PROJECT 3 - Colour
Loved working with colour though found some of the colour perception exercises weren't as easy as I'd expected.
Really enjoyed working up 2 colour wheels ( though found it hard to get the greens right) and loved mixing and matching to the colours in pictures and fabric
Found it easiest to work with gouache - pure and easy to rinse - found watercolours more volatile and acrylics less forgiving. Got stuck on one colour and found my Daler Rowney colour wheel was a great help because it did tones tints and shades.
Loved the section on responding to colour and had great fun using colours to express different feelings.
The colour theme I chose is Winter Mornings - I'm very drawn to the soft greys, silvers and violets that greet the day at this time of the year.
I enjoyed the stitch exercises in stage 5. Obviously it takes longer than with paint to make an impact but the experience has great depth.
I used red and yellow threads of different weights on a black fabric. Preferred the effect of the thinner threads. Could see how the two colours close together looked orange and the thin yellow against the strong red looked almost white. Could also see how less dense stitching was impacted more by the bachground colour - eg red looked darker, yellow lighter.
For Stage 6, I read up on Suerat and Pointillism and looked up some of his work : La Grande Jatte, Bee du Nec and Channel at Gravelines. I was interested in his method - first covering the canvas with a layer of paint, then overpainting in local colours in broad strokes and finally building up the image using multicoloured dots - using a restricted palette of 4 colours and their intermediaries mixed with white.
I tried to stitch a fish by this method using french and bullion knots. Had a measure of success but it would have been better if I had shaded the the ground material first as it's hard to get the context right : either it doesn't blend in sufficiently or it disappears into the background.
Overall, I'm really pleased with what I've done and learned during this project.
Further development : I need be more spontaneous at noticing and recording colour combinations that work well and that I respond to.
PROJECT 4 : DEVELOPING DESIGN IDEAS
How it went :
I enjoyed the Stage 1 exercises on making space move and am more drawn to dynamic arrangements
I enjoyed Stage 2, Exercises 1 to 3 looking for Shapes and then learning to hone in on texture, colour and shape and decide which to prioritise and using different media.
I found Ex 4 - drawing from real objects - harder and had a number of tries at this before I was happy to move on
Stage 3 - Selecting from my Drawings. I got bogged down in this for a while. Felt my drawings weren't good enough and got into a loop doing more and more drawings to no avail.
The problem knocked on to Stage 4 - Developing Design ideas where again I wasn't very happy with my design ideas .Thankfully I got help from The Complete Guide to Creative Embroidery. The chapters on Exploring Ideas and Selecting a Theme were great. I tried out some of the ideas around a sketch of tulips and was finally able to move on.
Regarding the working method, I haven't cracked it yet, but even coming back to this book made me realise how much I've learned and I expect that with more practice it will come easier to me.
Follow up
- I've started to keep a record of ideas for further exploration.
- I've also booked a half day workshop on Sketchbooks for Textile Artists which is being run as part of the Cork Textiles Network annual conference on Saturday March 5th
INTERLUDE - EXPERIMENTS WITH PRINTING AND PAINTING
I had great fun with this.
I got great help from Ruth Issets Print Pattern and Colour which had clear and concise instructions and materials outlines.
Her approach is also inspirational and exciting with beautiful illustrations: I love the layers of colour and texture she achieves.
I made some of my own print blocks using foam and drink straws on board - the straws worked best.
I also tried making lino cuts and string blocks and while they looked great on paper, I found it hard to get a clean print when I moved on to fabric.
I tried all the basic printing techniques - I loved using both relief prints and the brayer to create a textured finish (thank you Ruth !).
PROJECT 5 - PAINTING AND PRINTING ON FABRICS
Loved this project !!!
I got a bag of end cuts from a local interior decorators so had lots of different fabric types to work with
Some of the inspiration came from design ideas from Project 4 (bird stencil in Night Flight) while others came from the interlude experiments (repeat prints).
Repeat Prints
Tried printing on many different types of fabric and for the repeat pattern did one piece where colour was more important and a second where the texture of the fabric was key to the design.
I liked the contrast in textures and the effect from using the brayer rolled across the print block - only problem is I can't seem to keep it straight
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| Both in Assessment Submission |
I did a number of runs at Night Flight - first trying the lino block, but couldn't get a clear print using the fabric paints,
Decided to use a stencil instead on a rough fabric, using the brayer to mimic the sea and the sky - think it worked well.
I also tried printing on net curtains - Waterfall. Think this is interesting and full of movement with potential for further development
Silk Painting
Ordered Silk Painting - New Ideas and Textures from the library. Got it yesterday and plan to try out some of the techniques over the next few days.
I decided to try some lino prints on painted silk. It took some time to get them to work as the silk paints are very runny. I did a repeat print with a fresh Spring feel and a single unit print in antique tones. These pieces are my favourites: I love their translucence and luminosity.
Both in Assessment Submission
Tutors Report
