unit evaluation

During this unit I have pushed myself to work in different ways and tried out new techniques. At the start of the unit I found it quite hard to get lots of drawing done as this has always been my weak point but as I got more into it I started to enjoy it, even getting up in the morning and going to sit in a cafe to draw was quite fun, and extremely useful for the project and developed my skills further. In the past I have been very reluctant in going out into the city and drawing as I haven't felt too confident in this area; but this unit has abled me to gain more confidence.As I chose print for my specialist area I knew drawing was vital to develop designs and motifs. I've always swayed towards print and will continue doing so. My aim for this unit was to better my printing skills and knowledge, I really wanted to push myself and go out of my comfort zone and I definitely achieved this!The discharge printing was something I've wanted to try for a while and now I've learnt how to do it, it will be something I will want to carry on doing in the future as well as other techniques.During print I have come across difficulties and felt that I have overcome them well. For example when I was using my screens, because of the nature of my prints and how they are precise; it was a pain to have to keep on masking some of the motifs off I didn't want at that time so probably in the future I will have a screen where its not as tricky to print and have it so I can print the whole screen at once as a design. Doing this, I feel that I would get more samples done. Another thing I found difficult was the photoshop workshops, I've alwyas struggled with photoshop and never seemed to grasp it. When I came to design my visualisations on photoshop I didn't really have a clue what I was doing and felt extremely stressed as i kept trying it after reading through my notes but it just wasn't working, but with help from a course mate I managed to get the hang of it and staying in uni all day (for a few days) to practice and complete my visualisations really helped. I now understand that photoshop skills are definitely something I needed to gain and didn't realise this at the start but sure do now! I definitely feel like I have learnt a vast amount of skills during this unit and I've achieved something and feel quite proud.I will keep pushing myself in the future as I still have a lot to learn (and want to learn). It would be good to collaborate with someone else from a different specialism so I could learn another specialist area but still do print. Its not been an easy unit but has been enjoyable and I have pushed myself to achieve what I wanted.           

Intentions-visualisations

This week I focused on working on photoshop to create visualisations of my prints. This was a huge task for me as I have always struggled with photoshop and never seemed to be able to work it. After a few try's I managed to work my way around it. 

I used the layer mask technique to add my print onto the cushion also used a scanned in fabric sample for the grey one.

Using plain white products for this is better because then by clicking 'multiply' after the print is added, it creates a realistic look. Now I've seen my prints visualised it gives me the confidence to do this again. 

I would like to see my prints in stores such as john Lewis and on the sly textiles. I feel that these two company's are good quality and use simple designs.

Intentions-designs

As I have used discharge printing for a few of my prints I wanted to show this through paper design. I painted my grounds with brusho ink and used bleach to bleach out areas then collaged over the top.

These came out a bit too blue and it's not really in my colour palette but I like how they turned out as it's a different technique rather than adding media.

I pleated the fabric to see if I could get a tie dye affect, this didn't work to well as the bleached seeped through quite a lot making the lines thicker.

My collaged designs are simple and show my colour palette well. I added scanned in prints of my tie dye prints into this as it brings my collection together. 

Intentions-print development

Reduction paste(discharge print)...

As I have been pulling pigment through my screens, I wanted to try and reverse the process. Using neutral discharge; I was able to take out colour from my dyed samples. I had to make sure I dyed my samples using direct dye saying 'good' on the front, this shows that the discharge will work to it's full potential. After making the reduction paste I pulled it through my screen, after letting it dry I then steamed it and washed it. (Carried on repeating on a few more samples)

It works great on the tie dye fabric as it shows more layers. The process can be tricky, when printing you can't see where it's been pulled through on the fabric as it's clear so the results can only be seen after steaming. My screen is really tricky to use as I always have to mask out parts I don't want to come through. My designs are linear and have to be quite precise where I place the screen or everything will be wonky (as my prints are quite simple).

Adding scattered squares over the discharge print using pigment adds even more layer and a splash of colour. Here I masked the motifs off I didn't want to print.

 

I added the navy rectangle and a few mustard squares. This technique works great and is my favourite by far so far. This process does take time but it's definitely worth it. In the future I think I will design I screen where I can pull the whole thing without having to mask out things as it takes too long and has to be really precise (For the designs I want to make). Lucienne Day inspired me whilst I was creating these prints as her work is simple yet shows a good end result. Layering pigment over the discharged out fabric is something I want to carry on with in the future.

Intentions- print development

Another day in the print room!...

Pigment printing onto linen. Once this was took off the table I didn't really like the result as it looks quite messy because of the nature of the fabric.

Using my hand drawn motif over the 'foam print' pigment prints.

So... After I fixed my mono print designs I wanted to try and bring back the linear more 'straight' designs by layering over. I also wanted to focus on how the different colours overlap and create different designs in themselves eg colour and shape.

I started my hand designed motif print on thin cotton. I prefer printing onto cotton rather than the linen as it shows the print better giving it a crisper edge. This was quite tricky to do as I had to mask the designs off on the screen I didn't want printing then waiting for it to dry to be able to print again. For this design I wanted it to look like my contour line drawings where they are loose. By printing the more structured designs underneath it gives the print a layered quality exactly how I wanted. 

I added I tiny bit of foil on the right to add a final layer as I felt the print needed something extra. This print is very different to the others so far as I wanted then to be simple but use a technical technique.

Intentions-print development

I want to try discharge printing (taking away colour). To do this I first needed to dye my fabric using direct dyes so mixed these up and tested them out. I wanted a navy and a light grey, depending on how long the fabric is left in the vatt for decides on how deep the colour is. 

As I was dying I thought tie dye could be interesting and I could die in squares.

To try and create squares I ironed and folded fabric then wrapped tightly with elastic bands.

I left this sample in the vatt for a while to get a deep navy, the outcome is exactly what I wanted and gives a twist on my linear designs.

I love how each fabric dyes differently. My favourite is the heavy cotton as the dye goes deeper in colour. My aim for these is to use neutral discharge to pull through my screen so it removes the dye revealing squares and other linear shapes. 

I will need to make the reduction paste (neutral discharge) rather than illuminating discharge as I want to remove the colour rather than add another colour in. This should work as I've used the right fabric and dye.