Le Tour De France Report

Bikes, cyclists, routes and locations. Throughout the summer I have undertaken an assignment on Le Tour De France as it passed through Yorkshire this was particularly inspiring as it was close to home. It was a historic event and being able to focus on all aspects was very educational. 

At the start of this project I undertook a lot of research mostly primary and secondary but I did do some observational drawing as well. For my primary research I went to the Bike Show Exhibition at the Civic in Barnsley and I also went to Meadowhall in Sheffield where Le Tour would be passing to look at a display that gave information about Le Tour and also sold memorabilia. For my secondary research I looked at magazines, newspapers and also took images/research from the internet (pinterest, google and other websites). Then for my observational drawings I looked at a set up of bike wheels and made drawings in a range of media on a variety of backgrounds. They were also done in time limits ranging from 5 to 15 minutes.

I was definitely inspired by the Bike Show Exhibition and found that I was mostly inclined to look at the jerseys, old and futuristic bikes and Eliza Southwoods prints. I particularly wanted to look at these because they are attractive aspects to focus on. I loved Eliza Southwoods bold and colourful prints as they captured Le Tour De France in a very striking way.

What I disliked about the Bike Show was that there wasn't much modern Tour De France bikes and jerseys that I could photograph. I thought that it would have been good if they had more recent things to display that had featured in more recent tours.

The artists I have looked at were Miki De Goodaboom, Alister Colley, Eliza Southwood, Anita Bowerman, Janet Browne, Louisa Crompton, Janice Arnold, Linda Banks Hansee, Moy Mackay and Rafa Jenn. Most of these artists use different techniques so I researched them to get some inspiration. Some of the techniques they look at are screen printing, felting, needle felting, lino printing, knitting and weaving. I enjoyed looking at the screen printing artist Rafa Jenn as his work is bold and he sometimes only uses 2  to 3 colours like in my own prints. I also took forward Louisa Crompton's knitting technique that uses two colour yarns and Moy Mackay's needle felting that blends colour wools together.

During this project I covered a lot of techniques most of them I enjoyed doing and found them very useful. These techniques were knitting, wet felting, needle felting, screen/pigment printing, weaving, heating/melting knitting, drawing on tissue paper and brush-o inks with bleach, drawing with a range of media on colour backgrounds and dying material with procion dyes.

When doing these techniques I experimented with my Tour De France images that I had already used in my sketchbook to see what concepts I could take forward into my final pieces. I experimented with 3D wet felting ideas making swirled rolls that I could then cut into small circular pieces. I did a lot of sample prints for screen printing on materials like calico and cotton and dyed some of them with procion dyes. These are only some of the ways I have been experimenting with the techniques as I have tried to do a lot.

My artists linked to my work by the use of their colour, style and texture. I took the bold style of Rafa Jenn's print when designing my screen where he uses thick lines or shapes to make the colours catch the eye. Miki De Goodaboom's line work inspired me along with her use of colour particulary the black and white and also Janice Arnold with her plain felting.

I decided on my final pieces by looking back at my samples in a design meeting with my fellow students. They chose my top 4 that they wanted me to reproduce and advised me on what improvements I needed to make.

I feel that throughout this project I have managed my time very effectively and managed to finish my work to a good standard during this time. It was at some points difficult to keep on top of the work load and make sure everything got done but I eventually got the hang of it.

What went well in this project was my ability to think up a interesting screen print design that I was able to make into 3 seperate screens. I personally think that most of my project went well for me and I made a big effort to make a range of distinctive prints. I also think a lot of my accidental pieces turned out well for me. 

At the beginning I felt inspired to do well. Especially knowing the Tour De France was going through my home town, Yorkshire. However due to the amount of time spent on the project, I lost motivation for the project in the middle. I regained my interest when it came to doing my print and feel they were some of the best work I have produced.

To keep the momentum I would have made the project shorter. I feel that too much was focused on the research rather than the end product. I also think I could have changed the amount and quality of my observational drawings.

Overall I am very satisfied with this project. I think I have made an excellent collection of work that I am happy with and would be delighted to put in my portfolio. I am making progress developing my skill and learning new techniques. And I have managed to get on with a project that I wouldn't normally think to focus on. I  am satisfied with the outcomes of my project and everything within my sketchbook and technical file.

My 4 final pieces

I think I have used my blog effectively and to a good standard. However I believe that in my upcoming projects I should learn to keep on top of the amount I have to do by writing them as I do each technique.

