Assignment 2 - Screen Printing

Today I have started to look at the new assignment. I have read through it and have been brainstorming some ideas for drawings on the topic 'Man Made enviroment'. The ideas that come into my head that interests me is:

Architectural - Churches
Machine Parts - Motorbike Parts
Domestic Objects - Washing Machine / Tumble
                                Hoover
                                Iron
                                Toaster etc...

I will have a look at what I can find on these subjects and see what I find most interesting.

I was catching up with the Weekly OCA Newsletters the other day and I read an article by Bryan Eccleshall and him trying to do a drawing every day for the next year. I found this very interesting and thought I would give some of his ideas ago. I have found that I am not doing enough drawing in my sketchbook and need to get a system in place to make sure I am. I am going to get a couple of drawing prepared on a Sunday to be completed in the week when I have a spare few moment in the day. I don't expect I will be doing a drawing a day but if I manage 3 or 4 I will be happy.

Reflection on Assignment 1

Do your finished sample fulfil your expectations?

 

I am more please with some samples more than others. I feel that the printing samples met my expectation the most. I think this was because the technique enble me to express the vision that I had more sucessfully.

 

To what extent do they reflect the initial research that you untook for this? Can you see a clear line of progression from source material to preliminary ideas and finished samples or did you have to change direction at ny point?

 

If you were to just look at the finished samples I don't think that anyone would see the lace link but if you see all the work you can see a clear line of progression. From my research that developed into looking at lace in natural forms and then the drawing that then developed into the finish samples/designs.

 

Did you make the right choices and decisions when selecting and developing your ideas?

 

Yes I think I did make the right choices aand decisions for this assignment, but I had many other ideas and could have taken it into other directions that involved the lace more.

 

How important was the choice of material in terms of determining the qualitities that you achieved?

 

I feel that it was important, I feel that the quality of my samples would have been better if I was able to get the fabrics that I wanted, I had to use what fabric I had to hand. The samples gave the vision that I wanted but if I was to refine the samples more and use them to make a finish product I would change the calico that I used to something softer. 

 

How did your choice of colour contribute to the overall result?

 

I feel that the colour I chose which was the colours of the leaves was important to give the decaying which was where I saw the lace pattern. I feel that other colours would not have given it the same feel and that black/ grey and white would have work which is another on trend colour but would have been too flat in this instance. Maybe a more varied range of browns would made the designs more interesting.

 

Did you try the brainstorming exercise? If so, did you find it useful?  

 

Yes I did use the brainstorming exercise and do find it useful. I have alway using this technique for getting ideas down on paper quickly. It helps me focus on the project and develop ideas. In this instance I was able to focus on what I actually liked about lace and what part I wanted to develop.

 

 

Overall I feel that the assigment went well but length of time that it took made it feel disjoined and sometime I lost a flow in the ideas which I feel you can see in the samole development.

 

 

 

 

Print samples and final designs

Finally I have finished Assignment 1. In the last 2 weeks since I added a blog entry I have completed the flour resist samples and finish stage 4 - developing designs from my samples.

 

Here are my printing samples:

 

The first layer of colour on this fabric is from the flour resist that didn't work. I did the flour resist over the top in a darker colour again and as you can see it work this time. I then used my leaf motif that I cut out in lino and printed it on top. To add a little texture to the design I add areas of material that I made by using water soluble fabric. Did this work? I am not sure I think it would have been more successful if I had covered the hole of the leafs with with water soluble material .

  

 

In this sample the fabric was dyed with coffee to give it a vintage feel and then I printed the leaves motif over the fabric. I added the lace to the design to add to the vintage feel and to bring the design back to the beginning of the project. I do not think this sample is successful, the lace looks a bit of an after thought I feel that the design needs something else.

 

This is another sample were the flour resist did not work, but I did like the effect that it left so I used it again. I kept this design simple and just repeated the leaf motif along the fabric. When I aplied the paint to the lino I used a paint brush which gave a painterly effect that worked well. I really think this sample worked well. I feel that the simplicity is what makes it work. It made me think of fresco painting and the work of Nicola Henley.

Again in this sample I did not over complicate it. I felt that I wanted the vein design to come through, as this is the part of the design that gives the lace feel. I would have liked there to be more colour on the fabric it feels a little white.

 

Stage 4 - Selecting designs for a specified outcome

 

Here are my designs ideas for a product.

 

I can up with a shrug and a chiffon scarf design which I feel would work well. Scarfs and shrugs are very on trend at the moment and when looking around at the colour that are being used blue jump out at me as a colour that my design would work well with. I used bobbins as tassel's on the shrug design for the Lace link.

 

 

I then felt that another of my samples would work in interiors. Again blue is a trend for 2013. I used this sample on cushions and curtain fabric in a blue colour scheme. I feel that it give what would have been a very masculine colour scheme a feminine edge.

 



 

This is my conceptual/expressive piece. When looking through my research I felt that the decline of making lace by hand jumped out of the page . I feel the risk of losing the knowledge of crafts such as lace making and weaving is sad and that more effort should be made to keep these craft going. So I decided to come up with a design that combine this theme with my finish samples. I felt that decaying leaves could be used to represent this theme and that leaves hanging from the ceiling would look very like lace when you looked through it so would also look beautiful.