imprint_and

Monoprinting is the process of rolling ink out onto a surface, putting paper on the top and using a tool (pencil, paintbrush, your fingers) to make a design on the back. Then the paper is peeled off the ink, and the design drawn on the back will be printed on the front. This method makes interesting marks and smudges on the paper, as well as being done blind which can result in unexpected results.

These are the two designs I made (as well as drawing Cyprus with teeth; I didn't get a picture). I first drew out the design, then flipped it and traced it onto the paper. The smudges came from me leaning on the paper by accident, but I think without the smudges they'd just look like normal drawings. In the process of this I couldn't remember what I'd traced and hadn't which made the drawings less neat than I was anticipating.

This monoprint is based on feelings of helplessness and codependency, inspired by 'imprinting' on someone else. This then inspired the animation I did as a 'final piece'.

This one is inspired by a quote from one of my favourite books 'Eileen" by Ottessa Moshfegh. The idea behind this one was that reading is my favourite hobby, and has 'imprinted' on my personality, or shaped who I am. I also liked the metaphor and the juxtaposition of a home and a prison.

Then, inspired by the 'imprint' that being in a (one-sided) relationship has on a person, I made these two animations.

I wanted to portray the idea of feeling desperate for someone to like you, or feeling disappointed by someone in a naive and childish way. The work of Ambivalently Yours had an influence in this, as her work portrays emotions in a very straightforward and simple manner, with no nuance, and small and simple drawings t go alongside them.

'Please Don't Leave!!!!' is about the rose tinted bubble popping, and about how when someone leaves it can feel like a very sudden change that affects your whole universe.

'Can't Make It 2nite' is about feeling disappointed by someone; putting in a lot of effort to impress someone and then they let you down, in this scenario cancelling on a first date.

I was planning to make a third called 'Do You Even Like Me?', where a letter would travel over the world and land on a doorstep, but unfortunately I got sick and didn't have time.

The process of making animations was new to me, resulting in a unpolished, quite amateur look, which helps to portray the innocence and naivety of the characters. If I was to carry on this project, I might have done a more polished series, from the perspective of an adult.