Colour Bleeding

The tutorial next week requires that three designers or companies that relate to my fashion research and designs are selected. In addition, this must relate to who I think my work is similar to and who it may be suitable for in terms of future work. It is important at the end of my project that my work is refined and it must be evident how I am going to display that. It was discussed in my tutorial that I should not solely create work using one method such as the mirroring drawings and that I should aim to expand my drawings by having parts mirrored in other areas as well. This will add some variation to my work. It was also posited that I should begin putting my designs on clothing templates to demonstrate what my designs would look like on garments.I need to consider in detail my drawings and where my designs will fit specifically on a garment. Also, how I can construct my designs into the relevant composition as well as a need to consider this scale and how the patterns are laid out.

The inspiration for my work this week came from a print designer called Monica Muñoz who creates talented designs. Working for  MONIQUILLA. I was interested in her work for the use of disperse colour and elements of that which are displayed in my work. I am interested in the use of colour Monica disperses in her work and how she constructs the dispersed patterns into a proportion design. So, in my work I have started to use colour rather than monochrome. I have done this to experiment with what kind of reference palettes can be created. In the tutorial, we also discussed that I should take my drawings into Photoshop and start layering my work using mainline drawings of architecture on the top of my more expressive disperse paintings. This week, I have really experimented with zooming up to the photograph and painting from the detail of the microscopic point, but enlarging them to make them bold paint drawings.

I gained a number of valid points from the tutorial. Namely, was that I need to look at more print designers in the industry. I think the next stage in my work is to create a reference book of all the different types of designers that inspire me with my work that I can relate to.  My tutor also thinks that I need to develop my ideas and construct something that is a little different and something completely unique from what I have created previously. I am now immersed into a routine of using Photoshop with the aim of creating and making different designs and patterns.

Inspirations and Influences

When I started working on my visual research project, I found that my work related to fashion print. I am also very interested in fashion print design and fashion designers such as Hannah Werning, Kristina Collants and Carlene Edwards However, I wanted a change my work by adding fine art designs  and collaborating that with the fashion print to create ideas that are more alternative. I have looked at print designers that utilise fine art into their work such as Auguste Herbin and Anton Barnard. It strikes me that their work is able to take an object and multiply that with the good use of proportion and 3-D like designs.

I see my work going into women’s fashion in liberties perhaps as a printed scarf or flowing dress and that is something I need to identify with in the future. In my tutorial, it was discussed that my designs should look from a perspective of a worm’s eye view and that should be my specific theme. It was also proposed that I should start looking at worm’s eye view points with everything, whether it is a tree or lamppost or whether my work is more about architecture and landscape.  I personally think it could involve both and that I would like to take the idea of observation and play using different objects and scales of places. From my tutorial, I gathered that I need work on more ideas, drawings and concepts with my work so I can develop that into 8-10 sample prints.

I started experimenting with the concept of architecture and making it into a pattern using a pen and bleeding with ink. I did this to experiment with an idea of urban fashion by taking something that is constructive like a building and manipulating it into pattern design. In the tutorial, it was also said that I should push and motivate myself to incorporate a different range of media by using colour and line photographic imagery to create different colour arches in my work. I think I need to develop this use of shape in my work and experiment with not only the visual idea of buildings, but also colour and not stick to a simple range of monochrome. Instead, I should experiment with a vast range of different vibrant colours and if I feel that is not successful, I can go back to the monochrome. It was also suggested by the tutor that I look at some designs from http://www.peoplewillalwaysneedplates.co.uk/two and relate this to my work.

Day exploring Manchester and Bristol

I took a small trip around Manchester before heading to Bristol the following day and decided to take further photos of the perspective view looking out of an attic room in Bristol. I took photos out of the attic room to show the perspective of the different buildings and houses and how they can almost look like patterns fitting into each other like jigsaw puzzles.

