3.4

PART 1.

Inspired by an everyday feature : a cupboard .

It captured my attention because I found it colorful (a bit messy but in a sort of order) as well as I loved the idea of having things placed in sections.

I would never imagine how I could make this work .

To my big surprise , when I’ve gathered the materials together I could see every single paper cutting to be a potential item to use.

My process was simple: capture a picture of my subject ,print it and then keep it as a template to ”build” on it.

original image: a cupboard full of jars , boxes and food containers.

I’ve used magazine sheets along with covers of all sorts:pasta wrapping film , cereal cartons,chocolate boxes, as well as foil bags .

FINISHED COLLAGE
TOP LEFT DETAIL…
TOP RIGHT DETAIL
BOTTOM LEFT DETAIL
BOTTOM RIGHT DETAIL

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Reflecting on the first inspiration image have intrigued me to push my imagination far beyond the limits : What if I mixed all the cols of the original picture and create a new vision of it?

By taking inspiration from Jackson Pollock’s abstract paintings I’ve drawn the background using a colour mix abstract painting and then I’ve created a central frame with masking paper in order to give the same cupboard-block shelf impression.

After that , I’ve decided to cover 3 out of six sections with collage .

Again I’ve tried to use as many colours as I could but I also , make it as abstract as possible.

I get a great inspiration by using arrows !I find them really powerful features to play with: they sort of give you a sense of movement, a sense of pointing on something, they capture your attention and make you see things differently …

I’ve used gauche water colours to finish it off.

getting to the point:literally.
bottom left using an arrow again
bottom right .

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For my final piece of work I wanted to be more metaphorical :

I saw the open cupboard with my displays in as a window : it might contained food, which is the main element to keep us alive , but I’ve perceived it as a view, as frame from where you can look through and communicate with people’s hearts , people’s subconscious…

Using a print out of the original picture as a template again, where I can glue things on , I’ve noticed that it looks like as a comic book page, taking you from one block to the other, which helped me tell my story even better.

I’ve cut words I find really strong out and I’ve assigned them in such a way that can be read and perceived in many ways so anybody can make a different conclusion out of it.

Colour is again the main subject: using gauche colouring as well as different colours of magazine sheets .

I’ve played with layers and surface a bit by using cuttings of a hole puncher which they might represent ideas glued on foil (subconscious) and enclosed with sellotape(conscious) , standing on top of a pair of eyes representing a head.

I’ve placed an arrow (again) pointing on a word in a way it finishes a sentence off.

To my great surprise I found sellotape as a material really useful to work with as it doesn’t only put things together , but it adds transparency and sheen.

My final collage using gauche colouring

Working on these pieces was really challenging : At the beginning I was struggling to work how to process the idea ,the inspiration, to find a piece interesting for me to build onto and take it further.

But ,when I captured the picture , and made the necessary collage creating research ,the whole work flowed really well and to my great pleasure it was a bit of a therapy to me.

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PART 2

Using my last collage as a starting point and being asked to do a monochrome work based on one of my previous pieces I found myself working on the same concept unconsciously.

In addition, as I was working towards my piece, a dog tooth pattern caught my eye which is a basic monochrome design and made me look for more black/white patterns.

I’ve used mainly magazine sheets as well as tissue paper which I found really useful: It is transparent and flexible to use, especially when you want to do layering or create abnormal forms .

I’ve glued few text pieces on and I’ve highlighted words I find really strong in order to show that inspiration is everywhere : you can find it as long as you look closer…

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Taking the single colour project few steps forward and the open window to another world concept,I’ve asked myself how would looking through a glass into the sea floor look like?

Blue is the colour of my home country:Greece!

The sea and the blue sky shades are on its best especially on summer time!

So, I’ve created different pigments of blue and by playing with white paper again along with magazine pictures and matching colour cuttings and I’ve created my story…



the underwater world had always fascinated me.
Sea horse detail.
a sole fish
I loved the idea of drawing large eyes: Ancient Greeks used to decorate their ships’ bows with massive eyes on either side and then (many years later) Pablo Picasso used this feature on his projects a lot.
the whole picture finished.
Layers of sea creatures swimming towards different directions.
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For my final piece I wanted to push the boundaries as much as possible.

