Group Tutorial 12/10/15

During my group tutorial this week it was discussed that I should start drawing bigger drawings. As I am designing for fashion, my drawings should be as big as the garments i am designing for. this will also give me bigger experimental range on my mark making resulting my more creative outcomes. 

My drawings have a 3D aspect in the way that I use ripped pieces of paper to add more texture to the drawing. The fact I am also focusing on peeling and decay also naturally gives a more £D effect to my work and so it was suggested that I look into using appliqué with in my designs. But that also brings up the implication of how expensive that would be to produce in comparison to my market I am working towards. So that is also something i shall need to consider further. How will the cost of my process effect the potential cost of the final design and also how will that effect my chosen market.

To develop my drawings further i would like to photocopy them (and perhaps use that copier to manipulate the colours too) and create fashion illustrations and collages from these, just see how these early drawings could also work as prints and give me an idea of what kind of garment my designs could work on.

A mood board for colour should be created by next week. this doesn't have to be final colours but just loosely looking into what colours interest me. and also think about colour distribution. how much colour ratio and where abouts will it be in my designs?

I also need to look at current trends for fashion, so a trip into town to look at the clothes out there will give me a good idea of this. i will also use the internet to look at current trends and even lookbooks within shops.

'The event of thread' lecture and some personal reflection

Textile artist Hannah Leighton-Boyce held a lecture for her work 'The event of thread'. the piece is somewhat of a live sculpture, where using woollen yarn she had spun herself, she and the village of Helmshore, weaved 3300 yards of yarn through houses and over gardens tracing the lines of which the old mills tenter fields lay. during her research fir this installation she came across some information that mentioned when the mill worked would carry the tentered fabric through the village and some would say it resembled a Chinese dragon parading through the village. I felt this oriental comparison also related to my theme of work currently as I am looking at Thai and oriental sources.

However, on this note I also feel that I perhaps and running out sources and inspiration for this oriental theme and that my drawings are either all too similar or very very different in theme (i.e boats and walls of temples), so on this reflection I feel my sources developing from the old walls into using the word 'peel' and 'decay'. I also feel this development relates to my over ruling theme of future and past.

Looking further into Hannah Leighton-Boyce's earlier works I came across and interesting piece called 'composition - movimentum'. 

The piece was created in 2010 and When Leighton-Boyce travelled through London, Berlin and Stroud on foot, by bus and train. She was exploring the relationship between mark making and marking time. I find this interesting because there are many types of mark made here and the fact that it was achieved just through motion of walking, like the tremors of footsteps or a pothole in the road marking the paper is quite fascinating. Reflecting on this idea, I feel i should be a little more free with my drawings and less controlled. This would look fantastic having been machine stitched onto fabric also.

Drawing Workshop

As previously mentioned, I attended a drawing workshop. At the time I couldn't add photos but from now I can. 

I really wanted to focus on the peeling paint from the photo I had taken at the grand palace in Thailand. i took the essence of the photo and focused on the textures i could see within the peeling and decay.

To create this drawing I scrunched up paper and used ink to stamp the background in. I then used masking tape to create layers. I then used the same stamping technique over this. Finally, I rolled and peeled back half of each strip of masking tape and then used water colour on the softer ripped edges so that it would run through the tape. 

I also worked and a selection of 4 smaller mark making drawings inspired buy the same photo. this time I focussed more on the the shapes I saw in the photo this time as opposed to the textures.

The top two are similar in technique. I used masking tape and water colour to create texture and also rugged lines and shapes. I really like how the water colour bleeds into the masking tape. I also used fabric dye and bleach to create the pink and blue colours and also it creates an interesting transparency to the drawing. 

The third drawing wasn't as successful as the others but I could improve it. The fourth drawing was successful because I feel it reflects the 'hidden' vibe I am looking at within the peeled area. i created this by pushing graphite off of a shaped piece of card, then hiding parts of the drawing using mashing tape. i then used fabric dye to paint over that with and then applied bleach other that, resulting in yellow peach tones. I then removed the masking tape and exposed the graphite beneath. 

I could develop this further by using acetate to layer up my drawings.

