Studio brief 2 (Print) Lino testing 1

I had a sudden thought.

Iknow that once I start getting involved with designing my screenprints i will just get involved with that and i wont consider as many possible processes. Because i now know i can include both line and shape qualities into screenprinting I imagine my finals will be done through that process but for now I have taken a step back and have considered these lino shape based designs.

I came across these two shaped based astronaut designs and it immediately inspired me to create something on a similar basis through the process of lino carving. Ive never really tried to used much shape with my work I normally rely on line to create and image so I feel like with this im pushing myeslf to try something new by completely simplify and reducing my idea. Also removing myself from constantly drawing thing in a representative way. Sometimes adding abit of character to something can make it more appealing rather than just drawing it in a generic and obvious way.

Without any inital pre-designs for this lino cut, I managed to carve an astronaut that has been broken down into separate shapes.  

This is the printed version. I am actually really happy with this outcome as I didnt really expect much from it but now I have been given many more ideas of what I could do with this to improve it.

The lino cutting process has made me completely re-think how to approach the image and has led me to this shape based design rather than linear that almost looks like it could be a logo once refined. I am certain to take this simple idea further.

As we can use two colours I thought i would test how this could look with a two colour fade, This is a trick i learned from watching a random student in the print room. I think the idea is effective but this specific colour combination doesnt work too well, the colours will need to be more spacey such as purples.

I much prefer this colour combination of pink and magenta, the print looks much more vibrant and fits more of a astro/spacey theme. I am starting to think that I don't want to include black into my designs at all whether the finals be lino or screenprint. Black is my primary colour that i rely on so I want to make sure that i don't use any black because i could surprise myself with what could be achieved.