My tutorial with Rhianna was very positive. On the Monday, they talked about my work. It was identified that there is a very perspective feel to my work. I was also told that my pattern reflective work of Manchester buildings is my strongest point, and I should go on developing this. In addition, Rhianna told me that my work could identify with a lot of collage work, if I was to mix some of my drawings and paintings together and she said I should experiment with my body of work. We talked about how my view of photographs could be from the perspective of a worm’s eye view which involves looking at something below or from a low or inferred position (the opposite of a bird’s eye view) who looking upwards towards the building which identifies with my research into perspective. It was discussed that there were nice, intricate lines in my work that I should include elements from both the drawing and collage together on a large A3 piece of paper to create something that is quite outlandish. Rhianna said that I should identify with colour in my work and really research into a colour reference that reflects back to some artists I take an interest in. It was talked about in the tutorial group that I should look at an artist and lecturer teacher at MMU called Simone Ridyard and to join her online sketching group on Facebook. It was said that my work mirrors some of the concepts and style that Simone uses, so I will make an effort to research her work more thoroughly.

For the development of my research, I created a pinterest board of urban influences, so that I could get an understanding of how urban influences can be expressed. I looked at different artists and the ones that have inspired me for my development work is Dario Moschette, Wayne Theibaud and Edward Hopper. These artists all exhibit concepts of emotion and mood and that is very important in my work as well. I went to an art exhibition called Return of the Rude Boy over the summer at Somerset House In London and much of the photographers work was very urban inspired and correlates with the urban style in which I am interested in. http://uk.pinterest.com/amb1894/urban-influences/

Urban Influences 15-30 drawings

For my 15 drawings, I really wanted to investigate and explore the idea of urban scenery. So, I took my camera around Manchester taking photographs of the architecture and the cultural streets. I began my investigation by looking at an artist called Wayne Thiebaud (http://www.artnet.com/artists/wayne-thiebaud/). I was really interested in how he is able to change the perspective of a landscape and I am inspired by his use of colour. Colour in my work is usually very bright and bold and he also uses bright colours. I am interested in the way he uses colour and incorporates it into his drawings, making certain parts of his drawings highlighted.

I found that when creating my drawings from my photographs, that when I spent a lot of time on one drawing, it seemed to be neater and more organised. However, the majority of my drawings were constructed over a short amount of time. These drawings also seemed more expressive and conceptual. I like creating drawings under a short amount of time as they tend to exude character and help me to create lines that I usually would not create if I was to spend longer time on the drawing. I feel this is one of my strongest drawings out of the 15 and it is interesting that I did not spend a great deal of time on it, using only a black marker pen. This is a drawing of a street with a fire escape stairway attached to the building. I like the way I have taken a photograph and created something that does not look like the image itself, but has some similarities. This reflects back to Wayne Thiebaud’s work and how he is able to change the landscape and make it into something completely different. I think I need to develop my colour palette in my work as I think I am restricting myself slightly to use colours that I am more used to using.

Some of my strongest work is when I used a black fine liner and added water to the drawing to let it bleed on the page changing the whole concept of the drawing and giving it texture. For the development of my work, I want to create more fine line drawings and adding water to the piece as I liked how the black ink merges into different blues, greys and blacks when adding water. I also want to look at viewpoint in my drawings and create drawings looking from a perspective of someone looking at building or a piece of architecture.

Group presentation: summer project feedback

I am considering choosing print for my practice. As the journey I have been through over my summer has helped me conclude to my decision of practice because of my internship with a fashion designer called Derek Rose, who specialises in the pyjamas, I learnt a lot about the print and fashion industry that I am also very interested in and would like to follow this on.

My feedback was constructive and positive. I was in a group of four and we went round on by one presenting our work. In my presentation of my summer project work. I talked about my inspirations in reflections of different artists that have inspired my work and the use of texture and colour that are captured from different places I’ve spent time over my summer.

From my feedback from the rest of the group, Bryony told me to incorporate both film and animation into my practice as they said it’s a strong area of mine. They liked the fact I used a wide range of different artist for each of my drawings. They told me that I should choose print, as a lot of my drawings and patterns in my summer project reflect the practice. Alice said my bird designs reflect print and that I should create more bird patterns as it is one of the strongest parts of my sketch book. They said that my work had been well thought out and everything is considered in my work. 

