In the last week I have experienced peaks and troughs of activity and motivation.
I printed about 2 metres of cloth with different sizes of my hand drawn pomegranates. They scaled up very well, showing the hand drawn detail, in 12, 18, 25 and 50cm samples in both the colour and monochrome sketches. When printed the colour were a bit subdued.
Lisa and I then took all day on Friday, to steam fix the sample. We had to clean out the large steamer, then it took about an hour to come up to steam, because it uses about 2 cubic metres of water in the boiler. I pinned my fabric onto steaming cloths, which need to be bigger than the printed piece. Then you have to ensure the bottom of the steaming cloth is higher than the water level in the steamer. Lisa showed me how to hook the fabric into the steamer, secured the door correctly, and brought it back to steam, and steamed it for 40 minutes. When we took it out, the colours had considerably brightened in the steaming process, but there were a couple of places where there had been a condensation drip from the ceiling of the steamer, which had damaged the printed pattern. Not sure what we can do about this. Maybe the answer is to hook the fabric on, using every row of hooks, rather than spacing them out to occupy the full space in the steamer. If there were less space between the coiled fabric, the drips would be caught on the top of the steaming cloth, not catch the fabric half way down.
The next stage is to wash the fabric to remove the soda ash fixing agent. Then I will cut it up into separate samples. Feedback from other students suggested I keep this sample whole, then print another to cut up into a sample book.
I called my tutor, Sara, to have a look at the large sample. She was clearly of the opinion that I should just cut up the samples and put into several different sample books, graded by size, so that I could line them up, and look at all the different scales together in a row, for each drawing.
Sara also said I needed to get on and progress beyond observational drawing. She wanted to see design work. This stunned me a bit. I have been concentrating on observational drawing, because this is what I thought she told me to do, before Christmas. And when I had my tutorial with Sally on my return to class last week, she was pleased with the breadth of progress in my sketchbook. So I feel a bit stunned to be told to do a lot of design work, "so I can see how you draw". This has considerably knocked my confidence and motivation - I know I need to use photoshop to get the designs worked up, my skill level is not good and I don't feel I have been given any guidance on how to develop my work.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Back to uni
My return to class has been busy. I had 14 different version of my pomegranate drawn, and I had photographed them, although I was worried that they would have a yellow cast, as I had used electric light when taking the photos. When I got to class, I discovered we had a scanner attached to a Mac, so I scanned them into Photoshop instead. Then today Lisa and I printed them onto white cotton drill fabric.
This proved to be an interesting exercise. I discovered that when submitting multiple images, it is my responsibility to put them all together on one document, with the spacing that I want, then request the one document to be printed. I had saved 4 versions of each image, sized at 12, 18, 25 and 50 cm, so I could see what changes happened when scaling up. It is the density of colour, rather than the area that affects the ink costs - the pencil drawings used very similar amounts of ink, irrespective of size, which was quite surprising. The densely coloured images cost about twice as much as the monochrome. Image adjustments need to be made in PS, particularly getting plain background right, and for this to be right, the scanner lid needs to close properly - ie only copy A3 on an A3 scanner - not A2!.
Problems encountered with the printer were mainly about loading and re-rolling the fabric. I was working on 150cm white cotton drill. This is a heavy fabric, and the cardboard inner roll was not strong enough to support the full weight of the fabric. So the roll had buckled slightly. This led to slight puckers in the middle of the width, where the roll had drooped. This can lead to spotting of ink from the printing head, where the pucker is higher than the rest of the fabric. Also getting the printed fabric to roll back onto the finishing roll is difficult as it is hard to maintain the tension required. All techniques that Lisa and I need to acquire. Just getting 2.5m of samples printed took all day.
Friday, I go back to class to steam my fabric and make up into a sample book.
But tomorrow is a rest day. Matt and I are going to the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition at Tate Britain. Roll on tomorrow.
This proved to be an interesting exercise. I discovered that when submitting multiple images, it is my responsibility to put them all together on one document, with the spacing that I want, then request the one document to be printed. I had saved 4 versions of each image, sized at 12, 18, 25 and 50 cm, so I could see what changes happened when scaling up. It is the density of colour, rather than the area that affects the ink costs - the pencil drawings used very similar amounts of ink, irrespective of size, which was quite surprising. The densely coloured images cost about twice as much as the monochrome. Image adjustments need to be made in PS, particularly getting plain background right, and for this to be right, the scanner lid needs to close properly - ie only copy A3 on an A3 scanner - not A2!.
