Sketchbook

This time I will try another sample of colour analysis from a photograph.

The season being autumn I have chosen some lesser than warm colours in various shades and tones of green. These green colours are both ends of the spectrum that is blue/green and yellow/green.The photo has a matt finish to it so that the greens are more muted and dull looking than than they appear in natural day light. Not only have I used water coloured paints but also snippets of images from coloured magazines and yarn wound onto cardboard in approximately the same proportions as in the photo to show the relationship between the photo and the materials.

Water colours have a serenity about them when being applied which helps me to develop a fairly standard format as suggested in the lessons but I want to vary my way of analysing colour perhaps by trying a drawing/sketch and using a variety of materials and fibres.

Still with the autumn shades but introducing some warmer colours such as red and yellow. By taking a series of flower shapes and sketching them in pencil I added the full strength colours from water coloured paints. The slender and spindly lines suggests I use a lower denier of thread and I have chosen DMC thread shades which match the colours in the drawing. The warm reds and yellows contrast strongly with the cool greens and all their different tones. The duller greens stand out in intensity because of their clean cut lines, especially their outlines and hash texture markings. The greens appear darker because of the value of the yellow and reds surrounding them.

I tend to work intuitively rather than by analysis of the concepts of colour and techniques other than collage. It still is and will for some time yet be a voyage of discovery for me as a student. I hope that I never stop learning something new.

 

Sketchbook

  Documenting sketchbook work to date.

Merry Xmas

 

Sketchbook

Part Two: Project Four – In your sketchbook

Having just viewed Pat Hodson’s review of textile student Jackie Ward’s sketchbook http://news@oca-uk.com I will now have no excuses for not emulating her presentation for assessment.

The first obvious feature of her presentation is that it is all in a ‘fixed’ binder/notebook. Completing and controlling work in this form of sketchbook I find is @#$%^& difficult. Below my entry is all on loose sheets of A3 110gsm paper which can be either bound or held together with binder clips/rings for presentation to tutors and/or assessors.

The second obvious feature is that when presenting work that is not necessarily the ‘final’ work but a selection of work that can be something other than the work that was done last it may well have to be torn out of the middle of a ‘fixed’ sketchbook.

 The first two images were chosen because of the contrasting light and dark shadings so that a comparison could be made between the various marks and colours. The image on the right was as a result of cutting three drawings into strips and interlacing them in a woven pattern. The result needs to be looked at from a distance in order to see the greater patterns and blocks of colour. Changing the scale of the image helps to clarify less meaningful marks and makes others more emphatic for further evolution.

 A closeup and distant visual of an 8cm framed segment prior to enlargement and additional resolution. The outlines and squares are predominant and will need to be redrawn to show aspects other than geometrical shapes, depending of course on how the designer perceives an outcome of the chosen segment. The method used of weaving the slips of paper together gives structure and purpose to this exercise. Highlighting a small segment tends to isolate features that can be confusing when looking at the greater picture. Once again the colours black and white act as highlighters whereas the primary colours stand out just waiting to be composed further into designs which merge with a measure of staccato rhythm.

 Showing a selection of the 8cm square chosen for enlargement and the base image from where other 8cm squares have been taken. The image on the left shows extreme markings of texture and undulating material. This was created with heat being applied to coloured plastic flower wrapping paper and then acrylic paint used on the surface.It has a raised surface/relief which adds another dimension to my work that has been mostly on a flat paper surface.

 By using a double panel  of mirrors at different angles various compositions are able to provide patterned pieces which lend themselves admirably to be developed in patchwork and quilting. The simple application of the mirrors becomes a valuable encouragement to working further with graph paper and/or computer aided designs ending up as either embroidery designs, hand stitched motifs or bed quilts to mention only a few options. Placing the mirrors at right angles or a variation of positions creates  a sense of excitement in itself. I felt a great sense of achievement as I saw the possibilities especially in a wide choice of colours and painting sticks.

 

Cut and paste both on the computer and with scissors and paper are a meaningful way to create designs tantamount to deciding which ones lend themselves or are chosen to be stitched and/or sewn out. I am really chuffed about these exercises I think I am getting some where at last – well along the lines that I believe I should be developing designs. I am building up a great body of work at this stage with the exploration process being the main driver. I am not afraid to develop and use as many mediums as possible and as many new tools that I can lay my hands on. These images are only a selection of my current work with the purpose of showing how my work is evolving towards resolution and finished pieces.

Stumpage is a technical and commercial term for the value of a growing tree. Once the trunk is felled however death and decay set in and provide a feast of images which can be metamorphed into samples and experiments by textile and fibre artists.

Death and decay captured in water colour and black ink pen.

Mixed hand and machine sampling of textures and shapes on the face of the felled tree trunk. Strips of demin were woven into a piece of fabric and stitched on to hessian.

Trialling colour mixes and recipes for resolution of sampling.

Pattern forming so that the growth rings could be developed further into some form of wall hanging.

 

 

 

 

Sketchbook

Realising that 20% of my marks involves Sketchbook and Reflective Journal work I have persevered by spending 10 minutes plus in my sketchbook carrying out an optional exercise in colour recognition. As previously noted the printer was set on ‘reduced ink’ so the outcome was as a consequence of seeing colours not connected with the original photo. Choosing and mixing will have to be an ongoing process with water colours as they do move in and out of the proposed shades. Will have to make a change from 110gsm paper to a better quality if I am to avoid the distressing element as a result of applying water to the paper surface.

Adhering to the module prompting of ‘don’t try to make finished drawings – just record colours and colour combinations’ Obviously primary colours greet the eye much more easily than diffused colourings. This exercise is very infectious I just want to keep keeping on with more samples so that the learning becomes empowering.

These uploaded images are just two of many that I have in my Sketchbook now.

 

Sketchbook

Keeping a sketchbook will require me revisiting the comments made by my tutor in Visual Studies with the Julia Caprara School of Textiles: “for the future, continue to develop your free drawing ability, and experimental mixed media approach working directly into sketchbooks with good quality paper, try working on a larger scale, filling the whole page and record brief notes about your work more informally into your sketchbook so that the process becomes intuitive, saving more formal analysis for reporting and final assessments”.

 This will require me to move from a port-folio type presentation and to take up the OCA requirements with a view to making this process part of ones daily (ten minutes)  work schedule as does any practicing textile artist.Observation being the key to interpreting and performing this occupational task.

(to be continued)