The Snake and The Heron
Spring 2024
Screenprint | Adv. Screenprinting @ Madison College
The focus of this project was “Steal Like an Artist”, and my first print in Advanced Screenprinting. While collecting ideas for this piece, I came across many images of Blue Herons trapped by different large snakes they caught.
The dark and eerie work of James Fenner inspired the mood and colors of the print.
© Michael Oberman
© Vasu Karlopudi
© Patrick Tewey
For this piece, I only had 4 colors to work with; red, yellow, blue, and black.
I generally aim to use as few screens as possible, and was aiming for a max of three for this one, knowing I could utilize colored paper for the fourth color.
Using a limited amount of screens challenges me to find new ways to bring variation in my pieces by blocking out areas for different colors to peek through. I approach screenprinting similar to how I would a relief print.
Video includes 3 hours of drafting and color tests in 30s.
I like to try out a few different colorways before any films are made to make sure I have options when I go to press. This is where limited colors can be helpful in narrowing down my options. In the end, I went with black paper and red, yellow/gold, and dark blue ink.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to get colors this bright on press — the image at the end is a digital color test closer to what I thought it might look like on paper.
