1950s floral inspiration.

 

After my flower drawing workshop with Nick on Monday i wanted to take these drawings further and develop them into prints (also following the photoshop induction on Monday!) All of this week i have been practising photoshop skills to make a successful repeat pattern. To gain inspiration i took to our nuca library and sourced some print books both (1-1950s fashion print by marnie fogg and 2-1950s floral graphics) on 1950s fashion/floral prints and what was popular in that time period. I found that the floral graphics was much more of use to me as it produced some great colour ways and a variety of repeat choices in there. Whereas 1950s fashion prints focused on areas of interest from the 1950s like domestics. This was more informative to me in learning about the history of the 1950s but didn't gain a huge inspiration from it. Here are some prints i found particularly interesting.

I choose drawing over computers anyday!

Today- a start of a brand new week and we had a very fun, fast-paced drawing workshop this morning which i thoroughly enjoyed. We had to draw observational flowers, the print market today is made up of 90% floral designs. I do love florals as they are quirky, beautiful and easy to draw. However saying that i do not want to do my degree to make up that 90% off people, i would like to stand out in my own right with my different designs and be part of that 10%.

We made about 7 or 8 different drawings off different flowers in different perspectives concerntrating on the marks that we saw. What was interesting about this exercise was it was a way of teaching us how to understand different types of prints and what better way to just do and not think. This way of drawing has opened my eyes up to the possibilities and opportunities im missing out on spending time bein precious with my work,when some of the work i deem most successful is when i havent had time to question my thoughts and i have just 'done it'.

We then had to trace over our drawings several times, in order for us to make a half drop repeat enabling us to still see underneath it.

 

 With our drawings traced out and drawn we could then play around to create our repeats, this is what my outcome was:

I quite like it due to the combination of chunky designs mixed in with linear prints as it allows each design to be accentuated within it's own right. I would like to put this onto a screen though i will talk to the technicians about it to make sure that it would be successful or not too do it. Fingers crossed i will be able too! I would have to be taught how to print a half drop as a lot of calculations go into printing a full drop! Because i enjoyed this so much i decided to make some of the half drop repeats onto some of my previous drawings:

This is not a half drop repeat but it is a 'mirrored' repeat something else which we briefly touched upon but i wanted to take it further to widen my knowledge.

Half drop of 2 types of flowers.

 

 

Photoshop.

The second part of our day was learning photoshop skills. Well this was certainly a challenge i spent the hour and a half being able to work out how to cut and copy using mac software (something i am not familiar with) and learning shortcuts and am still not confident enough to be able to just 'do it'. So i was not going to be defeated by a computer and took the learning sheets home by emailing them to myself and going through step by step on my home laptop on photoshop cs5 (rather than cs6 - what the university has installed but i am reassured that this is practically the same system!) It still hasn't been easy and has been harder without someone elses knowledge to steer me in the right direction but i have made one half drop repeat design. It is very basic but didn't want to 'run before i could walk' so with new drawings that i will make, and newimagery hopefully i will build up my confidence to produce more effective repeat prints. Photoshop is such a good skill to have, due to the complexity only few know how to use it. Most industry, companys and business who are in the design industry will make full use of its potential.

 

It's a combination of pegs and flowers! Part of my original drawings and new drawings made today. Tomorrow i am going to look into it's negative space as i have learnt that this is just as important as the subject matter itself.

Print research

From looking at the colours i blogged about the day before i started to look into 1960s as this was the period these photos were inspired by. Looking through some photos and my notes from the past few days i remember one of the girls in class mentioned the fashion and textiles museum of which i went and saw a printed exhibition there. This encouraged and excited me too look into my findings as i was yet to use them to inspire my work.

 

Mary White was a popular post war textile designer in the late 1950s and 60s which fits in nicely to the colour scheme i am looking into and the types of print-layered and repetitive. The exhibition was small and intimate so i was able to evaluate and look into the work as much as i could, and really take on board the colours and shapes. Taking the photos was a great reference, and now i am happy to be able to include these into my current work. It is slightly different, but i have learnt that research (along with drawing) should not be a direct translation/link but a reference, a source that i can interpret to 're-invent' something.

Small environment for an exhibition at the Fashion & Textiles Musuem.

 A collection of the same prints but all in different colour combinations. It just shows how different a print/piece of work can feel in different colours and shades, each one emmits its own feelings and attitudes.

 

Although the colours are not directly the same as previous, they are a lovely and appropriate link into what i am looking at. I am looking at layers of prints in fun and interesting ways - block colours and linear layers with strong accent colours. By looking at a range of work i can fully understand and appreciate what works well and what works best for the context of my work.

