Print Designs and Bradford Textile Association

I took the drawings I created last week into Photoshop and tried to generate some motifs to design with. These were really easy to put together and blended how I intended successfully. I am happy with how the black and white line drawings look in contrast to the colourful mark making, and I think they give a similar feel to the Clover Canyon garments I looked at previously.

I found it difficult to keep in mind my fashion context when designing prints, and I felt that some of my designs weren't suited to be used on clothing. I am also concerned with my colour palette as I think the bright pinks and blues are becoming too over powering. Many of the designs I made are repeat prints, I feel I need to explore more print placement designs instead to hopefully help me develop further.

I attempted some fashion collage illustrations with my prints in order to try and inspire myself to create print placement designs, and also to try and get an idea of what shape I am going for. I have been conducting market research during Julie's fashion workshops, and in particular I am drawn to garments that have drape. I like the idea of my prints being distorted even after the print itself has been created.

For the Bradford Textile Association live brief I decided to take one of the prints from my self initiated project and adapt it to a live brief. I wanted to submit something more traditional and elegant for this brief, which is why I reduced the colours to black and white. I found it interesting to see how changing the colours of a print can alter its whole vibe.

I decided to put the black one forward for Bradford because I like the proportion of black to white. I haven't often done this with my work and I feel like it really works well with this print.

Drawing Continued

I took inspiration from various artists while I was drawing from my photographs. Tracie Cheng remained an important inspiration to me for line drawings and backgrounds. I also came across Satsuki Shibuya, who paints very delicate looking artwork with watercolours. I have taken a liking to her work and the mark making she does.

I chose to use watercolours for some of my drawings as a response to Satsuki Shibuya's paintings. Although I am yet to decide on a colour palette, as I was drawing there became a strong presence of blues and pinks. I am happy to make use of these colours for now as I can edit colouring in Photoshop later if I wish to do so.

My favourite aspect of these drawings is the very hand drawn presence. The way the lines fade and the mark making really gives each drawing some texture. I want to keep some texture in my work as I am conscious of losing it during digital steps of designing. 

Distorting Grids and Lines

I have been drawing, photographing and collaging to build up an idea of where I want to go next. This research has lead me explore further into my concept of distortion. Tracie Cheng and Clover Canyon inspired me to concentrate on distortion of lines and grids. I have line drawings from a photograph of a jumper sleeve compressed into a wine glass which I see as quite effective when placed with other drawing material, similar to Tracie Cheng.

I found huge inspiration for the distorted lines idea from 3D designer Noa Raviv. She creates distorted grid like structures for fashion which I really like and share similarities with the drawing I had already. Although her designs are much more high end, I think I can take aspects of her work and incorporate them into a flat print for more everyday fabrics.

With Noa Raviv as inspiration I generated some new visual research to work from, by placing lined fabrics and paper grids into glass jars and vases. I have used different methods of distortion such as compression and folding because they all produce a different result, even with the same fabric. I plan on drawing from these photographs using inspiration from Tracie Cheng and other artists.