I tried to build a ”creative chaos” using different colours, cuttings and materials: Yarn, knitted ribbon, collage pieces, mark making drawings being cut out and presented in a different way as well as gauche cols along with brushes of different sizes.

Colour again as the epicenter of my study.

Knitted ribbon detail rolled like a spiral piece with yarn unraveled.
Two pictures surrounded by yarn : As a second view it can be seen as a face with the portraits representing the eyes …
the furious dialogue.
I think it looks interesting even from this point of view.

The concept as a whole.

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Additional work:

Following my tutor’s advice to push and explore my limits a bit further I’ve created extra pieces of work by using different materials and different techniques. Colour and the use of it is again my main inspiration .

The first piece of work is divided in two sections :

The left side is dedicated to the past where people (top left corner) used to discuss and sometimes argue about the uncharted, the unexplored world so they are pointing at the waterfall direction with a big exclamation mark representing the unknown where at the bottom is a group of explorers sailing for the world to be discovered.

On the right side there is a face representing the modern person blinded by career development and wealth who doesn’t care about earth’s wonders (wonders that people, from the left section ,spend their lives to explore it) but wants to take advantage and exploit nature as much as possible .

At the bottom there is a green string bonding the past with the present.

I wanted to work and explore green colour this time.

I’ve mixed various shades together as well as with white.

I’ve attempted to use stencil painting technique : it was interesting of how you can make forms and shapes but to my great surprise I realized that gauche creates colour bleeding which I thought it was a good feature eventually.

Shades of green , the colour of the natural world, dominate the whole piece of work.


Need for more wealth urges the person to destroy the natural habitat (the gold printed fabric is about to conceal the waterfall and blocks face’s view ). The whole process creates green flames.
Artificial feathers placed on the back side of the head representing the will of the person to fly , to escape … a piece of paper with spiral design printed on representing ideas spinning around on the back side of the brain as well as gold printed fabric showing peoples will for wealth…






green splashes representing natures bleeding. Interesting how colour works on different surfaces
A green hope set to fly above traumatized nature(Only feature not been splashed with ”green blood”)
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When I was going through magazines to get inspiration the following picture captured my attention.

A young lady holding an old mask. The way she is looking at it me made me wonder :What if she doesn’t know what it is and what it represents?

Masks had many uses : from been worn by hypocrites (word originally used to describe actors) in ancient Greek theaters ,to impersonate deities in many civilizations across the globe , making it an work of art and intelligence.

Taking this forward I’ve removed the mask and I’ve glued it a different position.

On the blank space I wanted to be as colourful as possible showing confusion of the person holding it.

I’ve used arrows pointing at the mask , showing attention to the item and not at what it represents.The more colours the better!
that’s the mask she was holding staring from above.
top right corner :The sun over mountain Fuji in Japan.
Different surfaces have been used.White masking paper helped me to achieve that. I’ve been quite bold with colour to see how it works. A jaw outline painted using stencil technique. It was made the opposite side of the mountain to represent outer-world/inner-world contrast: The outer world is what we see . The inner world is what we feel. Colourful chaos showing our constant interaction with outer world and how feelings are affected.
A beautiful set of female lips saying that there is lots to discover in life : The more you are looking the more you realize that you don’t know.
Train representing mind who’s taking you far away.
Butterflies is what you get when you discover something new in the inside or the outside world.
A colorful DNA spiral: colour runs through our genes
The whole piece of work together.

