Development, context and relationships....and an Indian wedding!

I originally did this Swan painting onto vintage wallpaper with raised textures. I always seem to choose a texture to work into because it makes it far less daunting than to work onto a flat white surface.  I have also been working into rolls of canvas a lot and this is something I want to continue to develop.

I am inspired by the work of Rob Ryan and traditional paper cutting so I thought I would experiment with my love of layering and multimedia through the use of cutting paper away.  I have used vintage imagery collected from vintage shops along with old book pages to create a peep-through aspect. It also adds a different dimension when you look at image and spot something new each time.  I enjoyed the cutting out of the original textures found on the paper and incorporating them with the overall image.

 

I was thinking a lot about context when creating this piece. I really like it just as a piece of art. I feel it would be beautiful as a super sized wall mural. I also want to develop the swan theme, I could imagine using a two swans as bespoke wings or a mask/ collar/ head dress. I can see a strong relationship developing between my drawings and my sampling. Literal thing such as the black dots and gold dots relate to circular stitches and sequins and beads.

I went to and Indian wedding in the summer and was memorised by the details of the saris alongside the encrusted embroidery. I think this has really influenced by drawing style of late. I like to make my imagery up of tiny dots and metallic that shimmer. I can also see that the bright colours of the saris tie very much in with my own work...

Mrs Lily; Sampling, context and development

I made Mrs Lily as a direct result of my second tutorial with Louise Richardson. I have had some of my drawings printed on the sublimation printer and wanted to pad them and bring them 'to life' with embellishments, hand and machine embroidery. I bought a variety of needles for my Janome Harmony 2041 including thin needles for polyesters and synthetics (sublimation materials), quilting needles and metallic thread embroidery needles.

To create Mrs Lily I used polyester sourced from an old shirt in a charity shop and backed it onto a piece of cotton found fabric. I love the idea of utilising unwanted materials. I then highlighted my drawing with a straight black stitch. I did struggle to actually quilt the bird because I need to reach a compromise between using freehand and a structured stitch with a normal foot/ quilting foot.

I left loose threads on my embellishments because of the trend research on WGSN 'Archaic Threads'. I think it added charm to Mrs Lily. I also experimented with embroidery silks (2 strand and 4 strand) to create varying sizes of French knotting building up textures in different colours. This creates a more textured base to then embellish, representing a hint of the animals genuine appearance (wings). My sequins are sourced from www.josyrose.com because the sequins seem so much stronger and symmetrical than others I have used. I would like to try and source some sort of vintage beading to use in partnership with the sequins in the future.

 

 

I love that drawing onto a magazine page means that there is this little face peeking through although I would have to be careful with doing this with illustrations because obviously that little face is someone else's work.

I still really want to take this peeping idea forwards using vintage imagery from photographs I sourced over the summer.

Context

I'm finding myself getting really excited about the work I am producing. I can imagine this bird a bit flatter as part of a collar as a shoulder on a dress. Swans on the side of shoes, embroidered animals wrapped round necks and lamps and cushions ahhhhhhhh the possibilities of accessories!!! I also think my drawings have the potential to be developed into transfers for ceramics, simple wallpaper repeats and quirky giftwear/ stationary/ fine art dolls and childrenswear. Why pen myself in to fashion or interiors or art when I can and want to do all three?

Drawing Workshop

Today we did a group drawing session which involved trying to work differently to how you normally would or developing your individual style(which I think I have finally found!)

I started by drawing a fairground horse on canvas trying to work in a larger scale than I would normally. I found that the boundaries of the canvas are to rigid so I am going to try and develop extensions of my drawings off of the 'paper'. 

Today Grainne said that I can afford for my work to be gestural and a bit crazy with colour and movement. I can see that my work is almost an extension of my personality, my loves and my personal style.  This is interesting to consider within the context of my research report where I am looking at makers who use their work as an extension of themselves. I definitely fit into this sort of making category. I find it hard to hold back with colour and detail and I don't think this is something I should try and do anymore, I just need to go with what my hands do!

I really enjoy using bleach within my work because it's a good cure to soften my colours when I sometimes get carried away. It is a wonderful way of illuminating areas of an illustration and therefore creating an ethereal, magical quality. 

The bleach sometimes burns through papers and rather than panicking I found that it was best to go with what the material was doing, so if it wanted to rip and curl I incorporated this into the imagery. This texture adds to the collage/layered feel of my work. I find that this then directly relates to the freehand machine stitch and almost sculptural sort of embellishment within my sampling.

Tutorial

Found my tutorial with Louise Richardson really helpful today. She pointed out that my drawings tend to be one offs and to roll with this creating detailed drawings. Do what I enjoy. Don't get het up on context, keep it in mind but don't let these thoughts take over.

She said that my drawings look like they need to be quilted which I felt would be a good way of bringing the 3D element my work is calling out for.

I took the advice away and whilst I was waiting for my drawings to be digitally printed in order to quilt, I experimented with painting fabric with ink and then bleach and padding and embellishing this.

The result is this little bird. I am pleased with it for a first attempt but I need to buy some quilting needles for the sewing machine in order for the stitching to stay neat. I don't like the button for an eye either. I feel that the eye would look better as a curved straight stitch.

I also like the faded pastel colours that have been given an antique feel, using pastel colours and bleach to ring out the colour.

Initial Drawings

From my photographs I have been exploring drawing methods and subject matter.

I like the idea of the story of the fairground/ vintage fairground so I did some research on my Pinterest into the old fashioned carousel animals. I am drawn to drawing animals and it seems I need to explore this further.

www.pinterest.com/bethy666

The drawing method I find most productive for me is a layered approach of mixed media such as pen, ink, stitch and bleach. I then like to take this further with stand out, fun elements such as glitter and sequins.

The freehand machine stitch works well as a fluid continuous line within a drawing. It lends itself well to my drawings of the swing because it portrays movement.

The pen continuous line drawing doesn't work as well for me. It looks toot rigid and colouring book like. It lacks the softness of the stitch.

The inks are easily blend-able and I like that they are a bit stronger than watercolour yet can still be softened.

My favourite material to work on is canvas roll as it has the foldable and fragile elements of paper combined with the weave of a fabric, making it strong to both sew and draw on.

Over the holidays I have collected more materials such as WOW glitters which are made of fine dust. This gives the glitter fun appeal without looking as childish!

Now for initial development ...

Drawing Day

Been working on my initial drawings today. Loving the Kurecolour pens because they leak through to the bottom side of the paper and make that more interesting to work on than the top (blue fish). They also blend well either each other as in the shell drawings to produce interesting colour effects.

I also like the metallic inks I've been working with and the sequins, makes the work more exciting for me if its shiny!!

I don't like my drawing of the coral below, the inks look too blotchy and thick, I think I want to try using fine pens or a completely different media such as paper collage.

Using bleach to remove colour helps to capture the light you see in aquariums and reflections. I want to take this forward and explore further.

Stew Gallery

Went to visit the 3rd year's mid-year show. I was amazed by the level and variety of work. My favourite collections are the ones photographed below.

Katie Carson's shirts were interesting because of the photographic elements combined with digital print, creating depth. The other two collections were based around quaint imagery, line drawings, humour and colour. These are all things close to my designers heart!

Drawing "finspiration"

Today I went to visit the Hunstanton Sealife centre. I enjoyed studying birds as a visual inspiration last project, so naturally, I feel that this time it would be good to continue with animal subjects. I am also inspired by flora and fauna so I feel underwater plants could be interesting to study. As well as literal inspiration (for example with my character animals) the patternation and variety in colour and shape within sealife lends itself to print and embellishment. This is what I'm thinking of focussing on for BA6.