Colour??

Struggling to finalise my colour palette, there are to many to choose from! Got it narrowed down to these 8 but still unsure. Are they too 'pretty'?

Plastic hoop things that hold tins together!

Not sure what they are called, but thought they would make a nice repeat! Need to work on it a bit more though. Get loads of these on the beach in orkney, and probably everywhere. Horrible things, fish and birds are always getting stuck in them.

Beach glass

Beach glass drawing with and without outlines! Trying to come up with as many quick designs like this as i can so i have plenty to choose from. Think the ones with out outlines will work better for this project, will be abale to print them with puff and foil.

Stolen flotsam and jetsam

Have been looking on flickr at other peoples beach finds. Especially love the toothbrushes and gloves! Trying to find some sculpture and art on the internet made of flotsam and jetsam but not having much luck. Try drawing from these pictures later today.

Fabric shopping

Met Emily yesterday morning on Berwick street for some fabric shopping. First stop was the cloth house. I am still obsessed with the lovely wool i used for my muse project, but the girls at the Cloth House said they wouldnt be getting it in again, and tried everywhere else on Berwick street! Louise recommended i try a shop in Lewisham, maybe tommorow. Anyway, i only have a tiny tiny square of this wool left, wondering if i can make a little panel or something?!?

Got 3 different plasticy textured fabrics. One is really thin, almost like a lining fabric but its lovely and crispy. Also got a coated linen type stuff, not sure about it now though, i think its to thick. Got a lovely coated cotton which is perfect, exactly what i imagined when i thought of a plasticy fabric. Also picked up the beigey/peachy colour loose weave fabric, its really 'beachy', like old netting or something. Will make a really nice ruffle round the waist i think!

Not sure what to get if i cant find this wool anywhere - think it will have to be a thick jersey. So my digital prints will be on silky, floaty fabrics, and im seeing the skirt part in the wool im after (or jersey). The plasticy fabrics will probably be used for accessories and details. Need to go and do some more drawings so im ready to expose screen soon!

Lots of tutorials

On monday we had a research review. First was a tutorial with Mel and Kathy together, which was really helpful. They were really pleased with the new direction of this project so feel 're-inspired', and really excited to start printing. Tommorow im going to a photoshop workshop with Kenny to find out more about putting images into repeat. Going to try repeating this photo, and also need to ask about 'the mask tool' to try and brighten certain areas of it. Thinking of printing it onto a crepe de chine, or silk. Something floaty, to add to the shimmery effect. Going to add a yellow to my colour palette to brighten it up a bit, and also some 'plastic bag blue'. Also need to do some more line drawings of beach finds. Kathy preferred the things i tried on photoshop without the outlines. Lots of block colour. Had a chat about fabric too. Theb in the afternoon, ahd a quick chat with Claire Angel, who is helping us with the fashion side of things. See her next week again, and she has asked me to have some print samples ready (obviously my digital prints wont be back by then, but hopefully will have exposed screen by beginning of next week and started sampling. She also wants some fashion illustrations so she can see the shapes im thinking of, and of course need to finalise my colour palette and fabric choices.

Rock textures

Continuous line drawing of texture on this rock (think it was on a beach in Stromness?). Scanned it into computer and filled in with colour on photoshop.

another repeat

Thought i might as well show this one repeated too. Starting to feel really tired and fed up, but have loads more i should do for tommorow - havnt really done anything from the list i wrote during my tutorial with Kathy! Tried some fashion illustrations and also tried filling pattern into gaps in photos of rocks etc but not really getting anywhere with that.

Imagine this in puff

Dyed red fabric, maybe some sort of wool printed with pale green puff, in repeat. So much more interesting that a plain polka dot!

jammy dodgers in repeat

Quickly tried a repeat in photoshop. Need to draw more of these before it will work i think.

You look like jammy dodgers

Just filled some colour into my drawing of net floats - really pleased with it! They do look like biscuits, but i dont think thats a bad thing! Love the colours even more now that i have seen them used for something. Off for a cup of tea and to draw more floats!

New and imrpoved colour palette

Chose the colours from the photo i took of the beach glass collected near the old life boat slip on Stronsay, and from the life ring on the Earl Thorfinn. Still have the pretty pastels i love so much, but the bright orangey red and the grey really make it interesting. Who knows i will probably change my mind again after tommorows research review (which i am completely unprepared for!)

Antoni and Alison

Have always liked their stuff - check out the website, i want to buy everything! Anyway, i really like the oversized buttons and ribbon. Want to try something like this, but mixing hand drawn and photographic digital prints along with screen printing.

Alexa Ball - Holiday memories

This is featured in Mels book (digital textile design), i think its by a Chelsea student. Its too 'seasidey' for my project, but i love the contrast of the candy stripes along with the photographic print. Colours are beautiful as well.

Charles Anastace A/W 10-11

Had already looked at the headwear and collars in this collection, but now that my project is focusing more on beach finds and texture rather than waves, this feels a lot more relevant. I love the black sheer fabric with pockets over the yellow. Everythings really simple but fun, colourful and quirky at the same time.

Louise Gray S/S 10

Love the mismatched feel of this collection. Its really textural, lots of unusual materials and found objects. Especially love the blue plastic carrier bags!

