Printmaking Blog Post

The name of the element that I was assigned is Agron. It's atomic number is 18 and the symbol is Ar. It was discovered in 1894 and the name comes from the Greek word "argos", which means idle. It was discovered by two guys named Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay when they separated it from liquid air. It was discovered when scientists tried to explain why the density of  Nitrogen from air was different from the Nitrogen that was taken out of ammonia. Argon is used in welding, the production of light bulbs fluorescent tubes and certain tires can contain argon to protect the rubber. My three ideas for the prints were something that has to do with welding, the founders of the element and fluorescent lights. I sketched someone welding, a teacup (the founders were British) and an fluorescent OPEN sign. To make this print I first had to sketch out a design that would represent my element. I chose the design about welding because it seemed to be the most clear and comprehensible sketch. Next I traced the sketch onto tracing paper so that when I sketched it into the foam piece I could trace it backwards. I then placed the tracing paper onto my foam sheet and traced my sketch into it. To actually make the print I had to choose a color of paint, then I rolled out the paint onto a roller and pressed the color into my foam sheet. I took a plain sheet of paper and placed it on top of my foam sheet, and went over the sheet with the back of a wooden spoon. This was so that I could get a vivid print. If I did this project again something that I would do differently is that I would have given my sketch more negative space in the design. I think that it would have been a great print if I had implemented more negative space in my design. My favorite part of this project was coming up with the designs for the print and being able to figure out symbols that could represent Argon. I really enjoyed this creative aspect of the project.