The Fields
9" x 12"
Linoleum block print
October 2023
Linoleum block print
October 2023
This print, inspired by artist Jacob Pins, was carved from a lino block made to critique work culture. It depicts a woman standing in the foreground, surrounded by plants she's picking, her bag full. She's blacked out, faceless to represent the idea of the working class. In the background we see her home sitting on a lonely hill with no plants to be seen, despite the multitude she picks for work. Her house is representative of the sun, rays being seen protruding outward around the home. Surrounding it is completely black however, showing that the sun is rising, not setting nor sitting comfortably in the sky. The woman has been working all day, more than that, and is still far from the beaten path back to her house. But while it's in reach, she doesn't make any movement to return to her house, staring longingly for comfort.
Inspiration
Jacob Pins
While searching for an inspiration, I was struggling to find an artist that I was drawn to. While all very talented, the prints I was coming across were not inspiring me. I wanted to find an artist that utilized dark figures and harsh shading to relay ideas in their work, and this quickly lead to me finding Jacob Pins, a very influential German-Israelite artist. Pins was a Palestinian immigrant, often pulling from his own experiences with his work and life as well as the culture of the country he lived in to create art. I was drawn to his work, and how fluid his artistic skills were, utilizing composition and harsh shading to move the viewers eye through the contrast between the color on the board and the black of the ink. His use of sharp line work conveyed thoughts and emotions in a powerful way, and so I found three of his artworks to use as inspiration. All artworks are Untitled, showcasing different skills I pulled from and applied them to my block print. The first untitled work showcases a person staring off in the distance form the foreground of the work, staring at the sea from their window. The image could've very easily become muddled with the amount of line he applied to the background of the print, all very similar in shape and size and within close proximity to one another. However, Pins is able to balance out each cut masterfully, and is which keeps the print pleasing to the eye while having many elements. The second Untitled work shows a landscape, with almost block like trees in the middle of the grass of the field. This print showcases Pins ability to use movement in his pieces to manipulate the viewers eye through contrast on the board. Immediately, the viewers eye is drawn to the large tree towards the middle of the piece, but the sharp, thin cuts in the sky lead it down towards the end of the print. Finally, in third piece of inspiration I had, it depicts a group of people crowding presumably another person and beating them. People are seen reacting to the beating, like a man on the far left screaming. This is then contrasted by the nearly white houses in the distance, behind the focal group. Much like many of his other prints, this one in particular brings the contrasting to an extreme, making the image have a striking effect to it, despite being in monochrome tones. It's clear that Pins was an extremely talented artist and print maker, and I hoped to utilize the same techniques he used to make his art distinctive.
Process
Experimentation
Before printing, I also knew that I hadn't worked with linoleum cutters before, and because of how permanent cutting and printing it, I especially didn't want to botch the board, and so I turned it around and cut little sections of the back. From this, I had an idea of how each blade cut, as well as the width, the depth, and shape of each swipe of the board. Also, with all the photos I took, I had a quick reference of each of my blades, making it so I could begin cutting my final confidently and cautiously, getting each cut out of the board the way I wanted.
When I had completed my very first print, I was happy with the way all aspects were clear and not muddled on the page, so other than making minor changes, re-carving the piece wasn't very necessary. However, printing came as an issue. There were multiple issues that arose; With how minor some of the lines were, often times they would become filled with ink, especially if the block itself wasn't washed after an inking or multiple inkings. Additionally, because this was my first time working with ink and block printing, learning how to work the ink and manipulate it to create a good print took some time. I had created many different prints, but often times the ink came out looking spotty, which was frustrating. The edges of the board especially became a problem spot in the process, and there were many prints where the majority of the ink was clean, however then the edges would be spotty in the smallest of places. From the pressure on the barren, to the amount of ink, to the placement of the paper, to the amount of times the board is worked, many factors had to be applied and learned, and it was tricky. I tried many different combinations, like not washing the board and allowing one prior coat of ink to sit before inking again, placing the carving itself upside down on a piece of paper and then using the barren or placing the paper on top of the carving, and more.
