FMP Samples

Here are some designs that I have chosen as my final samples.

This design was initially inspired by a chevron pattern. I used two different feathers, alternating between a stroke and a fill, in place of lines or dashes. I then filled the spaces in between with taxidermist's tools. This pattern is quite simple in contrast to some other prints but I would like a variation in my final collection.

This is possibly my favourite print so far. However, when I've digitally printed it on to cotton sateen the background looks too plain. It could maybe do with some texture or a light subtle print so that it doesn't distract from the main imagery.

I like that it is still hinting at the theme of taxidermy due to the tag, labels, tools and skulls. However, the colours mean that it doesn't look as gruesome as stuffed and preserved animals would imply.

This print was inspired by the work of Flora and Fauna. The background is a light grey so that the bright birds stand out against it. I also added a small highlight of green in the arrow.

My colour palette has been a problem for me throughout this project. I started off with a small palette of light blue, dark blue, grey, brown, orange and white. I found that this palette wasn't big enough to use for some of the repeat patterns that I was doing at the beginning. I got a new bright palette from WGSN and replaced some of the colours in it for the white, peach and grey from the original palette. I think its working better now but colour is still not my forte.

Something I Stumbled Across.

Doing a little bit of work today and stumbled across these. I wanted to make a note of them so that I can refer to them easily whilst producing my final samples.

Jessica Hogarth.

I love her designs. Have a look at http://www.jessicahogarth.com/. I found this print was particularly appropriate to my theme as I have a few drawings of birds. I like the way that shes use simple drawings, outlines and filled silhouettes in her pattern. It also reminded me of a previous post where I have experimented on Adobe Illustrator with line drawings and silhouettes of a bird.

Karen Nicol.

This beautiful embroidered mouse with wings just had to be posted during a Taxidermy themed project. Its aesthetically pleasing - mice are pets, wings are associated with angels and the threads make it look soft to touch. Which completely contrasts to the goriness of taxidermy - essentially a stuffed dead animal.

Time Management and Illustrator Patterns

I'm really struggling to manage everything at once now. I'm almost finished PPD but I'm baffled about WBL. It doesn't make any sense to me. Hopefully these projects are out the way soon so that I can concentrate on my Final Major Project.
I'm a bit apprehensive about using Adobe Illustrator as I'm aware it will take me longer since I have such little experience.
However, I have found this YouTube video by Howard Pinsky which shows how to develop a seamless repeat pattern. It helps that the pattern can be saved as a swatch to use again or layer over fills. This pattern tool, unlike on Photoshop, allows you to alter how the pattern is aligned.

The video gives me inspiration for how to develop a pattern using a single motif which contrasts to my current development of conversational prints.

Adobe Illustrator CS6

I have downloaded a trial of Adobe Illustrator CS6 and attempted to learn a bit more after a fairly unsuccessful attempt in an earlier project.

I took a photo of a bird from Google to attempt to use different tools such as the pen tool, different strokes & fills, swatches, copying an image, the brush tool, scale, rotate and more.

Here are the results....  

This is the fully completed bird with colour.

 I copied the whole grouped image to another file and played around with it to get a silhouette image of it and filled it blue using the fill tool.

This is the outline of the image. I think its interesting as it shows all the overlapping of the lines and the different stroke weights I've used.

 

I usually use Photoshop to develop an image but I think Illustrator has a better end result as it doesn't pixelate the image. When developing a design from your own drawing it is easier to fill an area with colour on Illustrator than Photoshop.

You Are Cordially Invited...

Made in Jesmond is a treasure trove of unique handmade gifts and arty object d'art - locally made (with love) from gorgeous old textiles and repurposed materials and some lovely things to bring a little vintage style into your home.

 

 

All final designs produced for the 'Designing a Textiles Breif' will be launched at Made In Jesmond on Friday 19th April at 142 Manor House Road, Jesmond. The following day, Saturday 20th April, will be open for friends and family to view.

