In Project 3 – Colour I initially reprised work on the colour wheel and mixing and matching that I had done on my previous textile course which made me feel comfortable beginning this section. I found using colour to express emotions initially very difficult but managed to find a way to put my ideas down in a simple but effective way using collages and sketching with paint and crayons. I found I was more successful using acrylic paints rather than watercolours for the exercises. With the stiching part of this project I got very bogged down with the time-consuming nature of the exercises but I think I found a way through in the end that showed a good example of colour mixing.
In Project 4 “making space move” was a new concept to me but I understand it is about developing a good design sense and enjoyed using this later in the section. I produced some interesting sketch work in this section and was motivated to keep working because I was producing to a brief. I find sketch book work difficult to initiate because I don’t see end point. I had a lot of fun using the computer to help me produce some digitally manipulated designs and can see this is a very useful tool.
By the time I got to Project 5 I felt I had a lot of good source material to make choices from for further development and although my materials were limited I think I produced some good examples of different techniques and samples which will be very useful later on. I used a good variety of fabrics to print and paint on and find myself drawn to the more natural fabrics. I like the inherent qualities of natural cotton, linen and silk, although I did find a sythetic organza fabric was very effective in some of my experiments.
I would have liked to spend more time trying out more permutations of some of the designs I developed. I really like printing and it is a pity I was constrained by the cost of materials and time here. I felt the final larger sample was quite successful and ticks most of the boxes or design criteria. The repeat pattern worked well and I think I got the scale right. The interesting motif gives the design motion and the colours I used brought it all together.
daisymarmalade 