My sketchbook has also been used very effectively and to a high standard. I have spent many hours making sure I got all my ideas and inspirations down and tried making each page visually engaging. To improve on this I would like to experiment with my ideas more with media and colour as I think it would make my work more developed.

Altogether it has been a great project and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I am now looking forward to my next project that will be on something completely different and I hope it will be to the same standard as this one.

Final pieces

Hi guys! These are my final pieces for my Le Tour De France project. I have spent a lot of time and effort on these pieces and I think they are fabulous. I had a great enthusiasm to do some great final pieces and I hope you think so too.

Final Piece 1

This piece was a recreation of a accidental piece I did and although it could never be made exactly the same I managed to copy the technique quite well. I am satisfied with the result of this piece and am glad it turned out so well.

Final Piece 2

This final piece was very easy to replicate and I think it looks better than the sample piece as that one smudged and I had to try to touch it up. It has a fun effect and people will look twice when they see it.

Final Piece 3

This piece took a while to remake as I have to wait between each technique I used so it could dry. I like the pink colour as it makes the black standout and it is a new colour to the others. It is not exactly A5 size as I forgot to allow space for it shrinking however the print still works so I was happy.

Final Piece 4

This final piece was great it has more texture than all my other final pieces. It was originally meant to be just a print but after the design meeting my class mates decided that I should work back into this piece in some way. So I then decided to use my own technique I found when using acrylic wool. This one is by far my favorite piece as it isn't just a flat piece it takes two to three techniques and makes it interesting.  

All Final Pieces

I am satisfied with all the prints I have made and hopefully they reflect the time and effort I have put into them. It has been a amazing project that I have enjoyed but I am glad that it is now finished.

Melting acrylic wool

This sample piece was one of my biggest experiments I have done for this project and during my time at college. I decided for this piece I wanted to flatten my knitting with the heat press so the knitting was flatter to print onto with pigment inks. 

I then went to heat press my piece thinking it would flatten it only to get a shock when lifting the mat up on the heat press to find the knitting melting and sticking to the mat. I quickly pealed the knitting off before it had time to stick to the mat and put it on the side to cool.

After this I spoke to my tutor about it and found that it had happened because I had used acrylic wool (man made wool) and because of this when heated over 500 Fahrenheit it melts. It also melts and shrinks away from a flame or heat.

Melted Knitting

You can see the knitting stitches on the top of the melted piece however on the bottom it has melted smooth. I do not think the screen print would have worked on this piece so I decided to experiment with it some more.

Close up of melted knitting

Piece after using heat gun

The heat gun made the full piece wavy, It created bigger holes with browning edges and gave it more texture.

Piece once finished

I then used a solder to create some smaller holes and did more with the heat gun. It was definitely a experience for me and put me completely out of my comfort zone. It was funny to do and I think although it turned out well it looks like a slice of cheese. I also did some more experimental pieces as seen below:  

Joining two strands together

Singular springs

Double colour springs in a figure 8

Single colour springs in a figure 8

These pieces were made using a heat gun and two metal needles. I have wrapped the acrylic wool around one or two needles with one or two strands of wool and then heated with the heat gun. This then makes the wool a bit like a spring. I love these pieces as they are simple, different and effective and I will hopefully use them in my final pieces.

Screen printing Samples

These are some of my screen printing samples that I have made before my final pieces. They are made on a range of materials and done with a few colours of pigment ink.

Three samples on cotton

in a singular colour

One print on cotton

 in two colours

One print on calico heavy

in three colours

One print on cartridge paper

in two colours 

The print above was a accidental piece that made. I had printed both prints onto my piece but on the last one forgot to take the paper from underneath my screen this resulted in the print getting stuck to the screen. Then having not noticed I took my screen to the wash out room where I began to wash my screen with the pressure washer. Once I realized I hadn't removed the print it was too late. I removed the print from the screen to find that colours had run or faded in some places. My class mates and tutor decided that it was really good as it looked like I had used soft pastel to create the effect. I love that it turned out well and believe it to be one of my best and favorite prints.

One print on card in 

three colours

Unfinished print on watercolour

paper in one colour

This print is one of the few that smudged when using my first screen. There are many reasons this could have happened like the screen moved, I pulled the squeegee over too many times, I lifted the screen up and moved it wrong or pealed the print off wrong. I did try to fix this by putting weights on the screen, pulling the squeegee over once, using bigger sized paper, taping the print to the table and being more careful when getting the print off. This did eventually work and I was able to continue with my samples and learn from my mistakes. 

One print on black paper

in one colour

This print didn't show up as well and you can only see the shine of the colour. The ink only shows up on a surface lighter than the colour you are using this is why it hasn't shown up as well.