As usual, my project has completely changed direction half way through. Im not going to be taking inspiration from my crashing wave photos, and Orkney folklore so much now - instead i am going to be concentrating on close up photos of textures in the sand and rocks, and the sparkly, bubbly photos of the sea taken at St Catherines Bay and also things you find on the shore line, like the net floats. Have been thinking about what else you find washed up on the beach, what else did i see a lot of when i was a little girl, and on my visit to Orkney during easter? I picked up these pretty pieces of beach glass, and think im going to use them for my colour palette. Other things you see a lot of in Orkney are plastic carrier bags (especially the bright blue ones, and the stripy ones), buoys, rope (every colour and weight you can imagine), drift wood, broken toys (strange amount of dolls heads, legs etc!) and plastic bottles. Time for dinner - post new fashion research tomorrow!

herrings

Found out what these little things were actually used for - they are net floats, mainly used for herring fishing. Stronsay, the island i grew up on used to be famous for its herring fishing, about a hundred years ago. I think they will look really nice printed using puff or flock.

Tutorial with Kathy

Here are my notes from my tutorial - fashion sketches, colour palette, collage with photos and bright colour, cut away sections, huge oversized accessories, drawings of rope, buoys, floats etc, abstract drawings in bright colour, 'pop art water', watercolour washes from sunset photos, glitter, clear foil, frothy bubbles, zoom in on photos for drawings, pastel colours from beach glass, bright colours from ropes, bright stripes and spots filled into gaps in textural photos of rocks and sand, head pieces, collars, necklaces, chunky edges, hats, print of bigger photos for wall, flotsam and jetsam, what else is washed up on the beach?

Found some of these things for sale on ebay - actually from Orkney! That explains why i couldnt find any on the beach, this guy had them all! Going to ask Mark nicely to get some buoys for me next time hes up in Orkney for work as well.

quick drawing

Quick continuous line drawing with fine liner. Imagine this screen printed as a placement print over a photographic digital print of a landscape, or close up of the sea.

Closer look at Comme Des Garcon

If you look closely at these designs, you can see that photos of dresses have been printed onto the dresses! Mel was speaking about this sort of thing to me yesterday, constructing fabrics - ruffles or textures, then photographing them and printing them digitally onto a garment. Wasn't sure, but after having a closer look at these it seems really interesting. Mixing prints like this in, with actual textural panels or details could work.

Oh yeah...

...Mel recommended i look at this collection by Prada, as it was inspired by the sea. I found most of the designs a bit dark, and kind of plain to be honest! The designs featuring these prints are nice, although they are a bit more 'seaside' than crashing waves and folklore. Am starting to think about using some of my photos as the background for over prints though.

Tutorial with Mel

Had a quick tutorial with Mel yesterday afternoon. Didn't go as well as i had hoped, mainly because my stupid old laptop broke so i couldn't show her any research! She saw about 20 photos i think before it crashed, but out of about 400, so not many really. She wants me to do some more fashion and print research for our research review on Monday, and to start some drawings and maybe paintings. Because this is going to be the first time i have printed digitally, im going to need lots of advice from Mel, so need to be able to get across what i am imagining in my head, so have spent the day looking through my print books and on the vogue website.

Colour

So many beautiful colours in this photo. Think i want to choose colours from here for my palette. It has a really mystical feel which i want to show in my designs. The 6 colours are just ones i chose at random, really nice though!

Orkney College

...where it all started! I did a foundation course in art, design and textiles, and then a portfolio preparation course here. Went in to say hello to my old tutors, Morag, Helga and Stuart, and to do a presentation to the current students and show them my portfolio.

While i was there Morag let me take some quick photos or the drawing objects they have there. Spent hours hunting the beach for this sort of stuff, but obviously the locals beat me to it! Hopefully can still get good drawings from photos. All these objects are old fishing things.

Had a nice chat with a young girl who has applied to Cardonald College (where i did my HND) and had a look through her portfolio. Was very impressed. She has the sort of quirky pieces and odd drawings in her portfolio that i didnt start to do till the end of my course at Cardonald, so im sure she will get a place!

Viktor and Rolf - Blacklight

Have been looking at all the different voluminous shapes and ruffles in Viktor and Rolf's 1999 collection. I am actually in love with their website, its like a fairy tale!

Comme Des Garcons AW 5/6

Looking back at some old Comme Des Garcons. Love all the different textures and layers. Also really like the headwear, and occasional splashes of colour. Feels quite 'mermaidy' to me, which i like!

Orkney sunsets

Ok so the focus of these photos is the sky, not the sea, but they are so beautiful, i couldnt not post them! Might help to give you more of an idea how stunning Orkney really is. The top sunset is from Marks parents garden, in Orphir. They have an amazing view over Stromness and the hills of hoy. The middle photo is of Hoy. Its quite possibly one of my favourite photos ever! I love the colours, and how it almost looks like a watercolour painting rather than a photo. The mist, and the different lilac and grey shades give a really mystical feeling. Want to use this in my project. The bottom photo was taken at a party at my friend Sudd's house. Was sitting on an armchair next to the window, and had to stop chatting to take the picture. Can you imagine getting views like this ta parties every weekend?! The view from his house is of the Kirkwall harbour and marina, with Wideford hill in the distance. Oh yeah, thought i should mention, none of the pictures i have posted in this blog have been changed in photoshop at all (normally i fiddle around with the exposure and colour balance), so these are the real colours!