Evaluation - Nature Emily Vaines

This latest brief was called Nature we had a choice between 4 seasons Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter I chose Spring as I found a picture from last spring of a butterfly from my garden this inspired me by the colours and the patterns that season Spring could bring and opened up more lines of research of artist, designers and colours and patterns. My methods of research started by going on a trip to Locke park to look into which aspects of nature I could explore knowing that it was Autumn at the time on the route to the park I found bright flowers in hues of lilac , pink , yellow and red and also alternate art I found spray paint floral art. After my trip to Locke Park I went and bought some flower the same shades and style as the spray paint art I found I brought those to do some observational drawing and for the set up that had been set up for us. Observational drawing was the start of our project and our sketch books I chose the more vibrant colourful things that represented my spring theme like the yellow flowers wooden shapes and leafs and vegetables. For further research I look into the spring theme such as insects animals flowers and fashion also artists such as Damien Hirst , William Morris and Alexander McQueen and Monet etc. there work with landscapes and butterfly's and flowers. Primary Research aside from my Butterfly photo I also had flowers and lady bird shots.

Development of my sheet work and sketch book is constant and sticks to the theme and is improving with each step, as I start with my mood board it started with the Butterfly photo. Then improved on my visual sheet then appeared in my sketch book also each time I added different aspect such as ribbon and different Sky's to play around to find the perfect version of it. On my mood board I had Daisy's the spring flower and the bird on the branch which is features on my bag it started on there and improved on my visual sheet and that came to life on my design sheet and my final outcome main technique which was my screen each time changing the size and colour. For continuation my visual sheet was a replica of my mood board this time playing with placement and media use. The item’s that made it on it. my second mood board I made a point of it that all the images was in my sketchbook so each piece like my fashion illustration , spring skyline , roses was done in both places so they had routes and was done in different colours and styles. My design for my bags are all taken from my sheet work and sketch book in one way or another from the butterfly head on my mannequin for the design sheet or the tree silhouette from my visual sheet or the abstract Daisy's.

Experimentation though out this project was seen though out my samples and my take on spring I have covered each aspect from trees to flowers to insects. my samples are experimental I have used 5 techniques in my bag procion dye , coloured puff binder , batik and screen print and felting all that samples to test them. Experimental with media I have used at least 5 medias in all my sheet work and also have been resourceful using underlays of my dyeing for background in my sketch book to hide the plain white page as that is scary to approach to begin work on.

I picked Spring because my work in the past and I feel I excel in colour use and that is what spring means to me from pastels to bright fuchsia and apple green also the fact flowers and animal are springing to life so it means nature is been born. Although it isn't the best season to pick for primary resource for the relevancy but the Internet is great to keep my project with open ideas. With picking springs this gave me the chance to use some amazing shots I took last summer of the Butterfly photo and the hue of colours of the flowers that are still alive before the winter kills them.

Artist influence on my artist research sheet I looked into William Morris famous prints where he used birds that influenced my choice into looking birds on my sheets which ended been influenced my final design , also Damien Hirst influenced my Butterfly work with prints also McQueen with floral fashion and butterfly garments.

Bag design I decided to use my bird design as it looked the most detailed and high standard and with all the techniques and it was best fitted to my research. My design is influenced by spring the colours and the animals that Spring has. My design throughout the many versions and drawings of it each time came more of a high standard which lead to my screen and the final design on my bag.

As it was my first time creating an accessory which is my bag I wanted to be able to create a bag a high standard so chose to start with the simpler design tote bag with no side panels so that it would look better quality made I also had my pattern created to fit the correct measurements.

If my bag was reproduced it would be easy to recreate due to the simple pattern for bag although the list of techniques require time for drying and step need to be taken.

My final outcome of my bag related in a continuation to my work though out the brief as my sheet work had progressed so did the design though sheet to sheet. Some aspects of the bird changed before my final design was confirmed and made into the screen. My final bag due to time restraints and bad time management on my behalf meant that I left out the hand embroidery on the flowers on the bag it isn't a big noticeable change though.

What went well in this project was my work to the theme and the research which was founded upon a picture from last year and my other primary research. I also think that my construction of my bag for the first time I think went really well I surprised myself. What went wrong I would say was Time Management I thought I had it all under control until the realisation of the time I had left hit me but I managed to get everything in on time with everything under control. If I could change anything it would change my sketchbook a bit so it was more artistic with everything in away less forced looking.

Time management I thought it was going well for the first half till the stress part of making the bag and the workshop time I could have organised better so that the last 2 weeks would have gone smoother.

I think my overall satisfaction in the brief was really good I pushed myself learning to knit , weave and construct and dye the bag , I was really happy with design sheets and I loved drawing the mannequin it brings my love fashion illustration into my sheet work.

 

Final Outcome- Bag

After all my sheet work , research , Sketch Book and samples i had a tote bag pattern cut unique to my design with my measurements and i had my fabric
Died like my samples with enough for my bag components with 1.5cm seam allowance. My fabric was cut out and dyed using procion red MX5B orange MX3R Green MX2B dye once dry i
Heat pressed and wash to lock it in.
With my fabric complete i then placed my screen in the center of the fabric and with a squeegee i pulled the black pigment over my screen 3 times so that the black would stand out. Once that was dry i took the batik and drew the branches and flowers then ironed it to remove excess wax to create a resist i chose an ink wash after i heat pressed and washed. For the final bit i mixed puffbinder with pigment small amount to create orange puffbinder which i placed over selected details.
Now that my fabric was complete i placed my fabric then pinned into place for my panel for the bag and the handle and i then cut them out.
Using a brother 40 E sewing machine i began to sew my bag together i
Began with the the sides together i put the fabric inside out and with 1.5cm park i
Straight stitched each side. Then to create the handles i folded in half then straight stitched and then folded inside out then ironed before sewing on to the bag. Te fold at the top was ironed then also hand sewn with the care label. The felt sample i produced was hand sewn to the bag.

