Textiles World Week 2

This week in my textiles world : construct (knit rotation) I have been focussing on getting together a colour palette from my images and drawings and also getting more contextual research to inspire my knit samples and weave later on. I think that getting this colour palette is really important in any project, as it gives a focus and constraint in a way to the project, rather than the work being hundreds of different colours and shades. 

Task One: Mood Board.

To get an idea of colour, line, surface and texture i put a mood board together using a few of my favourite image relating to how I would like to develop my knit work. This task has definitely helped me to realise that my knit should be focussed on composition and making lines/squares within the knit itself using colour and texture to represent the lines, structure and architecture in most of my drawings and photography.

Task Two: Colour Palette. 

As a development from my mood board, I was then asked to use parts of this to make interesting compositions with a variety of colours/shades in which i then painted out into squares. I also added a few bits of yarn in some places which i thought matched some of the colours in these, however i think that i should have thought more about the texture and quality of the wool and wether it would represent what i would like in my knitting and weaving. For example wool is quite fluffy and course, so probably won't represent the clean lines of the architectural drawings/photographs I will be working from.

From these compositions and painted colours i then painted out a number of squares of colour to show the kind of colours I  will be working with in my construct project. This will be a great reference when choosing yarns to knit or weave with along with my mood board, drawings and photographs, and should ensure that my colours aren't all over the place within this project. 

Chance card drawings.

From the photo's taken around Manchester city centre earlier in the week, I have responded to these images by drawing in different ways instructed by 16 chance cards I was given in the launch of this project. These chance cards included tasks such as: " make a drawing onto a sheet of folded paper" , "make a cut paper drawing" , "make a light drawing on a dark background" and "make a drawing using only 20 lines". These where left to the individual to interpret the instruction in whichever way they felt best. 

These are just a few of the drawings i have completed in response to these 16 chance cards:

Make a drawing using dust:

Using the dust of a white compressed charcoal stick and my fingers, I created a drawing inspired by the windows, glass and lines of the new school of art building. I love the overall look and feel of this drawing and the way it isn't a direct representation of the image it was inspired by it is much more abstract and focussed on the actual marks and textures made using this technique.

Make a drawing using indian ink and different sized brushes:

Inspired by the lines and angles of this image captured of a building in Manchester, using black Indian ink and various sized paint brushes I drew a representational image of the building. I really like the three dimensional look of the drawing and the way the ink with the various sized brushes has varied the lines or brush strokes and created different textures and marks on the paper. I also find the repetitive lines really interesting. This chance card could be developed in a really interesting way if given the time experimenting with the different marks that could be made inspired by different imagery.

Make a folded paper drawing:

By folding my piece of cartridge paper into squares and ensuring the folds where really clean and crisp, when folded back out i was able to make a drawing using a charcoal stick and rubbing it over these folded lines. I was again inspired by the lines and marks of the windows of buildings in this drawing. I particularly like the way when pressing a bit harder on the charcoal stick there are darker areas of lines against the white background.

Make a drawing from shadows:

When taking this photograph in the northern quarter, Manchester, i wanted to capture the shadows of the steps on the building as I thought they where really interesting. So for the " make a drawing from shadows" chance card i decided to cry and create these marks of the shadows on paper. I used a scouring pad dipped in Indian ink to create the unusual marked lines. I find the marks made with this technique have worked really well and the overall composition and idea of the drawing a success. If I was to develop this idea, I would definitely be more aware of trying to capture shadows by camera in unusual ways to then draw and work from.

Make a drawing on layered sheets of transparent papers:

Working from a variety of different photographs which i captures around Manchester centre, i created drawings on various different pieces of tracing paper and then overlaid these in a certain way to create an interesting layered drawing and composition. I really like the way this works and the way the drawings overlay yet fit together. The overlaying and drawing has created some interesting marks and lines which i always find very interesting in my work.

Make a drawing on a found or ready made object:

This piece was created by laying my paper onto a textured surface in the art studio and sketching over the paper gently in lines with a pencil. the grooves and marks of the surface are then captured in the drawing creating lovely edges and marks.

Map the city task.

Around the city photography task.

Inspired by the photographs seen on: www.patternity.org.

The use of a camera lens to capture interesting and unusual patterns is what drew my interest to Patternity. I also like the way in which the website shows the constant resarch that is inspring the studio work, as research is something which pushes me into different directions within my own work.

When capturing my photographs in Manchester, my focus was on composition, filling the frame, angles, lines, patterns, structure and form. I kept the idea of drawing from photographs in different ways in mind while capturing these images which drew me too interesting lines, grid like structures and surfaces.

I think that i was naturally drawn to lines and grids when taking these photographs which shows, as i really like the way in which these add a sense of structure and order to the photographs. I also believe that my influence from patternity.org is also visible in this work due to the repeating patterns and architectural theme of the imagery.