Part two - Reference Material & Achievement, & Reflective Commentary

Reference Material used for Assignment two


List of books owned or on loan from the local library

• Johannes Itten's Book - The Elements of Colour
• Karin Jerstorp & Eva Kohlmark - The Textile Design Book (understanding and creating patterns using texture, shape and colour)
• Emma Brigs  - Mosaic Techniques
• Kerry Skinner  -  The Painted Room
• John Gillow and Bryan Sentance - A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques WORLD TEXTILES
• Kay Greenlees - Creating Sketchbooks For Embroiderers And Textile Artists
• Thomasina Beck - The Embroiderer's Garden
• Lynette de Denne - Creative Needlecraft

 What have you achieved?


Do you feel you made a good selection from your drawings to use as source material for your designs idea? Which interpretations worked best; can you say why?

I think the drawings I selected were a good choice for my materials. The simple daisy flower on project 5 stage 4  worked really well, the tension came really well from the hand painted marks and the block printing gave depth and even a slight 3 dimensional effect.
The kaleidoscope design on project 5 stage 4 I really loved, It was a design I could have played around with for hours. it had strong graphics, plenty of contrast in the colours also plenty of tension.

Which fabrics did you choose? What particular qualities appealed to you?

I chose poplin cotton,hessian & voiles. The cotton worked well because it made the colours stand out. Hessian I used for the Tulip kits (French knots) Stage 5 & Stage 6.
The voiles I used to experiment on project 4, I used block printing - gold fabric paints on this and it came out very faint. I was disappointed with this, but when I go back to it now it has grown on me. I see more in it, it's very delicate and would look very feminine against your skin if you were wearing it in an outfit.

Is the scale of marks and shapes on you samples appropriate to the fabric? 

Yes I think so, I was happy with them.


Would any of your ideas work better on a different type of fabric, for example, sheer, textured, heavyweight? Why?

No, I don't think so. I will try more experiments on the different fabrics maybe using textured or heavyweight as a background (things to try!)
I would have loved to use padding & stitching on some of the larger projects but did feel it would distract from the original assignment.


Do the marks and shapes seem well placed, too crowded or too far apart?

The way I read the exercise at first it came across not to worry about placement.This was my first attempt at this sort of fabric printing so I was quite please at how they came out. There is room for improvement, project 5 stage 3 is an example - it was a bit blotchy in places, but I did learn pva glue stops the paint from running.




Were you aware of negative shapes that were forming between the positive shapes?

I came across this on Project 4 stage 2 - exercise 1, I had to have a few goes at positioning the leaves, it was the negative white space around them.


What elements are contrasting and what elements are harmonizing in each sample? Is there an interesting tension?

• Project 4 - Stage 3 (Vase) I think this really has harmony, the colours blend well together, the tension is low key in the middle of the piece. It contrasts very well together.
• Project 4 - Experiment with block printing (using sticks & gardening tool). Even though I just used the one colour it had plenty of tension, you just need to look into the printed long strips (especially where the tree strips meet) and you can see lots of tension marks. Even the smaller printed areas had tension. It did harmonize together with the bronze print & cream background.
• Project 4 - Experiment with relief printing (using a old laced pillowcase & string). This had great tension, lots of little marks made by going into the little lace holes with the paint.It contrasted well by using the string to separate the lace section which made it harmonious.
• Project 5 - stage 3 This piece has bucket fulls of tension around the edges where the paint came through and have extra marks that should not be there. This piece has very strong contrasts, so not a harmonious piece.
• Project 5 - Stage 4 (Daisy Design). The pattern & colour has great contrast & harmonizes well together. The slight tension is in the hand painted brush strokes coming off the large daisy.
• Project 5 - Stage 4 (Snowdrop). I think the tension for me on this design is the lighter green faint brush strokes. It has a very strong contrast and I feel the colours don't have the harmony as much as the above pieces.
• Project 5 - Stage 4 (Kaleidoscope effect). I love this design you could see the design could continue on and on repeating it's self (e.g make a large duvet cover). it contrasted well with plenty of tension for example the green marks over the yellow, the white marks on the little green flowers these are just a few. Even though the colours are bright and cheerful they harmonized well together.

How successful do you think your larger sample is? Do you like the design? Have you recreated or extended your ideas from smaller samples so that there is a visual development between the two?

My large sample (Kaleidoscope design) was worked from Project 4 - Stage 4 bottom middle. I love this design, I think it was a good attempt to recreate the design also extend the design further (the next bit that you couldn't see!)  








Reflective Commentary


I've really enjoyed Assignment two, It's all been a steep learning curve because I had never done anything with fabric paints before. I just hope it's good enough!
The mixing of paints was such a joy, I didn't take art as a subject at school and I really wish I had done, mixing the paints was so much fun!.
The design work in the exercises could create endless possibilities of work.
Should I have used more different fabrics? - this I wasn't sure about maybe I should have checked, I was please with what turned out on the fabrics I used.
I am just a little concerned about the amount of work I do (am I doing enough) with having a full time job & being a carer at home. I find I spend much more time than the recommended time scale (French knot sample is a example).The time spent is not an issue, I love working on my samples.
I concentrated on techniques which were talked about and I think it will be interesting to have a go and explore different textures & fabrics in due course. I am wondering is the work I am doing varied enough for assessment when the time comes around?