Synopsis of 3.4

Having finished the whole assignment and looking back on the project that I’ve been working on over the last three months , I have a great feel of accomplishment and fulfillment. I found collage along with colour as the best way to express myself : the layered detail can work in many ways in my mind and the more I observe, I realize things I didn’t notice in the first place.Also, being able to use different materials , different textures, pictures , cuttings , words , even different ways of putting things together makes me understand the potential of this way of expressing myself and how useful it can be going forward. It is a great process that soothes my mind , brings me peace and above all a fantastic sense of achievement…

3.2

Exercise 3.2

Translation through yarn

AMEDEO MODIGLIANI :LADY WITH A FAN .
(SELF OWNED REPLICA)

I bought this painting from a Venetian artist in Italy 15 years ago. I loved the cols and the drawing trying to copy Modigliani’s original painting.

original painting

Having the chance to analyze the drawing and the colours used, I came with yarn wrappings which I’ve wrapped them on a cone , in a way that colours blend and merge one to the other.

I’ve managed to find marl pre-twisted colours in order to be able to present the black/scarlet background and the white/light blue sleeves.
I’ve also managed to find a soft woolly brown yarn in order to be able to demonstrate lady’s hair.

3.1

I found this piece of fabric quite interesting as it has a sort of free handwriting print with vivid colours.
I liked this one because it had three different shades of purple which I found quite challenging to achieve.
This was quite basic but I liked the red and Ochre.

Part 2 .

I’ve decided to use a larger piece of textile and tried to be more imaginative : from precise print designs to more abstract and free hand drawings creating a frame around the fabric.

Even though I’ve tried really hard to match the colour , when it dried out it turned to change. Taking this on board , I was really happy with the result.

Part 3

First tryout was with transparent fabric and bronze sequins .

Because the I’ve used a transparent swatch I’ve drawn the plank paper with the mix of all a cols and on top if it I tried to replicate the bronze repeat.

second tryout using rib fabric.

Again , the col dried leaving a different shade .

working on fabric along with paper and gouache coloring I came with an idea:

How a drawing would look using these elements?

white gold glittered fabric drawn on when glued on a a gouache painting.

second tryout using black fabric.

2.4 NEW

2.4 CREATING LARGER SCALE PIECES

As a first reference I use my dandelions: I wanted to create a round shape and as long as I was yarns for this I could achieve the soft and wool-like hand feel.


firstly I took a cone of yarn
formed a round shape and stitched on A3 paper



my dandelions are finished! some of them were placed in an ankle in order to give the illusion of wind blow….

I’ve trimmed the edges. And it’s ready.

As a second assignment I’ve decided to make daffodils…

Inspiration


my drawing.


3 paper daffodils sewn on A3 paper in a way that the look they had just bloomed …

2.5

On the final project things of the whole assignment things are shifting more into textiles.

Our goal is to try to replicate 3 previous projects by using fabric.

The first one is a daffodil: I’ve used a gold printed fabric and tried to create the flower by cutting and sewing all pieces together.

This had created two problems:

Firstly , the flower couldn’t be presented on its own as it would look a small of fabric with pieces put together .

the second one was the whole piece wasn’t stable enough to hold them pieces together.

That’s why I’ve sewn them all on a piece of black fabric:

It looks quite effective and because the swatch is black it helps it stand out a bit more.

When I was sewing the flower pieces on the black garment I realized the black fabric was making pleats which made the flower stand out even better:

I was really pleased with how it looked like.

As a second project I’ve used the “woven” paper as an inspiration.

I’ve used knitted ribbon and scissors to create holes so I can get it through.

the vertical ribs where very good to help me to create equal spacing as well as tassels.

When I was finished I thought that I had to add more on:

So again I’ve stitched it in a way pleats where created.

As my third project I wanted to use one of my older projects from <<take 2 old>>.

Its the daffodil :

Knitted on a 10 gauge machine using my own graph and knitting program and then embellished by myself using embroidery yarn :

that was the initial sketch
that is the knitted swatch
this is how it looks like after the hand embroidery on to it.

2.3

2.3 DRAWING WITH STITCH.

Moving forward to this assignment I’ve decided to follow a different route:

I ‘m cutting pieces from the paper manipulation assignment and then I will stitch them up.

First things first: I’ve gathered what I’m going to use ; A cone of yarn , some waste ribbons were I can extract yarn from and needles to do the sawing.

stitch crossovers with continuous yarns.

