Draping Material

I found a mini manikin of mine from when I was younger and I decided to try draping some pieces of material onto it in the style of traditional Greek dresses. I used accessories like belts and parts of patterns to experiment with the style.

Below are the images I took when doing this:

Samples

I have done a lot of samples for this project. I have dyed a variety of materials, printed with various pigment inks and permaset inks to show a versatile print.

The design of the print was designed to be both traditional and modern. The way the print is printed dictates this. Therefore the traditional print is done on a paler background and the print itself is more subtle. However the modern print is done on contrasting backgrounds with a more colourful print.

Below are a few pictures of my samples from when they were printed.

Samples on drying rack

Samples on drying rack 2

Gold, red and black sample

Gold, pink and black sample

Close up of gold sample

Gold sample

Gold, red and pink sample

Modern samples

Samples on drying rack 3

All of my samples are very experimental pieces. Some didn't turn out as well as I thought they would and others turned out bold and outstanding. Sometimes when using the permaset ink it lifted off slightly when moving my screen, this was also caused by the material been creased. The chiffon I used for samples was also hard to use permaset on because it made the design slanted and I didn't like how this looked.

My favorite prints were the ones done on silk I loved the colours you can dye it and how shimmery it looks. I also liked the prints on cotton as it brightens the colours up and makes them stand out more.

I really loved all of my samples and I found it hard when trying to choose my final pieces so I had a design meeting with my class and everyone voted which ones they liked best. Both decided pieces got more than half the votes and these are the ones I have done to see these pieces please read my Final pieces blog that will be posted on the 24th or 25th of May. Thanks for reading. Jess x

Tracings

For my screen I had to do tracings, I decided that I wanted two screens, one with the full design and one with shading. 

First I did three photocopies of my design and masking taped them together in a line so they repeated. And then masking taped this to the table face up.

My photocopied design:

I then got some Kodatrace paper and invisible tape and stuck the paper together to cover my design and masking taped it to the table on top of my design. I then got a photopake pen and traced my design onto the Kodatrace paper as seen below.

I then put another layer of Kodatrace paper on top of my design and did some shading with a kimoto pencil as seen below.

It took me approximately 8 hours to do this as I had to go over some pieces so that they would expose onto my screen.

Its quite a easy process but takes a while to do. It is also tiring tracing over the same design over and over but it is rewarding one you get to print your design for the first time. As seen in my next blog x

Sheet work

Throughout my project I have produced many pieces of detailed sheet work to get to a final design. I have done mood boards, artist research sheets, visual sheets, development sheets and design sheets that all helped me progress with my project. Altogether I have produced 14 sheets, I am very pleased with how they have turned out and will be proud to display them in my exhibition.

The first 4 images are of my mood boards that are expanding and exploring images that have inspired me. This is one of my favorite times in a project because its when you decide the direction you want to take your project and feel a drive to put the effort in.

Below are my images of my mood boards:

Mood board 1

Mood board 2

Mood board 3

Mood board 4

My artist research also plays a big part for my inspiration and I have looked at 3 very talented artists/designers. I chose to look at Mary Katrantzou, Zuhair Murad and John Everett Millais. I found that these artists connected with my project more and that they were different to anyone I researched before.

Below are images of my artist research sheets:

Artist research sheet Zuhair Murad

Artist research sheet Mary  Katrantzou

Artist research sheet John Everett Millais

After doing my research sheets I then moved on to do my visual sheets. My visual sheets are made by putting ideas from my mood boards and artist research sheets together and exploring size, scale and colour.

Below are images of my visual sheets:

Visual sheet 1

Visual sheet 2

Visual sheet 3

Then I moved on to my development sheets. These sheets were based on trying to see what collection of images would look good for a screen print. I focused on how I wanted my print to look and what colour would look the most effective. 

Below are images of my development sheets:

Development sheet 1

Development sheet 2

Finally I did two design sheets that show the design of my repeat pattern and how I wish to drape and style my finished length of material.

Below are images of these sheets:

Design sheet 1

Design sheet 2

I very much enjoyed doing all these sheets and although they took a lot of time and effort I am very proud of them. Thanks for reading guys x