Problems encountered with the printer were mainly about loading and re-rolling the fabric. I was working on 150cm white cotton drill. This is a heavy fabric, and the cardboard inner roll was not strong enough to support the full weight of the fabric. So the roll had buckled slightly. This led to slight puckers in the middle of the width, where the roll had drooped. This can lead to spotting of ink from the printing head, where the pucker is higher than the rest of the fabric. Also getting the printed fabric to roll back onto the finishing roll is difficult as it is hard to maintain the tension required. All techniques that Lisa and I need to acquire. Just getting 2.5m of samples printed took all day.
Friday, I go back to class to steam my fabric and make up into a sample book.
But tomorrow is a rest day. Matt and I are going to the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition at Tate Britain. Roll on tomorrow.
Monday, 7 January 2013
Intelligent tourism
This last week Jim and I have been tourists. We went to York for a few days after New Year. I went to the Castle Museum, which I quite enjoyed although it did not inform my practice much. During our evening wanderings I saw a rather atractive cup and saucer set, in a shop window. Very modern, contemporary styling - plain white, very straight sides, but with a hand drawn apple on the bottom, or around the side of the cup. Looks like it was done with decals. I could easily do this with my pomegranate designs.
We also went to Whitby, and looked at the Lit & Phil museum, where they had chess sets made from Whitby jet and fossils, and lovely hand sketches by a local artist, dated and timed(!) from the 1930s, when a lot of derelict buildings were being demolished.
Back in London, I went to the Geffrye Museum Epiphany event (lovely) and also to the Leighton House Museum. This was a very heavily decorated Victorian gentleman's home (Sir Frederick Leighton), and the Arab Hall was of particular interest. This hall was decorated with all sorts of tiling panels, from various parts of the Islamic world. But on closer inspection, many tiles had been damaged in transit, and some had been replaced as replicas (by a contemporary of William Morris). However, from a distance, the panels looked absolutely marvellous, but on close inspection, although the pattern repeated, the tiles were not exactly matched. It appears that a block of 5 x 6 tiles had been laid out, then the design painted freehand across the set. This means the tiles had to be used in exactly the same layout, otherwise the pattern did not repeat correctly. Quite inspiring for someone like me, who is not totally accurate, because the impact from across the hall was astonishing, and very visually satisfying, more so that a completely accurate rendering.
Also I discovered that in Islam the hexagonal tile has spiritual significance, because the six sides represent the 6 days when God made the world, before the 7th day when he rested. Also, I discovered that Victorians thought red was the best colour to complement wall decoration like pictures, so this is why red was used for the Leighton House dining room. Flocked wall paper is made from dyed crushed wool that is stuck to the paper, and reproduction wallpaper had been applied to the musuem dining room.
All in all a very interesting day, 6 December 2013 - Epiphany.
We also went to Whitby, and looked at the Lit & Phil museum, where they had chess sets made from Whitby jet and fossils, and lovely hand sketches by a local artist, dated and timed(!) from the 1930s, when a lot of derelict buildings were being demolished.
Back in London, I went to the Geffrye Museum Epiphany event (lovely) and also to the Leighton House Museum. This was a very heavily decorated Victorian gentleman's home (Sir Frederick Leighton), and the Arab Hall was of particular interest. This hall was decorated with all sorts of tiling panels, from various parts of the Islamic world. But on closer inspection, many tiles had been damaged in transit, and some had been replaced as replicas (by a contemporary of William Morris). However, from a distance, the panels looked absolutely marvellous, but on close inspection, although the pattern repeated, the tiles were not exactly matched. It appears that a block of 5 x 6 tiles had been laid out, then the design painted freehand across the set. This means the tiles had to be used in exactly the same layout, otherwise the pattern did not repeat correctly. Quite inspiring for someone like me, who is not totally accurate, because the impact from across the hall was astonishing, and very visually satisfying, more so that a completely accurate rendering.