Charlotte told me I should consider urban influences for my next topic in my work as she said the collar blocks think to it. They said that if I was to improve my work, It would be to have a sort of theme/pathway that goes on developing throughout my sketchbook rather than loads of little topics.

Derek Rose Internship: What Did I Learn

It was interesting to find out how the designers at Derek Rose create their textile collections. I was shown the different stages you need to go through to get fabric printed.  I helped check the strike off sheets to make sure that all of the information is correct. The designers will get small strike offs made of the prints before they get all of the fabric printed so that they can check it looks correct. I then learnt about the different printing techniques used. 

At Derek Rose, they use screen and digital printing. If the design is a geometric for example and has lots of colours, they might use digital printing because it needs to be lined up perfectly.  Also, screens are expensive and you have to have a screen for every colour you use. I learnt that red and navy are hard to print together because the colours mix. Also, silk makes colours and prints look really vibrant and rich.

I am really inspired by the use of colour at Derek Rose and how they consider what will look luxurious and also be commercial.   

A day with Mr Rose: Interview

I got the chance to work with Mr Rose himself organising and going through all his archive dating back to the 1950s. He is very inspiring and passionate about textiles and took the time to talk me though the archive. I also got the chance to interview him which helped me learn a bit more about the textile industry and how textile courses compare to 60 years ago. I found it interesting how textile courses in the 1950s were more about the machinery, construction and pattern.  My observation of current textiles courses is that they are less to do with construction and focus more on the artistic side.

Why did you decide to go into the Textiles Industry?

Because my father had been in it. My father had started in the pyjama business in 1926. As you may have seen and I came into the business in 1953, after school I went and studied textiles in Salford and then came into the business from there. I decided I like the textile business and if you don’t like what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be doing it.

What kind of techniques did you learn in your textile degree?

We actually learnt about everything, even the raw cotton. We all had the machinery in Salford, we had the Hopper Bail Breaker carding machine and all the spinning machinery and looms. We had the normal plane loom. We used to weave our own fabrics. We would make our own designs on graph paper and then convert that into a dobby design. Then we knocked the pegs into the things that went round the dobby loom. The way it worked was it would lift the warp threads and that’s why your design was made on graph paper, so that every little square if it was coloured in, it was a peg to lift the warped threads. And so the design was made and don’t forget I’m talking about the 1950s, so I’m talking about 60 years ago, so lots of the machinery you get today didn’t exist back then.

Why did your father decide to go into the textile industry?

In the First World War. He was working in aircraft factory covering airplanes in fabric. It was a sort of cloth and then after the war, he decided to go into a shirt factory. He met a gentleman that became his working partner. They left the shirt factory and started a business of their own. So In 1926, they decided to make pyjamas because there weren’t many people making them.

Were there any difficulties with your father’s business?

To succeed in anything, it’s going to be difficult. Nothing is easy, but my father worked hard at it, and succeeded it and they made a name for themselves. We became the biggest name in pyjamas at the time. My father and his partner carried on the business from 1926 to about 1971 and then he sold the business and I started my own business with my brother-in-law, which is this business, and so all my working life I have been in the nightwear business.

How do you choose the colours for the pyjamas?

What we do is, we take colours that we think are going to be commercial. If you are not commercial. You won’t sell. I mean, you don’t sell the colour brown in pyjamas, right! It’s a no-no. So we don’t do brown in pyjamas that is as an example. Blue is your number one, then all the other colours follow on.

Your quite famous for your blue aren’t you?

Well blue is especially for a man. Men will have any colour you’ll get them as long as it’s blue. We found that women were buying more men’s pyjamas, then men were buying. Women were buying them for their husbands, boyfriends and fathers as gifts for Christmas, birthdays or general presents. So we decided to make the designs to attract the eye of the woman rather than the man, because the man, buying clothes is very boring for them and very conservative. Men would buy blue and blue and blue and blue. Boring! So we made a lot of multi coloured designs and nice designs that would attract the woman buying them and is still does. So we have both sets of pyjamas. We have the basic blues and white etc, but then we also have the multicoloured fancy and print designs. These are the things that have developed over the past 40 years.