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.