Glass Screen Prints

As another experiment for my Portrait and Identity brief, I decided to try and screen print onto glass some of my drawings that had been inspired by and based on Bacon's portraits. Above is my screen with the two images I was using.

Screen printing was something I had wanted to try since I found out we could actually do it, so I was very excited about this.



I used a variety of colours- blue, green, white, flesh pink and black, and I even tried combining some of the colours together to see how this turned out...






Really like how these have turned out and will definitely use this technique again in the future.

A Third!

This was actually the first piece I did with a plaster mould, however the design on this mould was primarily exploring the variety of textures I could achieve, and so does not represent a specific image.

Again I was trying to be more abstract in the way I cut and placed the glass on the mould, rather than just slumping a flat piece over it.

The Result!

I was really happy with this when I first saw it, as the textures had been picked up really well which is what I wanted to do. However looking back on it after the other two pieces I have done, this one seems much flatter and not as exciting.. in my opinion anyway! :)

Smashed Glass Bacon Faces!

For our recent Portrait and Identity brief, I chose to look at Francis Bacon's portraits, and generally work towards something abstract, maybe so abstract that only I knew what was actually being represented. These pieces were a part of this process.

I had drawn directly into wet plaster with the intention of making as many marks as possible, but keeping a certain image in mind: my take on a Francis Bacon Portrait.

When the plaster moulds were dry enough, I then filled the moulds with a smashed glass and coloured frits (deer brown, aqua and cobalt blue).

In parts I also added some copper and brass wire, following the lines I had drawn into the plaster, and trying to keep the original images in tact .
To add some rigidity I also placed some larger pieces of glass on the top and fired them like this.

The Result!

I was totally unsure of how the pieces would actually turn out and whether the would actually hold together after the firing... but they did! I am really pleased with the result of these pieces, love the colours and the way they catch the light. This one is my personal favourite...

and here are a few close ups...

I also turned the pieces around and surprisingly they work this way too. The colours are much more subtle and I think they give a really nice effect.

Also, I love how the original image is not immediately evident.. the distinguishable facial features have been distorted so much during the process that they are no longer present.