Project 5 - Printing & Painting on fabric

It's been a long time since I've done any kind of printing and I think that was with a potato when I was in Primary school or with one of those little printing sets I got one Christmas.

I decided to go with one of the sketches I have done from the honeycomb set, this was one of the earliest sketches I did and I was actually very pleased with the way that the bee turned out.

I chose to focus on the honeycomb that you can see I coloured in. The next step for me was to choose a printing material that I would feel comfortable with. I have never tried lino block cutting before and it took several attempts to get an image that I thought looked anything like the honeycomb. I found the traditional lino block very difficult to use and tried using a much softer type of lino cut. This had a definite advantage in that I didn't have to exert too much pressure on the cutter to get the shape or lines although I had to be careful not to mark any of the areas that I wanted to keep in the print, as the softness of the lino would definitely have been affected. I'm also printing these on paper with printing ink to get an idea of what they look like before I take the step of printing onto fabric.

I was disappointed that some of the lines in the outer segments weren't raised enough to leave a print so decided to try again.

As you can see, I tried repeating the pattern. I'm going to have a couple more attempts at the lino cut before I make a decision which one to try on fabric although I actually prefer the second one, above. 

Looking for Shapes & Drawing

Whilst I was reviewing some of my sketch and photo resources for the next stage - 'Developing Design Ideas' - I realised that I actually have very little in the way of sketches. I had been trying to make more of a conscious effort to draw but I know I set my own standards too high. I either want it to be a perfect representation of what I'm trying to draw or it's not good enough to show anyone or use. Again, I've been making a conscious effort to change that aspect of my approach as well.

Recently we went to the Embellished exhibition at Provost Skene's House in Aberdeen and I took quite a few photos of objects that were not in the exhibition itself, including one of a horses skull. I'm not sure why this particular object interested me and if I'm honest I don't think I even intended to ever use it, however when I was trying to decide what to sketch next, this was the one I chose.

Then I chose a section of the image using the viewing frame.

Oil Pastels

Watercolours

Watercolour close-up

I definitely feel more confident about my sketching now whether I think it's good enough or not. I am very much looking forward to developing my design ideas as prints or sewn projects.

The Embellished exhibition at Provost Skene House, Aberdeen

We went along to an exhibition in Aberdeen a few weeks ago at Provost Skene's House, titled Embellished , it featured embroidered garments and accessories from their permanent collection. It was quite a small collection but there were some beautiful items including a wool Victorian walking suit with a Russian style braiding - see below.


Unfortunately, the lighting was an obstacle to getting very good images with my camera. 


You can see how the embroidery along the bottom of the skirt is very different in style and quality to the braiding on the cape and it is very possible that the braiding was a later addition.

One of my favourite pieces in the exhibition was the pink beaded 'Flapper' dress from around 1923-1924. I'm not sure if the photograph is of a high enough quality for you to be able to see the tiny glass beads that cover the entire dress and the decorative bands of bugle beads clustered at the right hip that sweep up towards the shoulder and waistline.

 I can only imagine what this must have looked like under the lights with all the tiny sparkles from the glass beads as the wearer maybe danced the Charleston or the Shimmy.

The blue dance dress (late 1950s) is a far more structured outfit, with a skirt made up of gored panels with inset fishtail sections, this added a fullness to the skirt, giving a very dramatic effect when dancing. The floral embroidery and Tambour work is enhanced with sequins and diamante stones.

Whilst it was a very small exhibition, it really helped me being able to see some of this work up close instead of just browsing the internet or pouring over the books. It wasn't just about the clothes as Provost Skene house has a lot of very interesting displays including recreated rooms with original artifacts.

In one room, there was a wooden four poster bed with a very pretty embroidered coverlet.

It wasn't just in the obvious textiles that took my interest, once I started looking around, even the ceilings, windows and flooring were photographed with a view to using them at a later stage.

Next exhibition for us will be the 'House of Annie Lennox' which I can't wait for.