3 layer bitmaps for landscape 1
3 layer bitmaps for landscape 2
prep for print: just spent the last few days preparing my images for screen printing in the DFP Studios next week. this print series explores notions of a real and idealised or romanticised landscape through image and text. i am using images of the landscape that i took of the galtee mountains last month and examining how i edit, crop, colour enhance these images which i am now juxtaposing with text that i recorded of the weather forecasts on the day the images were taken. i have also been taking notes of the steps i take in photoshop to edit the images and this is also becoming part of the text – opacity 25%, effects colour overlay etc. i have no idea how the opacity will translate to screen print inks on these images so just as well i have 2 full days booked into the studio. in making the edition practical, i don’t want to go beyond 3 ink layers – this helps me unclutter the process and the image but is influencing where i place shape and text layers. it is however giving that ‘beware of unusual formatting’ feel to the images which links with facebook’s advice on ‘how to spot fake news’. i’m thinking of a grey scale background with yellow, red and blue colour overlays corresponding to the colours i bring up in the images in the editing process of enhancing my images. i also want the layers to go beyond the image like a working layout for the image. other decisions equally important is the font – i went with gill sans MT for all text for its simplicity and is a font that is used in weather forecasts when i googled around (if i can i believe everything i read on google). i also went with an image size is 30 x 21 as it sits well on an a3+ page.
materials: even though i’m printing as part of an exploratory project i still bought some good quality materials (rosaspina paper and serigraph inks) as i figure if i’m going to put all that physical effort into printing you may as well get the best i can as it could be the reason i do or do not develop this series of images or see its potential for developing further. i also had to upgrade my photoshop and creative cloud programmes as my old computer decided to pack it in….
anyway im really looking forward to printing and seeing how it all works out with inked layers next week and think the layers may surprise me.
tutorial with kimberly foster: v helpful discussion about my art making process in relation to these prints – the struggle, push and pull of making, remaking, perfecting and messing up which is all related to landscape and gender – the ideal/the real, the body encounter etc. with kimberleys suggestion i might include some of my internal commands re moving editing images such as move to the left a little more, know when to stop, move more under etc. i may also continue the rhythm of language from my 3d processes – ‘i shiver and i shit’ and now for a landscape series – ‘i leak and i lie’ … whats at stake in the physical printing process and image making, in the presentation of an image, in my encounter with the landscape physically and mentally. anyway i just sent the images off to the studio to print transparencies so i’m excited to get started next week. i might try mixing some ink transparencies and see how the print over some old photocopy images.
elaine crowe 
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