One print on tissue paper

in one colour

One print on my weave looming done

in three colours

One print done on my wet felting

in three colours

One print on card in two

colours

One print on watercolour paper

in two colours

One print on card on a square piece

in two colours

Although some pieces went wrong I am very happy with what I have produced and look forward to doing more pieces like these.

Knitting - Increasing and decreasing stitches

Hey everyone ;-) This is a quick post on decreasing and increasing stitches in knitting.

First for increasing stitches you knit the stitch as normal leaving the original stitch on your left needle and then knit a stitch into the back of that stitch. This then creates two stitches from one stitch.

Then for decreasing stitches you go into the bottom of two stitches and knit a stitch as normal. This then takes two stitches down to one stitch. Below is a YouTube video of both techniques:

Increase and decrease stitches

Below are my own samples of this technique:

My increase and decrease sample

My increase and decrease sample 2

This sample that I have done started with four stitches and went up to fourteen and then down to four again. It is really simple when you know how to do it and it is a good way to form shapes if you wish to make a jumper etc. Thanks for reading x

Needle felting

Hi guys! This is my post on needle felting that I have recently learnt at college.

What you will need:

Felting needles

Needle tool/handle

Foam mat

Felt

Wool

 First the health and safety for needle felting the needles are very sharp so make sure they are always stuck in the foam mat when your not using it. When pulling the needle out of the handle don't pull your fingers down the needle as it will cut you. Finally keep your eyes on what you are doing and don't accidentally stick yourself in the finger with the needle.

Felting needles

Needle tool and foam mat

To needle felt you lay your flat piece of felt that you are working with onto the foam mat. Then taking your wool lay it where you want to needle felt it and then with the needle start stabbing/pushing the fibers through the felt. After this carefully pull the felt piece off the foam mat. This is all you need to do there are also handles that can have multiple needles in so that you can needle felt bigger areas. 

This YouTube video is a quick demonstration of this technique. 

Needle Felting Video

First needle felted piece

This piece I had 15 minutes to do and I was told to do a sunrise as a sample. It was also a way to get comfortable with the technique and experiment with different shapes, blending and sizes of felt. I think my piece went well apart from the fact that some more of the felt fibers needed pushing through the felt to make the image less blurred.

Second needle felted piece

The second needle felted piece was done on top of a wet felted piece the picture above was taken when it was half done. I did then felt a bike on top of this but unfortunately forgot to take a picture. It does look very french and I found that the two techniques work beautifully together if you stick to a theme.

This process is good to use for more solid images and next time I would like the chance to embroider on top of pieces like these. I hope you have enjoyed this post x

Wet felting 2

Hi everyone! This week I have revisited the technique wet felting. I won't be re-telling you about the process as I have already done this on a older post so there is a link below if you wish to see this.

Link to my post called textiles-week 2:

http://jessicaturnerart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/textiles-week-2.html

For my own wet felting I took colours and patterns from my sketchbook, mood boards and visual sheets to relate each piece to my work. Below are some images of the wet felting process:

Before felting wool

Before felting wool 2

Felting while its wet

These pieces were very easy to make and each piece felted well. The pieces were not necessarily A5 size as the pieces shrink due to the fibers fusing together this is a concept I need to consider for future pieces. I liked how the patterns and colours turned out and think that they would work well if I wanted to add a second process like embroidery or needle felting. 

Felting pieces once dry

I also experimented with 3D felting making balls and rolls. The balls I made are in the colours of the french flag and the roll was swirled in the colours from a bike wheel.

Felt balls and rolls

These were all my first attempts and they all turned out to be quite good. I managed to get the shapes of the balls to be round and firm and the roll was felted tightly so there were no gaps. I had fun doing these although it tires your arms when rolling or rubbing the felt. It will be great to use within my final pieces. 

Knitting - Knit one purl one rib

This post is on another new knitting stitch called knit one purl one rib that I have focused on to find a flatter stitch that I could possibly print onto. I got taught this stitch by my nanan as she loves knitting and I needed a teacher that would show me how to do new stitches.

This particular stitch was quite easy to learn as I had already learnt how to do the knit stitch and purl stitch (refer back to earlier posts to learn these stitches). It was challenging when trying to alternate between the two stitches but I managed to get the hang of it quite quickly once it was explained and demonstrated a few times. 

Close up of Knit one purl one rib

First for this stitch you cast on, then knit one stitch and purl one stitch until you are at the end of the row remember what stitch you are on so you don't go wrong. Then remembering the last stitch you were on at the end of the row start with that same stitch and continue alternating between those stitches. This is basically all you do until you come to cast off, when casting of you continue with both stitches and do as normal.

