Today is our CCS day, a day working independently without tutors. In the studio I worked with the light fabric (lining) and continued to work with the medium fabric (calico) as I enjoyed working with it. Here are some examples of what I achieved :
I also worked on my contextual notebook today which is always really interesting. I explored designers such as Sandra Backlund, Hussein Chalayan and Balenciaga as well as many others, all amazing designers that are really inspiring.
I really liked the fashion illustration workshop last Friday so I did a bit more life drawing today from magazines as well as some collages and fashion illustration research.
Yesterday I worked on my second shape on the croquis. Today I looked over it again with my tutor and she gave me an idea. She said if I thought a certain croquis had potential I could rework it some more. I did this and I really liked it. It helped me to work with the shape more, see what other ways I could manipulate it and also experiment with shaping it differently - I am really happy with the results!
I have been having some trouble with my croquis. The one I had the first week seems to be a bit masculine and goes a bit wobbly when retraced. So I got a new one that I am much happier with. It is more feminine, elegant and has smoother lines. Even my drawings seem to be getting better with the improved form.
Today I also began working with my fabrics on the mannequin. I was able to get the heavy weight (hessian) and some of the medium weight (calico) done today. Tomorrow I would like to work further with the medium weight as I enjoy working with it as well as with the light weight (lining). Here are some pictures of my work from today:
So after a weekend of work I started Monday morning with my first shape exhausted and began work on my second shape. This is a more angular shape, a contrast to the first, and at first I found it difficult to work with - I think it was nearly too much of a change from the first. Now though I am really enjoying working with it as it produces clean lines and works well on the croquis. Today the body of my work will be exhausting this shape on thee croquis. I also have to cut out the two shapes in my three fabrics in preparation for tomorrow - I looking forward to seeing how the fabric differs to the paper.
So, the first week of my two week fashion elective has just finished and the week certainly flew by! Though it is a tough discipline with lots of hard, time consuming work, I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am especially enjoying the design process - working on the mannequin, drawing in the sketchbook, manipulation of pieces, collages and much more. I have a lot of work to do this weekend - finish my sketchbook work of both my first and second shape being the main task but this will help me to move onto the following area next week.
I got my three fabrics today to start work with them on the mannequin's on Monday. It will be intriguing to see if working with the fabrics is much different to working with the paper and to see what results are achieved. I cant wait to start!
So far I am really loving fashion. Before starting LSAD, it is and area I never really considered fully but now that I am experiencing it I am thoroughly enjoying it. I really hope my hard work pays off and I do well in this elective. I am excited to see what awaits next week also.
Today we had an illustration class with Giordanna and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We began by life drawing members of the class. I was so happy to be doing life drawing again as I had missed it in first semester. I was relieved that I hadn't lost all ability to life draw, though a little rough, I liked what I drew. Primarily we sketched in pencil ;
, then progressed to charcoal;
Pencil has always been my favourite medium to draw with but I think the charcoal suited this task more as it was looser and freer. I have a tendency to draw with a feathery line, something I have always had trouble with, which I know I must improve on as it doesn't relate as well as a defined line to fashion illustration.
The next medium combined a primary sketch in pencil followed by washes of paint to add variety. I was chosen to model for this medium so unfortunately missed out here. I hope to try it during the week in my own time though, as well as in other mediums such as markers, ink, acrylic and pastels.
Next we drew from the mannequin. Giordanna had pinned her coat and some fabric to a mannequin, very artistically, and we drew it. I liked this as I got to focus on the folds and creases of the fabric. She then handed out magazine pictures of models and we were to draw the fabric piece on them. Surprisingly drawing from a magazine image is much harder than drawing from life and I struggled here - again something I must work on. Still it was an interesting and worthwhile task.
I really enjoyed today's class. I feel it is a skill developed and something I can apply and add to my skecthbook to give it some edge and variety. It gives a different dimension to the work and sheds light on aspects of it ie highlighting desired areas with washes of paint. I would defiantly be interested in doing some more research in the area of fashion illustration.
Today I continued to work in my sketchbook - drawing croquis and putting the shapes on them in large, medium and small versions. Pamela, my tutor, pointed out that shapes were a bit flat and floating on the croquis and I agree. Therefore I have been working on rounding them more and fitting them to the body.
Another aspect I have incorporated into my work is collage. I have been putting the various sized versions of the different shapes on models from magazines. I really like the effect and I think it helps my to see how the shape would look on a "real" body.
I have completed croquis for the first original shape as well as croquis for photos on the mannequin of that shape. In my sketchbook I also have included other photos of mannequin work, collages and pieces that I feel needed less manipulation.
As always contextual work is a consistent task that I have enjoyed researching. Natalie B Coleman, an LSAD graduate, is an artist I had known before but who fits in with my project for her prints of jewelery on her fashion designs. Here is a video of her most recent collection :
I began work with my second shape, a more angular shape, on the mannequin today also, though further work is needed here as I feel I haven't exhausted the shapes enough. I also found it harder to work with this shape - I am unsure as to why but I think I prefer the first.
Tomorrow we are to have a drawing and illustration workshop with Giordanna and I am really looking forward to it. It will be interesting to see what different ways fashion illustration can be done and how we can incorporate it into our sketchbooks. I can't wait to see what is achieved!
