitler on the main path.

Of course we had to drink the classic German beer and eat the classic soft pretzels. Delicious!

The English Garden, a beautiful Park behind Genny's apartment.

One night we stumbled across Michael Jackson's shrine. His shrine covers the monument of another musician. That poor guy... The hotel that Michael Jackson dangled his baby out the window happened to be right next to this. 

Watching the sunrise over the Austrian Alps.

Dachau Concentration Camp.

This was a concentration camp for political prisoners (those who opposed the Nazi regime). We could see from afar the building which housed the crematorium and gas chamber. The iron gate reads, "Work Makes Freedom."

Here you can see where the barracks once stood. That is one of the seven watch towers, to the right.

We needed some good German beer and mac and cheese after visiting such a heavy place...

On the way back to Rome I got to view the beautiful countryside from the plane. I also flew over the Austrian Alps. There were tiny towns tucked in between mountains and roads winding up snow covered mountains. 

Monotype Print

 

This is a monotype print I did today on plexi glass with printing ink.

Experiments

This is a self-portrait print in my sketchbook done with lithography crayon and watercolor on plexiglass.

This is a print done with lithography crayon and watercolor on plexi. Based off Poggioreale, the town I visited which was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1960's. 

A quick watercolor I did today, unfinished because it started to rain.

Overgrown ruins with poppy flowers. 

A self portrait print made by scratching printing ink off plexi. Very simple, and a technique Matisse experimented with.

Self portrait print made by wiping printing ink of plexi plate with a tarletin cloth. I have become enamored with Degas lately, and most of his prints were produced in this way. I also made another self portrait using this method. I plan to continue until I improve!

Sketching Outdoors

Today I was outside in the sun wearing shorts and short sleeves. I did this quick watercolor sketch of my friend Youbin, and of this church next to the Roman Forum.

                    

I am also currently working on a series of monotype prints on plexiglass.