One of the more interesting sides of studying here at UNM has been learning about Printmaking. One of my classes here is called "Introduction to Printmaking", and is about as broad an introduction as one could hope for, covering Relief (lino), Intaglio, Collagraph, Litho and Monoprint.
At first, I was kinda worried - mostly because I'd never really had to create work directly with my hands. Anything I'd made at GSA had been primarily photographic, and the photographic way of working is something that I am very comfortable and confident with. Even though I knew I could draw to a fairly basic standard, I was a lot less confident with how my fairly rudimentary skills would stand up in a university-level environment.
Aside from the matter of technical skill, the other big challenge was taking a very different approach to the creative side of generating ideas for work. As a photographer, my approach generally involves thinking of some sort of reasonable subject matter that might suit my needs and how to go about photographing it. I am more or less restricted to depicting objects that exist in some physical form in the real world. With drawing, the possibilities are far less limited, and this has been difficult for me to deal with. All of a sudden, the range of potential subject matter is extended from what I can depict, to what I should depict.
The only minor restrictions placed on my subject matter were those placed by the project briefs, and of course, trying to pick something that would work well specific to the particular print method being taught at the time.
I was relatively content with how my course had been progressing, and how I'd managed to cope with these new challenges. To an extent, I'd played it relatively safe with my prints, still sticking with what could probably be described as a very photographic way of seeing. Given my low initial confidence, just "coping" with the course and not making anything too terrible had satisfied me to a pretty decent degree, and I really wasn't too worried about the grades. I was most surprised when after the mid-term portfolio submission, that for the four projects handed in, I'd got three A's and a B+.
As any art student will tell you, grades are always a bit of a weird thing to get for something where there really are no absolute right or wrong answers as there might be in a maths exam. It was strange getting A's for what I would've only called a competent performance, especially coming from GSA, where A grades seem much harder to come by.
All this leads me to my current situation, beginning in the early stages of learning about lithography. I'd recently read a post on Jim Hamlyn's blog (one of my tutors at GSA) about taking risks in order to improve performance. In Jim's post, he mentions a tennis-playing friend - she would always win the games, but believed that her playing partner was the better player, because he would attempt more bold and risky playing techniques. In effect, I've been feeling a lot like the consistent player - getting the good grades, but without necessarily pushing myself as hard as I should.
So what should happen? Well, today I'd decided on the subject matter for my litho print, had made some preliminary sketches in my sketchbook, and was all ready to make what I thought would be a great print. I'd decided to break away from my standard photographic way of seeing, and tried something a bit different. Of course, when I got my drawing done on the aluminium plate, it was clear to me (and most of the people who saw it) that it was pretty much a load of crap.
Luckily, I'd managed to realise that my image was rubbish before committing to processing the plate and making any prints. I now have a couple of choices as far as I see it - 1) Just carry on and print the crap image anyway 2a) Clear the plate and go back to something more familiar and comfortable or 2b) Clear the plate and try something else risky. Option 1 would take the least effort - I wouldn't have to spend much time, but I know I'd be dissatisfied personally, and I'd likely get a poor grade too. Option 2a would require a bit of effort (cleaning the plate is a bit of a tricky process), and although I wouldn't have to push myself creatively, I know I'd be able to pull off a good grade at the end of it. Option 2b is the hardest option - not only do I have to go through the long-winded technical process of cleaning the plate and re-drawing an image, I also have to take a big risk creatively. Should I make a mess of my second drawing, I won't have time to clean the plate and start again - I'll be left in the situation like option 1 where I have a work that I'm dissatisfied with and will likely get a poor grade for, but also having expended a whole lot more time and effort in the process of failing.
Of course, should option 2b work out, I'll be in the ideal situation, having created a good work that I'll be happy with, and got me a decent grade to go with it. The question now is whether or not I have the confidence to go ahead with this gamble. Certainly, form is not on my side at the moment, but then maybe making another failed work isn't such a bad thing, so long as I manage to fail in a new way and learn something from it!
