Evaluation of Lino Print

1. What techniques I have learnt?

- The role of each lino carving tool

- V-Gouge (small, triangular tool): Narrow and sharp lines.

- U-Gouge (small, round tool): Shallow and fluent lines.

- Large Line (large, triangular tool): Deep and thick lines.

- Large Gouge (large, round tool): Broad and dark lines.

- The difference between water-based inks and oil-based inks

- Water-based inks are more soluble and easier to clean up.

- Water-based inks have a more ‘powdery’ outcome onto a print.

- Oil-based inks have a more superior colour and are easier to copy a print onto.

- Oil-based inks take a longer amount of time to dry.

- The equipment needed for printing

- Lino rollers (either plastic, metal or wooden)

- A printing press

- Lino printing ink.

- A barren (a concave sheath, wrapped in bamboo)

2. Why are my choices reflective of contemporary influences?

- Skeletons on the triangular path depict the ‘dead-end’ path of their life, as they have been stolen for the human trafficking trade.

- Chinese writing is a direct translation to a quote by Sylvia Plath, regarding slavery; ‘I must get my soul back from you; I am killing my flesh without it,’. This is due to modern-day trafficking being labelled as ‘slavery of the 21^st century’.

-  Limbs that are amputated and maimed are a direct presentation of various tortures within this trade.

- Repetition of skulls represents sufferers of the trade, where specific victims are lost to the knowledge of society.

3. What worked well?

- The image of the skeletons

- Skeletons represent excessive punishment endured by trade sufferers. This has caused emotional and physical deficiency, where a lack of free-

thinking and low self-worth leave only a ‘frame’ of a previous character.

- This confronting image proves its salience to the audience.

- The Chinese writing

- The foreign translation of this quote proves evidence of the location of these trafficking events.

- The delicate carving of the letters were also presented when printing the image, and enabled an apparent view at the quote’s meaning, to native speakers.

4. What I could have completed differently?
 

- The repetition of skulls

- The intended salience of the skeletons became ‘lost’ in the skull repetition. If I were to complete this differently, I would reduce the amount of skulls within my work.

- There was not much variation between each skull, therefore the audience cannot clearly perceive the specific victims of this trade. I could emphasize the diverse characters between each skull, by different carving and design.

- It was not clear that the repetition in the background of my work, was that of skulls. To complete this work differently, I should view various skull interpretations and create my own based on a biological perception.