Evaluation of Origin task

  

My aim was to create a cohesive collection that was directly influenced by my drawings and by manipulation of these drawings. My knit and weave related to my drawings and to each other in terms of colour, yarn and texture.

I have translated my 2d drawings into weave and knit swatches by looking at  colour, media and line quality. This is different way of working than I am used to as rather than thinking about concepts I have just been looking at and interpreting colour and texture.

Overall, I feel that my project has been developed successfully and there is a consistent progression from my drawings through to my swatches. I have experimented in different media and I have selected yarns that related to my mark making and used techniques that also relate.

Throughout this process  I have reviewed and critically assessed my work in order to determine which ideas were the most successful, and which should be taken forward. For example; I found my leaf silhouette drawings to be the most successful of my chance card drawings, so I spent time developing these. I found the collage technique to be the most effective method of testing colour, proportion and texture, so I continued using this in weave and knit.

I have realised that I do not like working on a flat plane, as I did in weave. I felt restricted and prefer being able to manipulate material more easily and quickly.

I looked at weave artists for colour and yarn inspiration . Looking at other practitioners work can be inspiring and helped me make decisions that related to my own work.

 I looked at an embroidery artists as well as knit and weave artists as I wanted to look at ways of developing the linear aspect of my drawing into textiles.

Looking at embroidery helped me think more laterally and challenged me to find ways of interpreting embroidery techniques into knit. I also looked at knit practitioners and I had begun to experiment with combining different weights together: sheer, opaque, layering knits, combining textural yarns with finer sleek yarns and needle out technique.

I feel that at this early stage I have been limited by my technical ability in knit and weave and therefore my development has not been as great as I would have liked. I would have liked to have created a larger final swatch that combined all the ideas I had experimented with.

I have struggled to manage my studio/workshop time well as I have tended to work on one element intensively rather than each element simultaneously. This has resulted in an uneven amount of work in each area. I need to better regulate the time spent on each element and these will then feed each other creatively in a more productive way. I have realised the importance of these processes running alongside each other in order for the outcome to be as successful as possible.

 To help with creativity,I have tried to think laterally by using different methods to progress an idea, such as painting, drawing, collage and using a photocopier as a tool. In weave, I struggled more with the technical side, and therefore could not experiment as much had I been technically proficient. Knit was less labour intensive and allowed me to experiment with different ideas.

Re-assemble drawings

In these drawings I disassembled a bracelet, and dipped different parts of it in indian ink and white paint, which I then printed onto A2 paper. I like the mark making and pattern that it creates and how you cannot tell what the original object was. I like the repetitive linear effect of the mark making, which reminds of computer mechanics. The first drawing was very graphic and crisp but by adding the white paint it made it more textural and dimensional. I manipulated the image by smudging and moving the object in ink, creating more horizontal and vertical lines.

I then used the photocopier as a tool to distort the image, by moving it while in the photocopier. This created more variation in marks, with some elongated and others shortened into staccato marks. It also gave the images a less uniform and regimented aesthetic. I developed this by further distorting the images by cutting them up and creating 3D structures. 

 

  

I like how I developed this idea and how I used the photocopier as a tool, which is a technique I would like to continue using with my knit samples to produce new ideas.

Knit Artist

I have been looking at knitwear designers that use combinations of sheer and dense fabrics together, layering of fabrics and surface decoration. In my own knit swatches I have used techniques to create pattern and interesting combination of weights, with a variety of textures and yarns of very different qualities, from sheer to heavier fibrous yarns. I like the patchwork quality of Rodarte, using sheer, opaque and dense fabrications in one garment. Knit is used in combination with other fabrics, creating even more texture. I find the asymmetric quality of all these garments interesting and effective. 

 Central Saint Martin 

 Tess Giberson

Rodarte

Although Mandy Pattello is not a knit artist, I have taken inspiration from the composition of her embroideries for my knit. I like the way she layers pieces of fabric in a slightly haphazard way, which gives the pieces a naive and loose aesthetic.