Samples

Before i made my bag i had to do some samples i started off by dying 2 A4 sized cotton samples to show how i was going to dye my bag i chose trio stripe of pink orange and green on the front and green with a yellow on the back. With that the front one i choose to heat transfer the bird from the design sheet on to it to show the original before the screen , then for an overlay of 3 screens going over it in pink and black.
Next was the batik sample i drew the branches and leaf and flower with the wax then to create the resist with a ink wash.
I created the final felt sample for bag using the same technique as before i chose a cherry blossom this time.
The final sample was the how the bag would look with all the techniques on the bag i did this sample in A3 and died it the same style and colours using procion then i heat pressed then washed it to keep the colour in. Idid the screen in black so i stood out. After that with the batik i drew round branches to keep a shadow then did a ink wash over to create a resist
, then i heat pressed then washed the cotton again then with a mixture of puffbinder and a small amount pigment dye i created a orange shade which i applied on certain details. When that was complete i put the hear gun over the puff binder to create the puff.

Screen print

My drawing for my screen is a development from my mood board to my visual sheet to the final screen.
I added small details to it to picked up on the screen print and details in the flowers and twigs and the birds feather lines.

Design sheets

For my design sheets i wanted to keep my designs simple with all the same measurements with each design.
My first design is floral and butterfly fashion illustration with spring palette procion dye and weaving handles.
The second design will be died orange and have a felt flower design on the front and floral screen print with batik work on the back.
The third one is a silhouette of a tree with butterfly surrounding with felt bird outlines on the back.
The final design i picked is a bird on a set of branches with floral details , plus felt flower on the back the bag is died green orange and pink and has screen print , batik ink wash resist and puff binder.

Knitting

Knitting at first to me was stressful and i didn't think i coundnt do it but after a few rows i got the hang of it.
My sample consists of 40 stitches which was cast on and 30 rows.

Sketch Book

My sketch book is varied with use of media and artist research.
It has an apparant fashion theme though out with is secondary research from vogue and other sources.

Visual sheets

My visual sheets are a continuation of my research my first sheet is a development of my mood board i continued to look into butterfly's and bird and natures gift tree's and flower. I used goulash , watercolour , oil pastel , tissue paper and fineliners to re create and further develop imagery.
My second sheet is more experimental imagery i looked into silhouettes and skylines and fruit and floral fashion illustation. The sheet was quite textural i used flower petals and paper flowers.

My mood board and artist research

The photo is off my visual sheet i focused on the colourful aspect of spring/summer.
My mood board has mixed media on it including ribbions , tissue paper , sewn sample , goulash , water colour and oil pastels. It has a mixture of primary research and secondary research and drawn imagery.
On my mood board it has a collection of butterfly , birds , flowers and spring sky.
My Artist research board has Damien Hirst , William Morris and Alexander MCQueen work on it and my replacers on it i used Acrylic and goulash paint , oil pastel and tissue paper.

Felting

For this sample it required a net , merino wool , mixture of warm water and detergent and a towel and bubble rap and towel to lay this all on .
To start with lay down the towel and bubble wrap, next with the merino wool and lanolin in 4inches thin strips lay down vertically in a rectangle shape then once done do the same horizontally. When its laid down place the netting over it and pour a generous amount of the solution of warm water and pat it down with pressure so that the lanolin is wet.
Then using the coloured lanolin i created my floral design repeating the same technique with the net and solution and pressure applied. Then i rolled the felt up in the bubble wrap and kept rolling for 5 minutes till the design is perfectly flat.
Then i left it to dry till it ready.

Peg loom weaving sample

This is the first weaving sample we did was a peg loom that consists of 14 pegs and a block. To start with i put the pegs in the whole at bottom with a thread 15cm long cut for all 14 threads , with each thread threaded it has to be equal on each side then turn the pegs to the side.
Then with my chosen wool i tied the end of it to the first peg tightly , then began to weaves in and out to out and in till it reaches the top of the pegs.
To finish it off i took the pegs out and pulled off the weave and tied the threads in teams of 3 securely.

Observational drawing continued

For this exercise we used the same set up as the first observational drawing exercise.
To create a different aspect and colour and working with different media i sat looking at the point where i wanted to draw. The chosen point i chose for the first drawing was the apple on top of the table cloth i used felt tip,biro,pencil before i started i crumpled the paper and created a charcoal rubbing before drawing.
Once i created the sketch we ripped it into sections and then placed them in a new order to create a new image.
The second drawing was looking at a cut of leaves for this one before i drew this i had to place the paper landscape and with 2 pieces of masking tape one placed length way and the other width ways. On this i used charcoal and felt tip i drew the leaves and the colour outline once i had completed it i peeled off the tape and revealed a finish piece.
The final piece was landscape i folded the top section then i taped it to create a smaller sheet of paper. This time the subject was a wooden ball i created this in felt tip , biro and charcoal once i finished it i peeled the tape off to reveal the gaps.