Diploma Module 1 Chapter 2 – Use of Sketchbook

So, ‘Gulls, with an emphasis on shadows’ and the start of a sketchbook.  It will be A5 size and to retain flexibility will be handmade, with the cover and method of binding probably being decided on completion.  There is, therefore, no restriction on the type, colour or weight of paper/material used…though after a trip to Seawhite’s factory shop there is currently a plentiful supply of 140gms extra wet strength!

Silhouettes, as Sian suggested, seemed a good place to start.   Image 2 is a photograph of a Manx herring gull taken on the sea wall at Ramsey.

This was loaded into Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and viewed using Filters>Artistic to see if any design possibilities presented themselves.  The Poster Edges filter enhanced the image providing more pronounced internal and external lines (Image 3),

which were traced (Image 4)

 

and then made into a layered cardboard representation of the gull (Image 5).

An attempt was made to colour the reverse of the gull with papers to match the colours on the photograph.  The shades of grey proved almost impossible to replicate so it was coloured with gouache, black drawing ink and yellow cut papers (Image 6).

A series of monoprints was made from the layered cardboard gull, laying the paper to be printing ontop of the gull and then brayering.  As the relief of the cardboard layers was not pronounced (380 mic card), heavy weight papers did not produce a good printed image (Image 7).

Over-inking the brayer was also disappointing (Images 8 and 9).

Lighter weight papers were more successful, i.e. 45gsm layout paper and 75gsm printer paper.  Some of the more interesting prints are below (Images 10 - 15).

The shadow effect in Images 10 and 11 look promising.

I particularly liked the multiple image prints  which are in keeping with my research title.

Still familiarising myself with this shape, an outline of the gull was made with water and a brush.  While this outline was still wet the it was emphasized with black drawing ink using a 0.5mm technical drawing pen (Image 16).

This might have given a more interesting result if I had used a thicker pen or other drawing implement with more ink.

A hot glue gun stencil/mask was made of the gull (Image 17). The thin strings of glue produced when making the stencil were left, luckily, as these gave very interesting images. Gelli prints were made using a home-made gelli plate – see calligraphycards-shazinoz blog gelli plate recipe.

The most promising images were those produced from the ghost print (Images 18 - 20) taking care not to over ink the brayer.

Note that taking a monoprint by placing the paper on top of the stencil and brayering on top was not successful as the stencil has no give  and does not lend itself to this method of printing (Image 21).

One of the monoprints from the layered cardboard gull with a shadow gull behind was backed with iron-on Vilene and part stitched in raised chain band (Image 22 and 23).  Raised stem stitch could probably have worked equally well to give a feathered effect.

ToDo - make a print block from both of these stitches. 

The effect of light and shadow was tested on the layered cardboard gull.

Natural light – Image 24

Lit from the side with daylight bulb and photo taken from front – Image 25.  I like the multiple shadows this produces, which might imply more than one light source on any piece of work to get the maximum effect from the shadows produced.

Lit from the side with daylight bulb and photo taken from the side – Image 26

Lit from above with daylight bulb and photo taken from the front – Image 27

ToDos:

- look into methods of producing translucent papers using wax and oil.  I have already used this technique successfully with acrylic wax on tissue paper in my work with bees but think it needs further investigation to see the results with other papers/materials.  Also investigate other materials that will give transparency.

- investigate shadow puppets/puppetry

- more research on light and shadow produced from different objects – solid, transparent, translucent, woven, outline, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diploma Module 1 Chapter 1 – Choice of Personal Research for Design Topic

 

For my research topic I would like to study Gulls.  Growing up on the Isle of Man gulls were ever present:
inside - for as long as I can remember on the wall in the kitchen, a pottery bird (now on our kitchen wall and in the centre of my spider diagram)
outside - on the roof tops, chimneys, garden, beach, sky, etc. Ever present: ever vocal. They never appeared to be the scavenging nuisance they have become in towns and cities today: they were a reminder of coastal proximity.  They were just...there, almost taken for granted.

In collecting ideas what has surfaced is a view of gulls:
in different surroundings
in the Arts
in Popular Culture/the News, and
in a closer observation of the species.

Already I know that seagull is a misnomer, there is no such species. 
My initial thoughts are on the spider diagram Image 1.