Anther drawing using bleach, but this time I used the word 'scratched' to inspire the drawing. for this i also layered magic tape shapes similar to that i have seen on Thai temples. it has created quite an organic image but has subtle squares and lines within it.

Inspiration Workshop

I attended an Inspirations workshop on the 24th September with my group to help get a grasp of what I may need to do next within my drawings and have to have more ideas to work on.

My feedback consisted of: 

Trying out some more mark making and making those more abstract but also to not refine them within motifs.

Using mixed media to create rich and textured drawings.

work towards a colour scheme and perhaps narrow down my sources so that there is a correlation between drawings.

To have a look a WGSI online for upcoming trends. this will help me set a demographic for my designs.

Experiment with bleach and fabric dyes on paper.

Visit china town for more local oriental inspiration.

That afternoon I did take a trip to china town to look at the detail on the arch, (the photos I took however are on my phone which is currently being fixed, however, I shall work from them once I have it back)

I have also narrowed down my sources and am focusing on decorative Thai walls - ones seen at the Grand Palace.

On the 28th September i also attended a drawing workshop where we were asked to create 6 drawings. I chose to use: collaged, textured, scratched, overlaid, random and printed. I also took words from my sources and looked a peeling textures for my mark making.

i have also looked at using more mixed media in my drawings including using masking tapes, bleach and dyes, inks and a range of pens. Photos if these drawings shall follow in a fore coming post.

Summer: Turkey

During my summer I also visited Turkey. Equipped with my underwater camera I spent a lot of my time snorkelling. The underwater world is so interesting to me, as once again, it is something people don't take too much notice in or see every day.

Corals and underwater plants hold so much texture and could be used for textile design inspiration for embroidery, weaving, fabric manipulation and print designs. 

I could possibly explore the idea of weaving inspired by coral and then creating prints from the physical weave itself. This would give an abstract and didactic feel to the outcome.

I can only imagine that this is my reflection reflection back off of the surface of the water, but I appreciate how the water movement itself breaks up the reflection. It may be an idea to investigate pleating fabric before adding print to them (whether that be via screen print or heat transfer ect) or using Photoshop to manipulate designs to achieve this effect.

The corals and plant life surrounding the cold springs I was swimming near were shades of lilac and warm orangey browns. There was also some interesting shell or growth formations on some of the rocks which caught my eye as seen below.

I find it fascinating how water reflects light, I admire the patterns it creates from the surface and also when said light hits the base of pool/seabed. I could possibly experiment with marbling onto fabric and layering other techniques like batik over that.

Summer: Thai Islands

Whilst I travelled Thailand, I visited three islands; Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. a lot of my activities on these islands involved water and the sea. I collected a lot of shells which you may find drawings and sketches of in my sketchbook. I also collected a lot of photos of sunsets - a habit I also took back home with me.

What I find really interesting in sunsets and sun rises is that everyday its going to be unique, the sky will never look exactly the same again and I find that fascinating. Above is a photo I took in Koh Phangan. The silhouettes of the palms against the pastel blue and peach sky is very pretty and could easily be translated into designs for textiles.

Another inspiration I found was in the sand. a lot of the beaches had washed up corals of which their textures and structure could be translated into print designs alone. they hold tiny details which could be expanded into large prints or layered on top of each other with other designs.

Paige Smith: Urban Geode

Instagram is a great mobile app where you can stumble across new, up and coming artists and designers. Whilst I was scrolling through the app I discovered this artist, Paige Smith, under the alias of @acommonname.

She creates street art installations in unusual and forgotten places on street corners and in dishevelled brick walls.

Her work mostly consists of crystal, geode like formations that appear to be growing from urban spaces.

I find it interesting due to its similarity to the idea of nature taking back what once was and that maybe man can only leave a small footprint against mother natures force.

I particularity like this image due to the composition of the organic shapes or the plant, the softer shapes of the rock wall and also the rigid angular lines of the geode.

Her choice of location for her work also intrigues me. I have had an interest in the life that is within decay for years and i appreciated this a lot whilst I was travelling. the streets would have cracked and crumbling walls still would have fresh orchids sprouting through the crevasses.

Her work is small and may also go unnoticed by those who don't necessarily look at their surroundings, which I find a lot of people don't do this any more.