You can also tell what stitch you have just done as there will either be a bobble where you have purled or a knit.

Sample - Knit a line purl a line and knit one purl one rib

I found this stitch very useful as it did not curl up at its edges and it also looked very neat. It was easy and therapeutic to do and I will hopefully print on it for a sample piece.

Knitting - Purl stitch

This blog is about a new stitch I learnt in my knitting lesson called purling. It is a very uncomplicated stitch if you have already learnt how to do the knit stitch (this is also on my blog). I found that it was better to learn the knit stitch first however some may disagree. 

Casting on close-up

First before purling I cast on twenty stitches to start my sample.

Cast on twenty stitches

Cast on twenty stitches

To purl start by putting the right needle into the top of the first stitch on the left needle making sure you have a X formed with the right needle at the front. Then wrap your wool around the right needle and pull the right needle through the stitch, taking the wrapped around wool with it and then put it onto the right needle. After this keep going until you want to stop purling.

This is a great stitch to use, when I used it the sides of my knitting didn't curl up and it looks nice as well. It is something different and would be good to put pattern in my knitting.

Below is a video of the purl stitch:

After purling five rows I then went on to do knit a line purl a line for about ten lines and then went back to purl five lines. This was a sample and it looked like a piece you could use for a cuff on a jumper.

Purling

I have not yet put a image on of my sample as I forgot to photograph it but it turned out amazingly well and I am really pleased with it. 

On my next blogs I will be doing Knit one, purl one rib and felting so please have a look guys x

Knitting - Cast on, Knit stitch, Cast off

This week I have been learning how to knit during my lesson at college. First I had to go through the health and safety for knitting  to make sure I would not hurt myself or others. The first thing was to behave responsibly when using the equipment as someone could get injured, the second was to watch what you and others are doing so you don't trip over the wool or get stabbed with the needles.

Below is a image of the equipment I would be using:

Equipment

The equipment I would be using was two needles and a ball of wool. The wool could be any type as it did not matter.  The needles I got were a size of 8.0 millimeters the size for this didn't matter either as I wasn't making a specific thing I was just learning the different stitching.

First for knitting I learnt how to Cast on. To start I tied a loop on my finger with the wool at the start of the ball and transferred it onto the left needle. Then I went through the bottom of the loop with the right needle and put that needle behind the left one to form a X. Then taking the wool I wrapped it around the right needle and then pulled the left needle through the original loop with the wool I just wrapped around the left needle with it. Then after pulling it through put it over the right needle and repeat with the top loop until you have the number of stitches you want. 

I found this difficult at first but after I practiced this a few times I managed to cast on a row of stitches on my own. It is quite simple once you know what you are doing with the wool and how you need to hold the needles.

Below is a video of this process:

How to cast on beginner 

Then I learnt how to do a knit stitch. First insert the left needle knitwize into the first loop on the right needle and put it behind it in a X. Then taking the wool wrap it around the left needle and through the X you have made. After this pull the left needle out of the loop taking the wool that has been wrapped around it and slide it over the left needle to make a loop and leave it there. Then pull the top loop off the right needle and repeat until you come to the end. Once you get to the end swap the needles over and continue the stitch until you are ready to finish.

This step was little complicated for me to get at first and I did end up adding stitches to some rows and taking some off. I ended up adding three stitches to my original twenty stitches but I have learnt from this by learning to count the stitches and wrap the wool around the needles the correct way.

Below is a video of this step:

How to knit stitch

Finally I had to learn how to cast off this I think was very easy to do and I managed to catch on quickly to the technique. First you have to knit two stitches, then put the left needle into the bottom stitch on the right needle and pull it up over the stitch on the top of the right needle. Continue to do this until you have one last stitch. Once on the last stitch cut the line of wool off from the ball leaving a small length and thread it through the final stitch. Then pull it tight and you will be finished with your knitted piece.

The casting off stage was one of the simple parts and it is great once you have finished and get to see your final piece of knitting. 

Below is a video of casting off:

Cast off

I thoroughly enjoyed my first lesson of knitting and  have learnt a lot from my first attempt. My first sample of knitting doesn't look as good and tight as it could as I didn't have much tension in my wool. It isn't a big sample as I started off knitting slowly and didn't know how to hold the needles properly but it is a good experimental piece.

My knitting piece

During this lesson I also learnt how to do a purl stitch this extended my skills for knitting but that will be going on my next blog so please read it. Until then goodbye x