Well, that was where I was when I started my spider diagram last night but this morning  things have taken a surprising turn.  The diagram I ended up with what I had been thinking about for months, if not years, but as I put it all down on paper it seemed rather...dull.  Then it struck me that I always think of gulls in the sunshine.  Looking at my diagram again, many of the ideas there and indeed my thoughts were leading to shadow and its creation by objects/shapes, whether it be the metallic bird sculptures of C Jeré or the photographs of Alexey Bednij, etc... even the photograph I took of our pottery bird on the wall was enhanced by shadow.  This was when I added the sun and yellow to the interesting bits!
So I then considered a more abstract research topic of 'Shadows' for my study, with an initial emphasis on gulls...I think this is probably going too far so I would like to propose 'Gulls, with an emphasis on shadow'.  During my study I hope to extend my use of paper and printing techniques in combination with stitch.

 

Foundation Module Sketchbook

 

Enjoy the show…

Module 3–Make a Colour Study…revisited

Four more designs were made from the various colour studies.

Taster Module 10 – Resolved Samples

a) Resolved Sample 1 (Image 63)

In interpreting the design from Image 61, the layered effect that the paper weaving had produced was retained.  Using pelmet buckram (natural double starched hessian) as a base for stitching, it was painted with Koh-i-noor  watercolours and then sections were cut out of the buckram so another layer could be inserted behind (Image 62).

On the buckram a layer of stitching gave a base onto which detail, reflecting the rubbings, was added.  Additional stitches and wrapping gave more surface layers/texture.

Whilst working the sample the small sections of green were also cut away, instead inserting an additional green section woven through the gaps.

 

Resolved Sample 1 - Image 63 - 21x28.5cm

All the ‘base’ stitching was worked in paper of some kind, including:

• raffia – split to give as smooth an edge as possible, but not necessarily uniform thickness.  Cut ends were kept to couch later.  Once stitched the raffia was smoothed down.
• paper string – some of this was unplied and washed with Koh-i-noor after stitching until the colour of the design was achieved.

Samples were produced for the green section from  laminated painted tissue paper on garden netting and hessian (both of which would retain the grid structure for canvaswork) using PVA; acrylic wax and PVA; and Golden Matt Medium.  The most successful result came from the matt medium on garden netting.  When stitching this in place it was manipulated and in some cases folded to add more depth of colour.

The additional two sections layered under the green comprised painted tissue laminated onto interlocking needlepoint canvas using matt medium.

The stitches used for the sample were:

• orange raffia  – encroaching gobelin stitch making use of the holes in the buckram to give shadows/darkness, stitches getting larger as work progressed downwards to give depth.  Mark making with seed stitches in black mercerised cotton, split black raffia and green mercerised cotton.
• top left and bottom right pink paper string –  Romanian couching.  When using thread as thick as paper string it was interesting that the overstitching can be used to manipulate the underlying thread. Topped with blanket stitch in grey and black mercerised cotton and wrapped in split black raffia.
• remaining pink paper string unplied and split – base of tent stitch. Overstiched with black and grey mercerised cotton and split black raffia.  Black raffia couched with blanket stitch.  Section on right overstitched in tent stitch with grey flower thread.
• grey raffia – couched with grey and pink flower thread.
• green laminated section – overstitched in pink mercerised cotton.
• pink laminated section – running stitch in yellow raffia.

b) Resolved Sample 2 (Image 70)

Returning from the Distant Stitch Summer School with my 4am notes made following two days with Sarah Burgess, a printing technique she demonstrated was used to produce this sample. What an inspiration…thank you!

Calico was painted with white Vinyl Matt Emulsion which, when dry,  was torn into strips.

The ‘Amazon’ print block (Taster Module 4 – Image 20) was then revisited and used to print on to East tissue, orange Anthrolpologie tissue, 140g sketchbook paper and the matt-coated calico strips.  These were placed on the print block and then rollered using acrylic paint, plus Liquitex Fabric Medium for the calico.  Rather than using the whole of the print block, elements were selected from the block and repeat prints taken from these, moving the calico to alter the printing angle to reflect the rubbing patterns in the design source.

The calico produced the most successful marks and when dry these strips were washed with Koh-i-noor in similar colours to the design source (Image 65).

The strips were pinned onto another piece of emulsioned calico which had been rollered on the bottom with grey acrylic. Small rectangles were left between the strips

and into these were placed three small pieces of weaving and patterned darning on plumbers’ scrim. 

After experimenting with various positionings of all the elements, the plumbers’ scrim was not used in the final piece.

All the weaving used a warp of 16mm white folded paper yarn (Image 69).

Two pieces of weaving also used this for the weft.  These were painted after weaving.  The third used my handspun newsprint. 

The sample was then hand stitched with various types of yarn and couched paper to emphasize the printing, particularly on the light orange strip.

Resolved Sample 2 – Image 70 – 44.5x76cm.