I have decided to use this piece of paper from my previous assignment as I didn’t include this in my paper manipulation take 2 version.

I’ve stitched it onto the carton paper in order to create layers.

I’ve done some stitching(in black and shiny white) on the lower layer

two different yarns used in this : acrylic tape yarn and hard polyester

I had to be really careful with this as it was tissue paper and it was very delicate. I’ve stitched a piece of ribbon onto it.



4 different stars created with stitch

polyester yarn fed through the tiny holes.

Ribbon, tape yarn, all stitched together on a delicate wrapping paper.



Draw thread yarn stitched following vertical lines created from folding.

I’ve tried to stitch on top of the handle used as a yarn as well as stabilize it on the paper bag





I’ve folded all the layers together and tried to stitch them up

view from the front.

I found the back quite interesting as well.


Yarn stitched across in order to create to horizontal and a vertical line



ribbon stitched on the side and a flower created on the folded lines.


Black acrylic yarn stitched to secure the sandpaper and white tape yarn that goes through holes.

I had to use a large needle with a big hook in order to be able to feed the tape yarn through the holes of this carton paper.


It was quite interesting process of seeing how paper is been transformed by stitching.Took me a while to figure ways around it but I’m quite pleased with what I’ve achieved.

REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT 2 OLD

REFLECTION ON ASSIGNMENT 2

The journey continues…

Taking on board my tutor’s advice regarding research and development I’ve changed my route into more evidence based creating as well as make my work more presentable and more professional look-a-like.

I read books that changed my mind and helped me understand why I refused to draw and why this has become one of my worst out-of -my -comfort-zone situation as well as what I need to do in order to overcome these awkward feelings and developed techniques to get beyond this state.

Embellishing by hand on a fabric using needle and thread for my first time ever was quite soothing and relaxing . It’s a slow process( especially for someone not so advanced like myself ) that needs patience and perseverance, but adds a lot onto garment; a unique look is one of them.

Looking forward to moving on assignment 3 where it will help me discover more about my course but more than anything, discover more about by myself…

Formative feedback

Student name                  Alexander PapanikolaouStudent number                             520104
Course/Unit                      A Textiles VocabularyAssignment number                    2
Type of tutorialVideo Tutorial  

Overall Comments

You have completed Assignment 2.

As mentioned in your Tutorial, you should be spending more time on each exercise, your work seems rushed, If you need to spend a few more weeks on each assignment you can always speak to your tutor to have some more time.

You should also generate relevant and good primary and secondary research, that is crucial, same as spending more time drawing and painting. As mentioned in your last 2 tutorials you also have to experiment and take risks. At the moment your textile samples consist on a collection of knitwear Jacquards developed with a knitting machine and that is not what you are asked to work on this part of the course. This part of the course, drawing with stitch, gives you the opportunity to explore different materials, also to work using different fabrics, and find unusual ways to learn and investigate the process. You have also missed an important part of the process, which is testing, sampling, experimenting, before you create more finished work.

Learning Log and Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis  

We already discussed in your first tutorial that you had to spend more time generating research. Your research in this Assignment continues being poor. I would like to encourage you to find a lot of good quality Images from Artists, Creatives, Art movements, Visual culture… I previously recommended you to look for useful research on books, magazines, Online, Exhibitions… It is also important that you also put together relevant primary research, that helps you create a story or a theme. That can be a good starting point and a link that gives cohesion to all your work.

You also need to improve your Learning Log, Make sure that all your work is uploaded and clearly edited, at the moment is very confusing and hard to navigate through. You can also look at the work of some other students to get ideas on how to perfect your Learning Log and presentation.

Engagement with textile techniques

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

You have not engaged enough with stitching and your technical skills in the process are poor. This Assignment should be a study of the process, and you should have Learned the technique through, trying the technique, experimenting, taking risks and using unusual materials.