Also I discovered that in Islam the hexagonal tile has spiritual significance, because the six sides represent the 6 days when God made the world, before the 7th day when he rested. Also, I discovered that Victorians thought red was the best colour to complement wall decoration like pictures, so this is why red was used for the Leighton House dining room. Flocked wall paper is made from dyed crushed wool that is stuck to the paper, and reproduction wallpaper had been applied to the musuem dining room.
All in all a very interesting day, 6 December 2013 - Epiphany.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
New Year's Day reflections - considering other textile degree courses
Over the Christmas break I have been looking online for textile print work that I like, and that I think is successful. The best work I have found is that of Laura Dougherty, who graduated in 2012 from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a BA in Textile Design. She has specialised in weave, but from her website, looks equally talented in print as well.
From what I have found out online, it looks as if the RMIT course is a seriously structured, taught degree that has a heavy commercial bias, to produce graduates who can deliver textile design to the marketplace. I wish my UK course did this. I have thought at length about this, and I am not interested in producing pointless art objects - my work needs a clear purpose. The RMIT course has strong links with industry and some of their projects work with industry leaders with the purpose of producing designs for commercial production. Laura Dougherty won the bed linen competition with Dryden company, and came third in a kitchen accessories competition with Ladelle company. Unfortunately I can't get my printer to print her designs from her website - whether due to a fault on my printer or a deliberate prevention by her website I am not sure. I have looked closely at her work and it looks as if both projects were designed to be hand printed with silk screens as they are limited to 4/5 colours. None of the work done at the Contemporary Applied Art course at UH has any strong links with the textile industry. I have heard that Habitat come around the degree shows to see whether any designs are worth commissioning, but I suspect they go to most degree shows. We do not appear to have any links with industry nurtured by tutors, and once again I suspect this is because our course is "self directed learning". If we want it, we need to get it for ourselves.
I've done a bit more drawing of my pomegranates, so I now have 14 versions in colour and monochrome. Still not enough, but I've taken a couple of days off to make a baby quilt (before the baby arrives!).
Off to York tomorrow for a few days, and I aim to research home interiors in the various museums. Then my "Home Sweet Home" class at the V&A starts on 13 Jan.
From what I have found out online, it looks as if the RMIT course is a seriously structured, taught degree that has a heavy commercial bias, to produce graduates who can deliver textile design to the marketplace. I wish my UK course did this. I have thought at length about this, and I am not interested in producing pointless art objects - my work needs a clear purpose. The RMIT course has strong links with industry and some of their projects work with industry leaders with the purpose of producing designs for commercial production. Laura Dougherty won the bed linen competition with Dryden company, and came third in a kitchen accessories competition with Ladelle company. Unfortunately I can't get my printer to print her designs from her website - whether due to a fault on my printer or a deliberate prevention by her website I am not sure. I have looked closely at her work and it looks as if both projects were designed to be hand printed with silk screens as they are limited to 4/5 colours. None of the work done at the Contemporary Applied Art course at UH has any strong links with the textile industry. I have heard that Habitat come around the degree shows to see whether any designs are worth commissioning, but I suspect they go to most degree shows. We do not appear to have any links with industry nurtured by tutors, and once again I suspect this is because our course is "self directed learning". If we want it, we need to get it for ourselves.
I've done a bit more drawing of my pomegranates, so I now have 14 versions in colour and monochrome. Still not enough, but I've taken a couple of days off to make a baby quilt (before the baby arrives!).
Off to York tomorrow for a few days, and I aim to research home interiors in the various museums. Then my "Home Sweet Home" class at the V&A starts on 13 Jan.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Considering my Degree Planning module assessment criteria
I have just written my Degree Planning Proposal, so I have identified what I want to produce in textile print and why. My tutor sent me the Self-Assessment form for this degree module and I need to consider what the criteria mean, in order to have any chance of completing the form prior to my mid-module review in February.
Knowledge and Understanding of media and processes appropriate to Applied Art
In my area of textile print, I define this as the media I use for the whole textile print process. This will include art media for monochrome and colour drawing, media for design preparation (Photoshop, silkscreen preparation, binders and inks, screen cleaning materials), materials, health and safety requirements, manual and digital print practices, and methods of fixing print. I know a fair amount now about each of these subjects, although I would assess my skill level as that of a developing apprentice, rather than someone approaching master status. I have not yet made a 'masterpiece'.
