Lino Cuts and first colour prints

Its been a really successful week! I have managed to cut and print 9 images (10 pages) this week! All have turned out really nicely and it's going a lot smoother than I thought so far! I have done a mixture of lino and wood cuts and printed them in the three lighter colours of various types of paper. Here are the first colour prints I've done so far.

First layer print, this will have the navy blue
as the second colour. It is the first time I have
tried to lino cut a portrait but so far it seems to
be working.

lino cut

Wood cut

First colour print - blood red will be the second
colour for this one. I have chosen to invert
some of the images so there is a more interesting
change in images.

First layer print, this will have the nave blue as
the second colour. I have added 'he became'

wood cut

Lino cut

First colour print, navy blue will be the second colour
for this image. I really like the prints on black paper
and I like that I have to option of changing
the papers throughout the book.

I did actually cut this one out, but it made
me realise how limp it looked in comparison
to the other images and cuts. It also broke so
I can't print it anyway.

Lino cut, This is the biggest cut I've done so far since I started lino cutting.

First colour print, this will have the blood red as a second colour. This is one of my favourite images and I can't wait to finish the second cut and print it.

wood cut

This will have nave blue as second colour.
Again I have inverted this image.

lino cut

first colour print, this will have navy blue as its
second colour.

lino cut

first colour print, blood red will be the second
colour. I have moved the keyhole down the
bottom right to add more atmosphere.

wood cut

first colour print - blood red will be the second
colour. I really like how the wood cut
gives a slight older dismantled image because
of chips etc. that happen while cutting.

The tutors who have seen these prints are very happy with how they are going and have told me to just keep working hard and developing.

My plan for the next week, is to finish the dummy book so I know exactly how I'm ending the book, get a few more first cuts done and a few second cuts on the images i've already done if I have time. 

Degree Show Presentation Workshop

Jonny had his workshop today and told us we need to start thinking about how we are going to present our work in the degree show. So this got us all thinking. After having a discussion with my peers, I have decided that I will have 'the ballad of Timothy Evans' playing through headphones for people to listen to while reading and I will have the lyrics of the song in a big long vertical banner as a backdrop with a few prints on the wall. If i have the time after completing the book and backdrop, I wouldn't mind attempting to create an image showing the evidence which led to the exoneration of Timothy Evans as well.

Tutorials

I've had a couple of tutorials this week, both went well and I have started cutting and printing some images, and have changed a few of the page designs.

Here are the page re-designs.

I've changed the left page (page1) so that we are looking into the corner of the room, it looks further away and more daunting as it would to a child. I may add 'he became illiterate' to the right page as I think it sounds better.

I've changed the right page (page 4), the page of lies into just different sized text, quoting him from the film '10 rillington place'. I like the flow of conversation it gives and I will use this device again later on in the book. 

I've change the left page (page 5) to become an opening door as it is the beginning of the main story and a door is a symbol for secrecy and there are a lot of secrets behind that door. Now I am developing the images, I feel the right page is playing it a bit safe and I would also like to use the dripping bottle later in the book. 

I've changed it to become an empty bottle lying on a corner of a table, I think this gives quite a weird atmosphere and the opening door next to the baby shows where all their troubles begin.

Jonny suggested adding a symbol into the lampshade fabric and as money was one of their main problems, I found the most interesting coin from the 1940s which was the three penny piece and repeated this.

I've redesigned the left page (page 9) so that the bathroom is a lot bigger but I still feel the separated images don't work. I have looked for text to write in the right image and I think I will shrink the chair down so it has more space around it.

The left page now has a quote from Beryl in the film '10 rillington place' written in the shadow of the toilet. The little alcove has Christies murder weapon as this is where he eventually hides the body and a toolbox as at the time of Beryls murder, there were builders working on the house so Christie couldn't move the bodies till they had left. I've now created a staircase leading down to the chair which has quotes from Christie surrounding it.

I've kept the images the same here, except changing the text on Christies portrait to a quote of his 'the stuff, err, that i use, err, 1 in 10 might die from it.' And I have extended the shadow of the dice.