To find out more visit www.facebook.com/MadeInJesmond.

Penelope Prince

I've just found this designer on Print & Pattern. Michelle Hutchinson is a freelance surface and apparel designer who works under the name Penelope Prince. Almost every pattern is derived from an original illustration or painting and are aimed at women's or children's wear.
I particularly like her feather pattern.

 

There is a slight contrast in the style of drawing for each different feather and a very subtle colour palette which would work well for a background. I am planning to do a conversational print as one of my final designs which would include imagery such as feathers, taxidermist's tools, animals, labels and tags. I have already started drawing feathers from primary source but these images are more inspirational to me.

Here are some more of her other designs.

http://www.penelopeprince.com/

Developing a Textiles Product

One of the skills I feel I have developed throughout the course is my ability to collect a range of different images from a variety of sources. The research I have gathered for this project has came from different on-line website, including WGSN, library books and magazines such as Show Details. I have also collected primary source research by taking photos of taxidermy at the Hancock Museum and their archive. I feel that my initial drawings, development and final collection of prints will benefit from a strong and inspiring starting point. A successful result in the final major product could form the basis of a portfolio, with the 10 professional samples and final garment fronts.
Here are some of the most interesting research I have came across.

Amanda's Autopsies

www.amandasautopsies.com
Amanda creates her work with an influence from Walter Potter who was one of the first to dress up preserved animals. After his work went on sale to private collectors, Amanda recreated some of his work as it would probably never be seen by the public again. She now creates taxidermy, jewellery and steam punk themed items. I particularly like this clockwork chick as it shows a playful side to a gory theme. I could include the clockwork mechanism in my print to hint at the taxidermy theme but not look too gruesome overall.

Spirit Collection Tours

The spirit collection tours was an exhibition held at the Natural History Museum displaying different specimens pickled in jars of spirits.

I like the blue tag labelled '1492' as it helps to identify the specimen. Imagery of these tags, labels and numbering could be used in a conversational print with imagery such as birds, feathers, bell jars and mounts. This would avoid the final patterns from looking like a generic bird print and help indicate the theme of Taxidermy.

 

Hancock Museum Archive

The archive is available to the public through appointment. It holds all kind of taxidermy, bugs, insects, skeletons and weapons from around the world. It is an ideal place to gather primary research of things that would otherwise be unavailable. The visit here was mostly what had inspired me to choose the taxidermy theme and specifically taxidermied birds.

Developing a Textiles Product (FMP)

For my final major project I have decided on Taxidermy as a theme. I have gathered primary research by visiting the Hancock Museum and also their archive which is situated underneath the National History Museum.

 

 

 I was particularly influenced by the birds. I like the colour and texture of their feathers as well as the different poses they are displayed in and the different shapes and silhouettes they can form with their wings.

 

I was most inspired by this pattern. I like the way they have been drawn quite simply but with lots of use of line to add detail and texture. The print only uses a total of about five colours. This is the type of colour palette I will be aiming to use because colour usage isn't one of my strengths. WGSN has helped me with this as I can use pre-made palettes with complimentary colours. However, the colour palette I chose for my last project wasn't reflected in my final product as I didn't use all the colours or the right proportions.

 

 

This style of print would work well in a collection alongside one with more detail, as a contrast. It also gave me an idea of drawing in a more simple, stylised way. I can produce a variety of mark making drawings quickly but I tend to do them in the same styles. Drawing this way will also help show off the silhouette of the animals as well as strengthening my variety and style of initial drawing.

Journeys in Beadwork: Culture and Tradition in the Eastern Cape & Dialogues in Contemporary Style (2012)

An international exhibition of beadwork by Mfengu people of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, presented in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Bay Art Museum, is being displayed at the Shipley Art Gallery. The exhibition will be accompanied by a spectacle of contemporary fashion inspired by traditional beadwork, featuring work from South African Designer Laduma Ngxokolo.