Knowledge and Understanding of the significance of the works of other practitioners in Applied Art
I feel I am developing in this area. I find it difficult to find exhibitions of applied art, particularly that which identifies the textile artist. I work at Warners Textile Archive and one of the facts that is repeated, is that textiles rarely had the designer attributed to them - the company had far greater status and publicity. Attributing the designer is a very late 20th century development. However, I do attend various exhibitions and museums to look at other people's work and my field of interest is in the practical application of art, not in art installations. I am interested in the integration of art into the domestic environment when the work might literally be described to be "wallpaper" - so well integrated into its environment, that it is no longer actively noticed. Also, my sort of applied art can support the quotation "Anonymous was a woman" because the designers of domestic furnishings is mostly unattributed.
Knowledge and Understanding of the relationship between form and function
My work has a very practical application, so the link between form and function is critical to me. Domestic furnishings need to be fit for purpose - durable, well made, light resistent, appealing to the touch, with a predictable lifespan to enable replacement to maintain a contemporary feel and support commercial artists without creating unnecessary landfill.
Conceptual Skills and attributes to generate, critically evaluate and apply ideas and concepts independently in response to self-initiated study
I don't think my ideas are particularly original because I am working with repeat prints of fruit for textiles. However I am very clear about how my work is contemporary because it reflects the age in which I created it, as the pomegranate is significant to my year in Australia, plants were significant to both me and my father (who is recently deceased) and digital print is a technique of the 21st century. So this indicates I have generated and critically evaluated the theme to which I am working. I am developing skills in a print field which is new to me and I am quite good at defining and working towards a goal via self initiated study. I don't need to be managed and monitored constantly by tutors in order to produce an end product by a set time.
Conceptual Skills and attributes to employ both divergent and convergent thinking in the process of observation, enquiry, visualisation and realisation
At this stage I am working with divergent thinking about my pomegranate digital print. I am working with different art media, exploring the pomegranate as a drawn object. I am using different styles of drawing as I observe it in single units, groups, whole and dissected. I look at how fruit is depicted on household objects - in department store displays, magazines and museum shops. I can visualise my hand drawn pomegranates being manipulated by photoshop and applied to tea towels, and oven gloves; mugs and other crockery; etched onto glassware, on stationery and greetings cards. I can see digital textile print being embellished with stitch, screen print and manipulation.
Over the next couple of months, I will explore the 'enquiry' stage of this criteria, by sampling many different options and combinations. Then once the evaluation of the experimentation has taken place, I will funnel down the multiplicity of ideas, towards the realisation of the final product(s).
Conceptual Skills and attributes to develop ideas through to material outcomes as appropriate to Applied Art (digital textile print)
I think this is about showing how the initial idea of working with a hand drawn pomegranate has developed beyond the idea of printing the initial drawing on fabric. So, exploring singles and multiples, using various media, cropping back to show a section of a fruit, enlarging and reducing the scale, layering different drawn images, using more than one print technique on a piece of fabric; applying the imagery to different domestic objects and other disciplines. This exploration of an idea is what I enjoy.
Practical skills - employ appropriate materials, media and material processes systematically and coherently with skills and imagination, whilst observing good working practices
I think I can do this quite well. Once I am on a roll, I practice a lot. I am keen to work systematically, and having a plan that works through a lot of samples in an ordered, disciplined manner is very helpful. I have set myself a weekly programme for the next 3 months, and this has brought home to me just how much work I am proposing, and that I need to get stuck into the drawing stage right now. I need lots of sample drawings in order for there to be variety at the fabric print stage. Writing my essay provided a lot of the base information for options on integrating hand craft into digital print. This was time well spent.
Transferable Skills - study independently, set goals, manage workloads, meet deadlines using initiative and taking appropriate decisions
I am quite good at this. I have set up a good plan for study, taking in a variety of learning styles - classes; museums; shop displays; reading; taking advice, etc. I know what I plan to do and when, and have the funds and motivation to complete my aims. I am confident I will be ready for mid module review.