I have changed the left page (page 12) to make the mask bigger with a quote from Christie on the tubing and text disjointed above it quoting Beryl.

Much prefer the text on this page now and I've had the ace of spades symbol in the clock face as this is the symbol for death and thought it fit in well with the image of dice.

I've made this into a double page image now so it has become more interesting. This is now where I am going to have the bottle pouring device which then creates a female face profile with a quote about why Beryl might have blood around her mouth and nose. The Lysol bottle is because Christie claims she died from Septic Poisoning from all the other ways she had tried to abort the baby. The police hat is because Timothy still saw Christie as someone who had influence with the police as he had been in the force.

I have changed the baby rattle so it is a bit more obvious what it is and moved it outside the drain, I have off centred the drain and reduced the text within it. I think this is now a much more powerful image.

I am really happy with how this project is going so far and very excited about seeing the images become prints. My tutors seem happy with my progress and have given me lots of advice so I feel confident to start creating the prints now.

I have chosen five colours to use in the book and created enough ink to last for all my prints. The colours are light blue, cold lilac, ivory white, navy blue and blood red. These will be used in two colour co-ordinations.

Re-Design of Images and Layout

After re-thinking the images, I have found that it will work in book format so I have continued designing it to that scale/layout.

The front page needed cleaning up so I had a look at the WW2 scrap book to help with the layout. 

This is my final front page image. It has the
portrait of Timothy in the blank space with
the text in slanted bands and straight bands
which I feel works better as it gives it more of
a discombobulated effect which fits with the story.

I found an image which had its text in bands
of alternative colours surrounding the image.
I really liked it so applied to my image but felt
the straightness of the bands didn't look right.

 Here are the redesigned pages for my book.

Page 1 and 2 - two pages describing his childhood, he always struggled at school
and at the age of 8 he cut himself on some glass which then became incredibly infected. He was
in and out of hospital for the rest of his youth therefore missed a lot of school causing him to become
illiterate.

Page 3 and 4 - Image on the left is one of my favourite so far, it is describing Timothy as a young adult, it also has broken and hanging toys to have a slight glimpse into his future. The image on the right isn't working, when I look at it alongside the other images, it looks really out of place. Timothy had a problem with lying so it's one of his most known lies, however I need to find a new technique to illustrate his lies.

page 5 and 6 - This is where the story really starts, the couple meet, marry, move into 10 rillington place and have their baby daughter, Geraldine. I think the images on the left are a bit literal so think I will re think this page. I like the left page as the emptying bottle symbolises Geraldine's short life.

Page 7 and 8 - This is another one of my favourite images, my first double page. I think it's really dramatic and holds a lot of tension.

Page 9 and 10 - The left page, Beryl becomes pregnant again but as money, space and the relationship are struggling with just the one baby, Beryl feels it is necessary to have an abortion. I don't think this page works as two separated images, so I think I will re-make it to become one image. I like the image on the right, however the text above it looks out of place. I need to find a way to introduce John Christie as well as showing that he offers Beryl his services.

Page 11 and 12 - On the left, John Christie talks to Timothy about performing the abortion, He has a picture of himself in his police uniform on show and suggests to Timothy that you have experience in abortions by in the police force and that he had been training to be a doctor before the war. I really like this image, and think it shows how intimidating he could be. The bone in the background suggests his experience is actually in murder. On the right, Christie also says there is a 1 in 10 chance of death so Timothy refuses.

Page 13 and 14 - The left page is showing that Beryl refuses no as an answer and tells TImothy he is to give Christie the go-ahead on his way out to work the next day.  The shoe is too literal and I feel the mask could be a lot bigger. The separate images again don't look right so I will re design it to become one image. The image of the right is showing that Christie uses gas to knock his victims unconscious. I really like the image versus text here and I think it gives an eerie feel.

Page 15 and 16 - Page left is showing the death of Beryl, A friend of Beryl's actually interrupted the murder, but found the door unusually locked and no reply when she knocked even though she could hear movement. She assumed Beryl was angry at her and left. I think all the images so far have been very central so I will move this down to a corner, and when re designing other pages, think of using this device again. The image on the right shows that Christie is waiting for Timothy's return preparing to tell him the news, and no doubt thinking up some cover stories. The text here doesn't look quite right to me so I think I will move it around until it fills the page a bit better.

