PE Task

The Sampling unit gave me the opportunity to experiment in art mediums that I had never tried before. Doing Weave and Knit was two very different experiences. I found that I really enjoyed weave (eventhough I may not have worked to my full potential after feeling like I didn't have much time to progress my work), and that knit definitely isn't for me. I struggled with knit to get my head around the techniques and generally the way that the machines worked. I also found that I didn't enjoy it as much; which was more than likely down to the fact I wasn't very good at it. An opportunity that knit did give me was to introduce colour into my work, which was a first after choosing a monochrome palette for weave, and having to use black and whites within my first unit Embroidery.

 

 

My first artist that influenced me with my initial drawings was Claude Heath. I love Claude Heath (previously referenced within my blog) due to the nature in the way he draws. His blind drawings was something that I was specifically interested in, and based my feedback week drawings on. I loved the idea of not knowing what my drawing was going to turn out like, which is exactly the technique that Claude uses. I continued to use this process of drawing until I progressed to the concept of audio waves. Another artist that influenced my drawings right the way through was Tim Knowles (earlier referenced in my blog), and his tree drawings. I loved using the varied yarns to create the small ‘dot’ which is seen often in my drawing.

 

Bridget Riley became a massive inspiration within the progression of my audio wave inspired drawings. In an important tutorial with Lesley she noticed that my drawings were becoming quite optical and asked me to look at some ‘Op Art’ (a craze for a short period of time in the sixties); specifically Bridget Riley. I love the work of Bridget Riley initially due to the black and white colour palette and the way that your eye moves around her work. After looking closely at some of her work I decided to experiment by layering some of my initial drawings in Photoshop and inverting the colours. This gave a beautiful effect where the lines crossed over. I struggled however, to incorporate this visual research into my weave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final influential picture comes from a company called Jet8. Jet8 first came to my attention through them recently producing a new collection at Harvey Nichols. The first aspect of their work that caught my eye was the patterning of the knit, and how closely related it was to my visual research. In my knit sample (on the right), I have incorporated some very simple stripes and 'hooking up' which I feel relates perfectly when compared with my visual research.  I can see my knit fitting in well with the fashion industry. I have really enjoyed using colour for the first time within my artist research and my knit, and I’m excited to use a lot of colour within Unit X- ‘Fairgrounds’.

 Overall, again I feel that my timings could have been better, as I feel like I’ve rushed a lot of my work. Doing knit has made me realise that I didn’t enjoy it as I much as I thought I would, and I am thoroughly excited to get back on the weave looms for Unit X. I plan to use a lot more colour within the next project also.

 

 

Jet8 Knitwear: Sampling Contextual Reference: Professional Practice Link

 



 

Produced by S. T. Dupont, Jet8 clothing is a contemporary, innovative and luxury French Brand. Jet8 came to my attention due to very recently starting to produce exclusively for Harvey Nichols. I was initially drawn in by the pattern within their knits; many of them relating brilliantly to my drawings and the pattern within my weave. I find the designs very optical (particularly within the first jumper), which I didn't think was possible within knit. Work specific to this would be a challenge for me to produce on the domestic sewing machines as it takes a lot of time to plan and is made though a programmed machine.

 I specifically love the amount of varied pattern within the last jumper, which is something that I did greatly within my weave. I would like to experiment with many different knit techniques (using punchcards that relate well to my initial drawings), within one knit sample. In terms of my previous post, I love the idea of using mohair to demonstrate the soft lines within my drawings and using a plain black wool to indicate the hard lines cutting up the image.

 

I could see my knit designs within a fashion company something similar to this.

 

 

 

Knit Visual Research: Sampling

I started to introduce some colour into my knit visual research completely by accident. When starting drawings, I used Quink ink onto a watered background as my initial ground. By doing so, the ink dispersed and created some beautiful blues and oranges. I feel that these colours could make some beautifully rich knit samples. I really enjoy the soft shapes of the dispersed inks against the structured fine liner and feel that this could easily be portrayed through the use of different yarns within knit. I'd hopefully like to experiment with some mohair in order to re-generate the soft contours.

Final Weaves: Sampling

I was really happy with my final weaves; however I feel I only got ‘into it’ within my last few days so I did not work to my full potential. I struggled due to the nature of my monochrome colour scheme, that I could only really use one loom which was quite inconvenient at times. However, I do feel that I have portrayed my visual research reasonably well. I tried as much as possible to experiment with different techniques and patterns as I didn’t want my plain colour scheme to become ‘boring’. I looked at using some different materials for my weft to introduce a much thicker line into my work. For this, I used some rubber string I bought from the A4 store, which enabled my weave to become a lot more textured. At first, I struggled to get the hang of this, (as seen on the right of the bottom image) but managed to get to grips by putting plain weave in between the strips. This gave them much more stability.

I am not excited to experiment and introduce colour into my knit samples.

Bridget Riley: Sampling Contextual Reference

Bridget Riley’s art work come to light when my tutor Lesley told me to take a look after comparing my work to hers. Bridget’s paintings were very striking and easily influenced many designers of the time. Op Art became a very popular style within the mid-sixties. An abstract, monochrome approach that creates illusions between your eyes and the paper.

In a tutorial for my sketchbook, Lesley said my drawings were becoming quite optical, and asked me to experiment with this on paper and within Photoshop.

 

Taking Lesley's advice, I scanned my initial drawings and layered them in Photoshop. Once the image was inverted creating white lines on black, parts of the image became very optical (where the lines crossed over)- consequently relating brilliantly to the work of Bridget Riley. I loved the depth that this created within the image and proceeded to create a couple of similar images to these. I am excited to use just black and white within my weaves, and using different techniques to hopefully make optical effects.

Kate Lecture: Sampling

Kates lecture was interesting; we were asked us to bring paper, scissors, thread and a needle. Kate proceeded to talk to us about how to get ‘unstuck’ with our University work, however wanted us to keep ourselves busy with the distraction of the materials we were asked to bring along with us. The theory behind this was that the information in a lecture goes in a lot easier when having something to do instead of just sitting and listening. I don’t feel that this notion is entirely true as it didn’t really work for me personally, but may work better for others.

Whilst doing this I thought I may as well link my paper embroidery into the work I’d been doing within my sketchbook, and re generated the lines within my favourite drawings. This was a nice extra to add into my book, and gave my drawings a different dimension.

Audio Waves Experimentation: Sampling

I proceeded to experiment in the ways I could re-generate these lines into more visual research. In strong relation to music I decided to put my IPod onto shuffle and take note of every song that came up in chronological order. Once putting these onto paper, they vividly expressed the nature of the lines you would get through the recording of sounds through audio notes. This small experiment has neither helped nor hindered the progression of my project as I don’t wish to take this idea on. Yet, I still feel that it was a worthy trial.