The Shipley Art Gallery, opened in 1917, is recognized as a National Centre for Contemporary Craft and has built up one of the best collections outside of London featuring ceramics, wood, metal, glass, textiles and furniture pieces. It has a permanent collection of over 500 oil paintings and watercolours which make up the ‘Shipley Bequest’. The collection ranges from 16^th and 17^th century paintings originating from Germany, Italy, Nederland and Belgium to 18^th and 19^th century British paintings. This venue, on Prince Consort Road, Gateshead, is the setting for the ‘Journeys in Beadwork’ exhibition, on display from the twenty-first of April until the second of September.

The exhibition is in two parts. One part explores the fascinating history of South African beadwork, featuring traditional costumes, clothing and aprons from the Mfengu people and reflects the life of the beaders and their roles and status within their community. For beaders, the work is a reflection of love and self-expression with each colour having a different meaning. In particular, white beads represent spirituality. Items may be given as a gift or during courtship. The more beads an Mfengu person wears, the more loved they are. The display includes items such as aprons, skirts, collars & bags; made by the Mfengu people and worn during rituals; similar to a party outfit, some of which date back to around 1940.

 

 The other section showcases the influence that traditional beadwork has had on contemporary designers such as Laduma Ngxokolo. There is a clear contrast in the two displays. The modern exhibition is much more aesthetically appealing with brighter colours and more flattering fits of clothes. It pushes the boundaries of technological advancements by exploring the idea of combining QR codes with fashion. Thorunn Arnadottir combined modern technology with traditional beadwork to create garments that are scannable by smartphone to unlock information about the wearer. In a time where a person’s most personal information, likes, dislikes, photos and other details are so easily accessible by social networking sites; Thorunn takes the 21^st century population closer to controlling how we are perceived when meeting someone in person for the first time.
 

The Mfengu people originate from South Africa and are closely related to the Zulu. Originally farmers, the Mfengu quickly built themselves schools, created their own newspapers and translated international literature into their own language. They adapted to change easily due to their lack of tribal social-structure. An assortment of over 100 items- collars, anklets, aprons, chest pieces- made by this tribe are on loan to the Shipley from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum and are being shown in the UK for the first time.

 

 

Developing a Textiles brief - C1585

This unit involves making and merchandising a product that will be up for sale at Made in Jesmond. A local shop full of vintage, reloved and handmade products made my local deisgner-makers. My chosen theme for this brief is 'Folkloric'. I chose this theme after seeing a trend report on WGSN. I started my research by looking at artists and designers such as William Morris. I also found influence from designers on the spring/summer 2013 catwalks such as Tadashi Shoji, Temperley London and especially Alice McCall.

Most of my initial research is on my Pinterest in the 'Folk' Board which can be found here > http://pinterest.com/adelleroe/folk/

Alternatively, here is a brief summary of folk related images that I have found most inspiring.

Hungarian folk costume.

FolkLord.

William Morris design.

Tadashi Shoji S/S 13

Matyo embroidery.

Geometrical Print Outcome

The final outcome for the Skills for Making brief was two garment fronts. I abandoned the idea of using screen print as it wasn't working for me much. It was too time consuming for me personally and it was awkward to then construct a pattern from the motifs on the screen as they would all have to be perfectly aligned. My garment fronts ended up being digitally printed to reflect my Photoshop abilities. I then hand embroidered onto one of the designs using a thick yarn. The downfall of digital printing is the cost. Especially since I chose to print on silk.

Here is my first front.

First garment front.

It is styled as a dress with fairly thick straps, a box pleat, a gathered waist and a hand embroidered hem. Although this is styled as a dress I also think it could work as a playsuit.

Hand embroidered running stitch.

My second front is more simple. It is strapless with a gathered waist. I didn't include embroidery in this one because it worked well with out it due to the simple styling.

Second garment front.