Page 17 and 18 - These are the two main reasons Christie gave for Beryls death and why Timothy shouldn't go to the police. I really like the images but they are not filling up the page properly so I think I will re think the layout for this double page spread.

Page 19 and 20 - Christie persuades Timothy that the best thing to do would be to get rid of the body, and says that he will get rid of it down the drain just outside the front door. We don;t know it yet but Geraldine is also going to be killed like her mother so I have included a baby rattle to suggest this. I think it it is too central so I will play around with the layout a bit but I really like the simple effect of this image.

Page 21 - This is as far as I have got up to so far. Christie convinces Timothy that it would be best to send Geraldine away and says he has a couple who will take here but Christie would look after her till then. Timothy believes him but unfortunately Christie had something else in mind and killed Geraldine the same way as he had her mother.

Before I start lino cutting, I would like to speak to a tutor to make sure I am heading in the right direction and get some advice about the pages I need to redesign.

Self Promotion Crit

We had our Self Promotion Crit on Thursday. It was quite daunting when you first walked in as all our packages were in a box and there was a bin right next to them. They had suggested they were going to have an 'yes-box' and a 'no-bin' but we all thought they were kidding but no - There it was. Lucky for us, all our work, except for the odd envelope, were of high enough quality to land in the yes box. 

It was nice to know that all our hard work over the last couple weeks had payed off. After looking at everyone else's, there are definite things I would change about my self promotion. Such as:

• No longer having 'illustration' in my logo.
• Making the opening of the package more exciting.
• Give something hand printed as well as digitally printed, it gives a nice personal touch.

These are all things I will re-design in my spare time in the future. But this side-project has definitely helped me with what to do when creating your self promotion.

Oh, and Pete and Jonny said always try your best to find the actual name of the art director rather than just addressing 'Art Director' as it shows you've made the extra effort to find out who works at the company.

CV workshop

We had a CV workshop today where I learnt a lot again. I hadn't realised there was a difference in appearance between a creative CV and a office CV. I knew you had to edit the information but not that a creative CV can be edited to be visually attractive as well as informative. I took my CV with me so she could have a read and give me hints on how I should write and present it. I have definitely got to change a lot but I'm looking forward to creating an interesting CV. We had to find examples of creative CVs which we liked to base ours on. She then explained what aspects of them were good and what aspects weren't so good. We now have to write our CV taking inspiration from good examples. I have an idea of how I would like to do mine, but I think it is going to take a few attempts.

1 on 1 Tutorial and Printing of Self Promo

Had a one on one tutorial on Thursday, it went well but there are a few things I need to change on my logo. He thinks that it should only be illustration as I should be clear about who I am and what I do, and I am an illustrator first, and only slightly design. He also feels the owl doesn't fit within the circle very well as it leaves some awkward dead space. So I have changed the logo to this:

This is the original design.

This is my new logo, the flower fills the space a lot better, and it
looks brighter and clearer.

Other than that he seemed happy so I printed, cut and folded it on Friday. Here's the results - I'm quite happy with it:

The two types of envelopes i sent out.

Created a stamp of my logo using the
laser cutter to print on the seem of the
envelope.

The book bounded by the sleeve.

Front page - 'Alix de Courcy's
little book of cuts'.

One inside of the book - pages 1 through to 8

Second inside -pages 9 though 16 and back page.
(2 pages hidden)

Back page with my contact details.

This is hidden bit of the book, which holds it
all together.

I've decided to send them to Jonny Hannah (part of the brief), YCN, Financial Times, Print Club London, Agency Rush, SOMA Gallery, Wrap magazine, Wired magazine and Solent Showcase Gallery (to apply for the in-house residency artist over the Summer).

We also talked about my FMP and he agreed about the text and gave me some good advice about making the images and how to present them. I feel confident to start making the images now with three tutors opinions and advice.