Today is our CCS day and during studio time we work independently without the guidance of tutors. Last night I research different croquis and fashion illustrations to find one I liked. My main body of work today consisted of putting the first shape I pulled flat on the croquis I chose in large, medium and small sizes, seeing what garments could be made and also how it fits on the body. I then did the same thing, with the pictures of my work on the mannequins yesterday as a source - though fitting them more to the body so they resemble garments rather than completely flat shapes like the first process. I really enjoyed doing this - though extensive and time consuming - it helped me see how different shapes make up clothes, how so many different designs can be achieved form one shape and how rescaling to a variety of sizes can change he look completely. It was really interesting work.
I also pulled and cut my second shape ( in large, medium and small again ) in preparation for work on the mannequin tomorrow. It is a more angular shape compared to my first in order to achieve a contrast and variety in my work. It will be interesting to see if it ll work differently on the mannequin tomorrow.
Last night I pulled a variety if different shapes form my analytical drawings. This morning I began by selecting one shape I like to work with for the day. My first shape originated in a brooch.Then I enlarged and shrunk the shape into four groups - Extra large, large, medium and small.Then the fun started as we got to work with these shapes on the mannequins. twisting, turning, pinning, folding, bending and shaping the brown paper cutouts into different desired effects. This was a long process but very enjoyable. I am really seeing where the shape of clothes originates from working on this. I thought the brown paper was good to work with as it was easy to move and shape but it also stood up when needed. Above are some examples of some of my work from today:
From these images I will work with further shapes created on croquis in my sketchbook - enlarging, shrinking and distorting again to achieve a variety of results.
Today was the first day of my third elective - fashion. The theme of the overall project is shape. To begin I brainstormed from the five word groups we were given on the brief : volume/bulky/blunt, spire/strength/structural, flimsy/ethereal/fuzzy, regime/uniformity/restrictive and liquid/runny/wobbly.
At first I was interested by the spire/strength/structural area in relation to bridges, architecture and churches. With further development of the brainstorms I was drawn back to volume/bulky/blunt. My main focuses were elephants and diamonds/jewels. I researched both of these in pictures in the library and I decided that elephants were more texture related. I found a book in the library about costume jewellery which really stirred my imagination - therefore my chosen area is diamonds, jewels, jewellery and brooches.
Our first task was analytical drawings of images we had gathered. I apologise for the bad quality photos, I didn't realise how dark the lighting was while taking them.
I really enjoyed the drawing process as this didn't really feature in my first semester project. From these images we are to pull shapes which we will use for the rest of the project. I am excited to work with these shapes in a 3D format tomorrow.
From my thumbnails sketches I came up with some ideas for concepts. My first was having the sea be fur to resemble a dog on a map. I liked how it turned out on photoshop - the best thing I ve done so far on photoshop!- but it is very rough and the idea is very literal. With a simalir idea i created an island shaped like a paw print to show thee dog as an element of the sea. I also tried to make the countries on a map out of dog food - the sea being a hungry dog eating the countries, like sea erosion.
I also created images such as dog bones, a wave and a beach made of dog food :
I also toyed with the idea of a dogs skull on a jolly roger flag but the concept isn't very clear :
From doing images of the bone made of dog food - I decided to put it on a plate with the sea as an image behind it :
This is the concept I am most happy with - having sea water splash out of a dogbowl. It is a little rough around the egdes as I am a novice at photoshop but I am happy enough with it all the same :
Into week 2 of the visual communications elective and we are starting illustration. I began by brainstorming again to generate more ideas.
I drew thumbnail sketches to get my initial visual thoughts down on paper.
I then focused the sketches more into concepts for the illustration. With my metaphor - ' The sea is a hungry dog', it is a little difficult to come up with non literal images so thinking lateraly about it is required.
Here are the three typography concepts I have been working on :
My idea behind this is it to look like a broken plank of a ship washed up on a beach. I wanted to show that the the sea is rough like a hungry dog and can break what comes in its way. I carved a plank of wood with the lettering and distressed it with burning and cutting. I really like the result as I feel it speaks for itself. To improve it I would like to distress it more, carve into old wood, make it resemble a shipped crate and photograph it on sand.
For this one I wanted the letters to get steadily darker throughout the phrase and as it gets closer to the word dog for it to be more ripped up and torn - like its been eaten. I like the concept but I feel the execution needs work. I would like the colours to be more opaque, for it to be less square and the colours more blended together. Working on it again I tore the letter into the paper, making it more rough, but I feel the type isn't clear now.
With this one I cut the letters out of a map. I wanted bits of land in the letters to show how the sea erodes the coastline. Again I like the concept but the way I went about it need work - its a work in progress.
Working from the angle of the sea being a dog, I made a dog tag ( dog called SEA ) using tinfoil and attached it to a dog collar. This is slightly illustration though as you need to see the dog collar to connect the idea. For further experimentation I also wote with a dog lead. From this I also came up with the idea of writing with dog food :
We had a photoshop lesson on Tuesday and I found it interesting but quite difficult. I would classify myself as experienced with computers but this was complicated for me. I liked learning about the different tools and how they use them in the industry. Even though I thought it difficult I tried it out in my own time and came up with this :
Now I'm not sure of the technical names for the effects but I got a picture if the sea and created a graduated darkness and as well as making the font darker and bolder as it travelled down the page. I'm not too happy with the results but I'm glad I tried it out and will defiantly try to learn more.
I began to experiment with different types - some I made up and some off word and the Internet. I really enjoyed trying to come with different typefaces and really looking at the letters. I also looked at ways to incorporate the sea into the writing to link in the metaphor as well as writing the metaphor in the style of dog food packages, a sailores tattoo and in parchment style (as it remindes me of an old saying).
I also typed with different fonts found on word to see the varied results,