You have submitted a collection of Jacquards that don’t explore stitching and that has little cerativity. As we discussed in your tutorial, it would be good if you went back to some of the exercises and explored the process more. I mentioned in the 2 previous tutorials that you should be using more materials, before every Assignment it would be useful to collect a lot of papers, fabrics, yarns, threats, waste materials… This will help you and give you ideas at the start of each exercise.

Drawing and Painting

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

Drawing and painting is important. You have submitted two drawings only for this Assignment and they look very rushed. You haven’t explored different painting and Drawing techniques as I suggested to you your previous tutorial. Please make sure that you use a variety of materials and techniques when painting. Gouache, pastels, Acrylics, Watercolours, Colour pencils, Rottrings, pens, Charcoal… Also think about developing them in unusual ways.

Your paintings and Drawings will help you to develop your textiles and in this assignment they would have helped you to then develop your textiles. Guiding your stitching though looking at the textures, outlines, shadows, details… of your drawings and paintings.

Looking forward to your next Assignment.

Tutor namePere Bruach
Date29/4/2019
Next assignment dueTBC

2.5 OLD

Stitching: Placed and spaced

<<To conclude Part Two of the course, in this assignment you’ll develop new stitched textiles work building on the stitched paper explorations you’ve just made. This assignment should feel like a relatively smooth transition from paper into textiles.

Aims:

Your aims in this assignment should be to:

• consolidate your exploration so far by creating a series of stitched textiles

• employ observational and compositional skills, as well as material and technique handling, in the creation of stitched textiles.>>

—–Following my tutor’s feedback regarding a proven record of the process of textile creation I’ve decided to start from scratch and follow his advice by using books he advised in order to overcome my difficulty and discomfort regarding drawing .

So my steps will be:

. take pictures of flowers

. draw them on paper

. create fabric using my drawing

and then do my stitching on them fabrics in order to add a personal touch and feel on them.

he first book I bought is: << DRAWING WHAT YOU SEE>> by RUDY DE REYNA which I found quite challenging as its mainly drawing with charcoal and developing different drawing techniques it is something I will definitely consider going forward but I still thing I’m an early stage painter at the moment and I needed something to unlock me up which leads to the next book…

It was a true revelation to me!!!

<<Drawing on the right side of the brain >>by Betty Edwards is a masterpiece!

This book has clearly explained to me why I was facing all this difficulties while I was trying to draw, the role of the left and right hemisphere of the brain, how left side is over-powering the right side and how to get in a R mode meaning confuse the left side of the brain so much that it shuts down and leaves space for the right to take over and help you use your skills to create.Amazing experience, which made me look and perceive things in a total different way. First time in my life I managed to copy a drawing by looking at it upside down!!!

that was my initial drawing!I know it doesn’t look that great but I would never ever consider drawing near as that!
copy of a Pablo Picasso’s sketch of Igor Stravinsky.

second one…
I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!

So, being a bit more confident about myself, I went out to take pictures of flowers.

I’ve picked 4 out of many:


my knitted version without any hand work on it.
Swatch after stitch work on it


drawn on a notebook page
my own knitted version where I’ve put dots on as marks in order to saw on them.
final swatch after spending around two hours of stitch work.


drawn on an A4 sheet.

I have decided not to proceed with the picture above as it looks a lot as the previous one so instead I will develop the following one.

I know I need more work on my drawing skills , but as a matter of fact I would’t even consider of drawing few weeks ago at all!!!


black and white sketch
Tulip bulbs : knitted version without any hand work on it

swatch after the buds being embellished by hand.

The reason I’m mainly working on black white and shades of grey is that I’m following the assessment’s directions; it suggests its an early stage for color to be used .




2.4 OLD

this is the first tryout using acrylic yarn

that’s the original fern design

cols reversed using boucle yarns
boucle yarn to create the fern
after experimenting with different yarns-textures I came up with the best option : cotton slub (thick and thin) yarn which gives a very interesting looking fabric.

olor combination did not work out, but I’ve used thick and thin yarns in order to have a different texture

slub and mohair-like yarn .
colored yarn used in this case in order to show more texture

slub and boucle yarns