Part Three: Project Six – Stage Two.

Developing Ideas:

Having back tracked a number of times previously to my mixed media experiments as a resource I have chosen to build a couple of story boards of photographs that had been filed away for future reference when ever that would eventuate – now is the time to bring them out into the day light. I am using them as my sketchbook images, dated them and will progress the suggestions in stage two with the idea that they will be adequate as inspiration even though they are in 2D form. Here in lies the challenge. I am sure it will work and the memories recalled will be many as I bring them into a more sensitive environment on paper using multiple senses and who knows they may even become stitching samples from my hand sketches.

11/01/2012

Thinking about these photo’s I have started to question whether or not they are appropriate in that the sheen/gloss of each photo seems to be detracting from any form of visualisation. I intend to use a series of different shaped frames so that I can separate out and highlight various segments for greater concentration of colour, shapes and textures. I am not sure how or whether I am going to be able to enlarge the chosen segments on my home printer. I am thinking that perhaps if I copy a portion and then physically enlarge it by using a series of vertical and horizontal lines in grid fashion. Increase the width between each line and then reproduce the A4 size up and onto an A3 page. I ended up going to a commercial photo copy centre to get the selected images enlarged. proceeded to cut up the copies and reorganise the shapes looking for as the exercise suggests contrast in shape etc., Placed them on another piece of A3 paper which I then photocopied in grey-scale to get a better impression. Stuck both these A4 sheets side by side on an A3 sheet so that I could play around with various colour combinations.

Have just re-read stage two – developing ideas on p-135 (my numbering) of part two, project six and already I have gone off on a tangent. Now how do I make use of the time spent already and without spending an inordinate amount of time in narrative form rather the visual?

Well first my images are on an A3 sheet so I will assume that I can apply the same suggestions to them as a whole resource – sketching will need to be part of the process – in one of the work notebooks. Each sheet has its own similar subject matter. One is of shacks or buildings of general interest, identified by their almost identical shapes, the other has a number of vertical images with patterns and shapes peculiar to each but similar in essence, as would be any specific theme – pyramidal .

Now to focus on paragraph two then. ‘You could enlarge…………………………………………………………………’ So energy sapping but so invasive in the need to concentrate and persist with sketching the perceived markings. It draws me in so that time just passes so quickly. BUT it is becoming messy so I need to put it aside for the moment. Taking each object I have endeavoured to reproduce them inclusively – as a total sketch rather than as individual shapes or forms. I have the sense that I am trying to make a specific picture out of the objects rather than letting them become extensions of themselves.

My reason for moving sideways is to avoid buying into my ‘be perfect’ driver. So I’ll move on to the second photo board and concentrate on shapes and colour by tracing the images of the buildings and rearranging them in some form of a pattern. Then cut out, reorganise and glue the negative shapes to a tube, apply some paint/ink and try transferring the pattern to either paper or fabric.

The first tracing was too regular and objectified. Using the same spacing as the photo’s are on sheet two, make the negative spaces excessively large and non descript.

 The second tracing was more random. The shapes were more variable and lent themselves to manipulation and placement. Cut out and glued to a tubular roller suggested that inking and applying paint would contribute to a number of possible copies for cutting and reorganising.

12/01/2012

Re-read notes for yesterday and need to go back and retrace my steps as I made some suggestions and have not followed up on them.

13/01/2012

Rearranged my work space into one area for table top exercises and reduce time taken to move between studio and class room.

14/01/2012

I wonder what will happen if I try adding colour to a photocopy of a gray-scale rendering of the cutouts. The white background appears to dominate the A3 image so a neutral colour like blue may soften the background shapes and highlight any pattern. Well at least water colours can be dispersed so that the change of colour tones start to blend in with each other but water plays hell on poor quality photocopy paper, rubbing up the surface if the brush strokes are too strong against the surface of the paper.

Now try highlighting some of the repetitive shapes forming a pattern but change to another type of paint such as a Markel oil paint stick.

