Today I worked in my sketchbook on the croquis's for fabrics. I thought it might be different drawing from the fabrics than the paper but it was very similar.
From all our work we are to pick our favourites, rescale them and from them pick the final line up of six and do 360 drawings of each. I am really excited to see what comes out as my final line up!
Fashion is coming to a close but there is still a lot more to do tonight!
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!