 

'The Printed Square' exhibition was also being held at the fashion and textiles musuem at the same time. The exhibition was a colaboration with textile designer Nicky Albrechsten and Oasis for the Spring/Summer 2012 collection and they were off square printed hankerchiefs. It was really interesting however i don't feel i benefited from it's full aims whilst there as i wasn't as heavily involved in printing in my first year and therefore didn't appreciate it as much as i do now. Now i have had time to experiment within my own work and our second year has introduced us to new and challenging printing techniques that i see these printed designs in a 'new light'.

 

 I love how each one is different, some being very linear in pattern, some being photo realistic, some block,abstract and some that were more detailed than others. Seeing all these photos again has given me alot to think about.

Inspiration: potential colour ways for print design.

These photos are not mine, they are from an editorial of Vogue Germany (October 2010), inspired by the 1960s but this is not why i was drawn to it. It was the vibrant but muted colours that drew me in,we want something happy and cheery and although these colours are slightly on the drab side, these could be brightened up and given life too! I love how they are in contrast with one another, which compliments and highlights each of their 'personalities'.
I really like the bright pink with the muted blues lightened up with the sunshine yellows!

3rd day - getting into the swing of things

 

Today,we had a print and dye induction where we were taught how we technically repeat a print pattern. It was definetley a lot to take in! I wrote down everything i possibly could in my pdp book where it explains how you measure up your screen in comparison to the table and fabric, what screws you need like t-bars and screws from screen to table. We also were taught how to wash our screens properly and how we apply the ink well without smudges, or joining marks. It's all very complicated but i have every faith that once were in there we can get on and it'll make more sense; i think it's the typical thing until you do, you won't fully understand! It does seem to make sense in a weird non-understanding way as it will make the repeating printing process much easier and quicker to actually try and do.

We also finished our kodatraces so they are ready to be exposed ready to be printed a week on tuesday! With that knowledge and the induction this morning we thought it would be ideal to start testing dyes out on our fabric as we have to have our fabric prepared ready to print straight onto.

What i like about it, is that you can see two different tones so you can get a feel and an idea if what it would look like before its even been printed.

Us hard at work working onto the top layer of kodatrace. We had to be really steady handed as we need to align both kodatraces together and and the design underneath as we wanted areas that weren't just block orange and detailed blue we wanted to interact with the colours and have them intertwining between the design and fabric. In order to do this we had to remove one of the kodatraces at one time to be able to pick up details we wouldn't have otherwise seen.

Some of our dye samples.

Some more of our dye samples. (will upload more photos when i take them!)

I had forgotten until this afternoon how long the dyeing process takes! We looked into warm colours with lighter and darker tones, i don't think were all convinved still on our final colour palette but we are going to use some of the colours we tryed out today so we know what dyes they were and how we got that outcome by recording them into our pdp journals.

Second day at uni la la la LA !

We came in today fully focused on what we wanted and got on with editing our design ready to transfer onto kodatrace. We covered up some of the tartan like lines so we could add bulk and interesting marks. We picked up some of the textures from our drawings and continued these into the background to link our drawings in with the overall design. I feel much more positive about our print now and cannot wait to start printing with it.

We added in more drawings,a bird, umbrella,show and a peg that we later added in extra detail.

Our final revised design with detail in there and marks made in the background.

I feel it looks more successful as a repeat print as there is more going on compared to previous where it looked a bit weak in design as the lines didn't add much character or attractiveness. Adding in the drawings also added in more focal points to the overall design.

Once our design was in place we could start applying our design onto kodatrace. Everything that we wanted printed had to be made opaque in order for it to be exposed onto a screen. We went with the method of applying block colours on one kodatrace and on the second one we would add highlighted areas and detail. Lets hope it all goes to plan, and we can edit parts and make it more interesting with the lines we will create.

first day back on the first day off the month in my second year of university

Wow! The summer has flown by i cannot believe i am in my second year of my textiles degree already. However, today went off with a bang, and i feel like i never left it is pretty full on, but i wouldn't want an art degree any other way. Our first project of the year is a quick fast paced 2 week repeat project where we have to work in a small group to create our print design. I am not overly happy with ours at the moment due to different personalities and the way we all work, so i feel alittle editing coming along when it comes to transferring our drawings ontokodatrace ready to be exposed onto a screen. Today has been very educational, imade several drawings in a short space of time and just because i don't like the outcome that much doesn't mean i have been any less successful. I now have a good idea and what works and what doesn't and how i can develop it further (hopefully). This is on tomorrows to do list along with a jam packed day again, no doubt. I can't wait i like to be kept busy at a nice pace, not overly busy so i am stressed and not that busy so i am not doing much.

This year is shaping up to be a busy one, we have a digital project straight after this, and lots of induction on all things computed aided including the digitial loom, cad embroiderer, laser cutter and digital printing. It'll open my eyes to so much more. We also have to take part in some external work experience, and enter competitions. We also get an exciting opportunity to exhibit and sell our work at Premiere vision in Paris!!!!!

This is what i hope we can edit tomorrow...