However, in retrospect I think that a lot of that work was missing something. In much the same way that my first year work had the aesthetics but lacked the ideas I think that my second year work had the ideas but lacked the aesthetics. I would spend hours trying to stop my designs looking so generic, so cold, so digital. I wanted them to have warmth and a human quality but was struggling to do so.
I found myself in this position on this last project. I had ideas that I was pleased with (more of which later) and was interpreting them in what felt like an appropriate style. So far so good; except that the images were still lacking that certain something. For a while I was stuck, but then came the ‘Graphic Gurus’ event (again more of which later).
One of the ‘Graphic Gurus’ was a past graduate called Ben Jones, a successful and prolific illustrator who works mainly in print. And what amazing work it was too; looking at the beautiful and diverse images that Ben had created through printmaking reminded me of why I first fell in love with the process.
So, the next day I set to work creating the project through print, it felt great to get back to the hands on approach that I had been avoiding for so long, I realized how much I’d missed it. What made it all the better this time around was that I had established my ideas beforehand and the printing process had become a way to realize these ideas.
I think I found the right balance, between ideas and aesthetics. This time around I was using printmaking to bring to life my ideas in a way that feels all the more personal and honest. At the moment, this all feels like a step forward.
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