"Naive and slightly wonky"

I had a review of my work with my tutor Sally, and the rest of the group.  This time, there was no remit to talk up the work.  So I was in a position to say exactly what I thought of my work so far.  I quite stunned the youngsters when I said how disappointed I was with my work, and that I thought it was naff and pedestrian.  I showed all the things I had tried with the pomegranates (enlargements, colour, monochrome, repeats etc) on various different fabrics.  I showed I had tried to learn from each trial, in that I know which fabrics stitch well by hand or machine (no hand stitch on digiprint basic cotton) and what colour reproduction problems I had (red, yellow, orange heighten in intensity, and reds bleed excessively when washed).  But basically the design was naff, and I had moved onto other subjects.

I felt a lot better when I was giving honest analysis of my work, stating most of it was naff and pedestrian.  The youngsters found it quite breath-taking that I could be so direct about my work, but I found it uplifting not to be lying about my work, by talking it up and saying it was good, when clearly, it was not.

I said I preferred my work drawing domestic objects, and I was getting on much better with monochrome pen and charcoal.  I feel I have a clear signature to my drawing style.  It is naive and slightly wonky - very much my own style.  This amused Sally, who said it should be the slogan on my business cards! 

Then in the interests of experimenting with more fabrics, I printed three charcoal  images I drew when in Australia.  One of the legs of the life model (tonally light), one of her bottom when sitting on a stool (tonally textured), and one of my hands holding a mug of milk (tonally dark).  This was printed on a hemp/ramie blend.  I think they are all great (note the improved confidence in my work!) and I can particularly see the legs print used on a design for a bag. I steamed the prints, then washed them.  I think there is a bit of a problem with the milk mug design, as there appears to be some colour run across the middle.  This is why I do lots of samples - I will take advice from Lisa, the tech, as to what I have done wrong here.  The tonal variation of the prints is interesting - the legs print would cost £0.36p per linear metre for ink costs; the life model would be £1.16 plm, and milk mug was £2.52 plm.  I think the hemp fabric is £15 plm and is 150cm wide.