I have initially responded to her work through photocopying my knit and creating painted collages which I will then interpret into knit. Her work gave me the idea of overlaying separate pieces of knit by latching them on using the latch tool. The linear floral embroidery she uses works well, and I want to interpret this by using the e-wrapping technique to draw the silhouette of a leaf, which will echo my earlier collages using trace paper.

Colour Palette

I extracted my colour palette from my line drawings of leaf silhouettes. Initially I painted out my colour palette and then combined that with collage to experiment further with colour, proportion and pattern.

 I have interpreted this collage (above left) into knit samples, using the e-wrapping technique to create floats, and the latch tool to create lace holes. I think the contrast of weights in these samples has worked well. I have also tried to use a variation of different yarn thicknesses and textures to echo the different media and line qualities that were in my drawings. I took time to select yarns that had similar qualities to my collage. I have also tried to interpret the transparency of the trace paper images in my drawings by using very fine yarn and the needle out technique. 

I like the pattern and proportions in this collage, however the colours are not quite in keeping with my colour palette as they are a slightly too bright and primary.

Shoe Drawings

I was a focusing on a combination of bold colour blocking with simple linear drawings, which create a loose and quite naive aesthetic. I think the composition of these drawings is effective, in terms of the placement and detail of the shoes, the large blocks of colour and areas of white negative space, which is as important as the colour blocking. By adding colour in select areas it grounds the drawings and makes them stand out much more, particularly as most of the canvas is left white. This technique of using colour in very select areas, and not overfilling an image or composition with colour is an idea I can translate into my construct project. 

Weave Artists

I have been looking at Hiroko Takeda for inspiration in my weave. I like her choice of materials, particularly the way he combines more natural hessian and cotton yarns with metallic yarns to create contrast. The contrast between the rustic quality of the hessian and the more luxurious feel of the shiny metallic yarn is really interesting. This is something I would like to incorporate into my weave: flashes of metallic yarn. I also like the simple yet effective way he uses the honeycombe technique.

I have also been looking at Dash and Miller; and again I like the way they introduce small burst of bright colour. I also like the way they use floats to give different texture, dimension and depth to the weave.

Chance Card Drawings Continued

Using different media I began drawing the shadows of found leaves and overlayed them on top of each other. I found the effects created were interesting so I took it further by adding colour and experimented with different qualities of line by using biro, chalk, ink, oil and pencil. I then drew the silhouettes on different pieces of trace paper and arranged them in different formats. I felt there was a good and interesting progression from the simple single colour line drawings through to my last drawing, which was much more disjointed and quite abstract. 

Chance Card Drawings

By drawing an image and then drawing it multiple times in different colours, I achieved a layering effect in which the original image became obscured, creating unexpected relationships and negative space. This could be developed further by using different medias together and combining different scales and subjects.

This drawing was made using twigs dipped in ink, the tool I used has given the drawing a more loose and abstract aesthetic, which is in contrast to an architectural subject that is quite linear and precise. This media and technique also gives the drawing a sense of movement. 

I layered different drawings on trace paper over one another (*see above left), by doing this these drawings are about the relationship to each other in terms of shape, quality of line, colour, rather than singular drawings. I could develop this further, through different subjects and materials, perhaps magnifying certain elements so they become distorted, while other elements are treated with a more detailed approach. I think the continuous line drawing on the right is effective as it captures the detail and structure of the building, while this quick technique imbues a sense of spontaneity and character. 

This drawing uses twigs of varying thickness dipped in ink, and I particularly like the different qualities of line achieved, how a heavy and solid black line then runs into a broken fragile series of fine lines. It also reminds of calligraphy and chinese scroll drawings. 

These are experimentations and drawings using drawing tools that I created. 

  

I felt that mark making achieved in the drawings using objects and tools dipped in indian ink were effective. I think this technique produced the most original drawings, with an interesting combination of line qualities and a sense of movement, vitality, depth and texture.