Critique
Compare
This piece is extremely similar in some parts, but because I had pulled inspiration from multiple pieces, my final seems almost like a combination of the three as the inspirations are very clear. Pins use of composition is clear in my print, and I pulled the position of the woman straight from his work. We both have a figure in the foreground looking at an extending background with a plane in view, the plane in both cases being an area of land. And while the untitled piece I used to gain that part of my inspiration used shading to define the character behind the black background, I pulled from the third inspiration piece to keep the figure completely blocked out with very minimal outlines between the people to leave the viewer to imagine the identity of the figure. Additionally, while the use of having a figure, the woman's house in my case, represent the sun had been an aspect of the piece from the start, the use of lines shooting outwards was directly inspired from Pin's landscape work, and a through line between our prints.
Contrast
Despite the similarities, there are many differences between my print and the three inspired prints as well. While I utilized Pins idea of having lines protrude from the symbolic sun to represent the rays, the way I carried out that idea was different. Instead of long, thin lines extending out of the figure with no break across the print, I opted out to make the "rays" have thicker lines with breaks between the print and get larger as it extends further across the sky. I wanted to create the "rays" in my own way, making the inspiration obvious, but also changing the technique and making it new. Another difference in all the pieces was the composition of the figure in the foreground. Instead of having the woman be large and up close to the front of the print like how Pin's person is, nearly her full body is shown and additional items are shown, the plants the woman is picking making the foreground feeling much more "zoomed out" than Pin's print.
Reflection
I enjoyed this project a lot, and I'm proud in my block print. I haven't worked with printing prior to this, so this was a very fun and useful experience that challenged and honed many of my skills. From sketching, to working on composition, to the act of printing itself, and speaking on an issue I hold dear to my heart, I learned a lot from working on this piece. Jacob Pin's works had inspired this piece greatly and the inspiration is clear; The use of a person in the foreground, contrast between the blocked out woman and the bright field, and movement of the image were all techniques inspired by Pins work. My final would have been very different without his prints changing and shaping my thinking in a new way and perspective I hadn't had before. I'm most proud of the composition of the final piece the most. I believe that the composition of my working woman in the front makes it more cinematic, and exemplifies other aspect of the work, like the movement and line work. However, the line work was an aspect I feel I could've improved on as well. While it works, the "rays" of the sun is messy if one was to really think of the placement of each line and the pattern between them. Although I don't believe it hinders the viewing of the print, it is something that could've been avoided with better planning during my sketching of the work. All in all, however, I enjoyed myself while working on this block print, and will take this experience to heart.
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration was Jacob Pins and it had a major effect on my work, from his use of physical components, like composition and shape of line, to the similar themes and ideas in my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Jacob Pins was a very political person who often used his work to speak about the issues in his country and discrimination he faced. Because of this, while our messages aren't entirely the same and are handling different topics, I believe he would have been fond of the understanding that people are still taking his work and being inspired by it, although most likely critical of my line work as he was known to be a strict teacher.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Heartfelt and genuine messages can be furthered conveyed through the medium of the art itself, with this project in mind, the way that the ink is applied to the block print itself.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
In my research, the life and experience Pins had, the culture of the land that Pins lived in and even the land itself was the most common theme across his works.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had inferred that Pins had complicated feelings toward his country, although his critiques came from a place of love and fondness for the land despite the problems. Many of his works deal with social justice, but others depict the beauty of his country through landscapes.
My inspiration was Jacob Pins and it had a major effect on my work, from his use of physical components, like composition and shape of line, to the similar themes and ideas in my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Jacob Pins was a very political person who often used his work to speak about the issues in his country and discrimination he faced. Because of this, while our messages aren't entirely the same and are handling different topics, I believe he would have been fond of the understanding that people are still taking his work and being inspired by it, although most likely critical of my line work as he was known to be a strict teacher.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Heartfelt and genuine messages can be furthered conveyed through the medium of the art itself, with this project in mind, the way that the ink is applied to the block print itself.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
In my research, the life and experience Pins had, the culture of the land that Pins lived in and even the land itself was the most common theme across his works.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had inferred that Pins had complicated feelings toward his country, although his critiques came from a place of love and fondness for the land despite the problems. Many of his works deal with social justice, but others depict the beauty of his country through landscapes.
Bibliography
“Obituary: Jacob Pins.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Dec. 2005, Accessed 7 Nov. 2023 www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/17/guardianobituaries.israel.
“Jacob Pins - Biography.” Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, Ben Uri , benuri.org/artists/104-jacob-pins/biography/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.
https://benuri.org/artists/104-jacob-pins/works/
“Jacob Pins - Biography.” Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, Ben Uri , benuri.org/artists/104-jacob-pins/biography/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.
https://benuri.org/artists/104-jacob-pins/works/