Yuk – using a colour to blend in with the background such as purple, covered the surface but did not cover the underlying gray-scale in this case more a black than a grey toning. The result meant that the three shapes in the pattern were a different shade of purple when in actual fact I meant them to be all the same so that they stood out. This will also be probably true of any other shape that is in grey scale. The base tone will affect the colour being applied to it.

This exercise seemed to end up being a case of seeing just what kind of paint would cover the underlying grey’s. The blocks of colour were as per the cutout shapes using gouache paints. The image is there but as for any sense of visual pleasure I’m not sure I can make that claim. Rather than a disjointed series of objects it may pay me to go back and work on more formalised and recognisable shapes and patterns.

By looking away and then back at the painting I could make myself believe that the three shapes that are the same lead the eye down to the violet at the bottom centre. This toning then takes the eye up the left hand side to the grey colour and then automatically jumps across to the green and down again. So there is some sense of flow when making an effort to look into the picture. There is a coolness which I can accept about the colours but I am disappointed as to where I have ‘arrived at’. I was thinking of running off more photo copies of the grey scale sheet and trying other colours but have come to the conclusion that I will end up with a similar result. I need to change my focus at the moment until I can convince my self of how I will unblock my thinking.

14/01/2012

Stopped off on way home to the Aigantighe Art Centre. See write-up under exhibitions/galleries.

15/01/2012

Have digressed to thumbing through Drawn to Stitch by Gwen Hedley for some inspiration and ideas on how to progress from yesterdays efforts. I am thinking that a variation to the last colouring of the A3 design may be to close the shapes up by taking away much of the background. The resulting image then becomes more compact. Another alternative would be to re sketch the last design by using a collage of painted papers and work the surface in say coloured pencils, felt tip pens, pastels or soft B pencils.The aim being to see if I can see a more pleasing image even though it is of an abstract nature.

A third alternative would be to carry on with the next stage (3) after selecting a neutral background fabric such as hessian, linen or muslin stiffened with vilene. Stitch fabric samples to suitcase labels.

16/01/2012

Another idea would be to colour a sheet of vliesofix with water-colour paint, let it dry so that when it shrunk it created a wrinkled texture that could be used as a distressed base on top of a sheet of A3 paper. Another idea would be to enlarge another segment of the chosen resources so that some of the detail became more obvious and able to be sketched rather than simply base the experiments on shape and colour only.

Pin the drawings up…………………………………………………

Matching up fabric groupings by simply laying them on or around the blocks of colour on the drawings. Choosing as near as possible the colours in each drawing realising that my collection is not complete or entirely the exact colour. Approximation is the key word with the idea of getting the colours to blend and the design to look something like the original. Must try to get some semblance of order by making up collages of each sample that relates to the drawings by taking pieces of each fabric and stitch them to say – suitcase labels.

17/01/2012

When all else fails keep trying. No! my collages do not match my drawings but then I do not expect them to be a complete replication. For example I have not concentrated on reproducing specific details like the rusted boards on the houses in the photographs nor the shimmering waters of the waterfall. This will be more of a fabric piecing operation in the next stage hopefully. Take for example the above sample – the fabric has been stitched to core board by a stippling stitch and using the forward and reverse stitching function. Trying to reproduce the exact colours, shapes and textures was just not possible because as the fabric was being stitched the presser foot was manipulating the outcome creating fissures, tucks and pleats so that there was more of a 3D appearance in some segments.

Perhaps I could reflect on the mood of the piece. Whereas I was annoyed it changed to being aggressive until I accepted that the machine was in control and not me. All I had to do was keep, working on the sample so that there more pleasing parts to it than disappointments. Time became the essence of the exercise so I satisfied my self with the view that the relationship between me and my work was exploratory and a developing one.

One great satisfaction was that I did not ‘glue’ or ‘staple’ my samples to their background. My tutor will really be pleased.