Transferable Skills - analyse information and experiences, formulate independent judgements and articulate reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation
With the various classes I have booked at the V&A and City Lit, I will need to sort the interesting information from the useful information to this module. Then I need to work out how to apply the salient points to my work so that I can articulate the environment to which I am designing, and how to apply my art in a coherent way that makes it contemporary to the domestic interior.
Present ideas and work to audiences in a variety of situations
I have explained my work over the last 6 months in tutorials, to tutors and other students, both in group sessions and one-to-one situations. I have discussed my work with family members who have no experience of textile print, and who have limited sight, so my powers of description have been stretched.
Research, evaluate and employ information from a variety of sources
I am getting better at using a diversity of sources. I surprised myself when I finally grasped how to use magazines(!) by scanning through back issues of interior magazines, keeping a theme in mind, and ripping out all the pages that had printed textiles on them. I then reviewed them, cutting out anything I liked, and stuck them in my sketchbook. Previously I had only ripped out things that I thought pertinent, but beng less selective gave me more to think about, and more diverse ideas to explore.
So, I am using books, magazines, journal articles, museums, classes, internet art searches, and stately home and other tourist visits to explore my subjects.
I know what I need to do - roll on the next 6 weeks until mid module review and see what the evaluation of my research concludes.
Knowledge and Understanding of media and processes appropriate to Applied Art
In my area of textile print, I define this as the media I use for the whole textile print process. This will include art media for monochrome and colour drawing, media for design preparation (Photoshop, silkscreen preparation, binders and inks, screen cleaning materials), materials, health and safety requirements, manual and digital print practices, and methods of fixing print. I know a fair amount now about each of these subjects, although I would assess my skill level as that of a developing apprentice, rather than someone approaching master status. I have not yet made a 'masterpiece'.
Knowledge and Understanding of the significance of the works of other practitioners in Applied Art
I feel I am developing in this area. I find it difficult to find exhibitions of applied art, particularly that which identifies the textile artist. I work at Warners Textile Archive and one of the facts that is repeated, is that textiles rarely had the designer attributed to them - the company had far greater status and publicity. Attributing the designer is a very late 20th century development. However, I do attend various exhibitions and museums to look at other people's work and my field of interest is in the practical application of art, not in art installations. I am interested in the integration of art into the domestic environment when the work might literally be described to be "wallpaper" - so well integrated into its environment, that it is no longer actively noticed. Also, my sort of applied art can support the quotation "Anonymous was a woman" because the designers of domestic furnishings is mostly unattributed.
Knowledge and Understanding of the relationship between form and function
My work has a very practical application, so the link between form and function is critical to me. Domestic furnishings need to be fit for purpose - durable, well made, light resistent, appealing to the touch, with a predictable lifespan to enable replacement to maintain a contemporary feel and support commercial artists without creating unnecessary landfill.
Conceptual Skills and attributes to generate, critically evaluate and apply ideas and concepts independently in response to self-initiated study
I don't think my ideas are particularly original because I am working with repeat prints of fruit for textiles. However I am very clear about how my work is contemporary because it reflects the age in which I created it, as the pomegranate is significant to my year in Australia, plants were significant to both me and my father (who is recently deceased) and digital print is a technique of the 21st century. So this indicates I have generated and critically evaluated the theme to which I am working. I am developing skills in a print field which is new to me and I am quite good at defining and working towards a goal via self initiated study. I don't need to be managed and monitored constantly by tutors in order to produce an end product by a set time.
Conceptual Skills and attributes to employ both divergent and convergent thinking in the process of observation, enquiry, visualisation and realisation
At this stage I am working with divergent thinking about my pomegranate digital print. I am working with different art media, exploring the pomegranate as a drawn object. I am using different styles of drawing as I observe it in single units, groups, whole and dissected. I look at how fruit is depicted on household objects - in department store displays, magazines and museum shops. I can visualise my hand drawn pomegranates being manipulated by photoshop and applied to tea towels, and oven gloves; mugs and other crockery; etched onto glassware, on stationery and greetings cards. I can see digital textile print being embellished with stitch, screen print and manipulation.
Over the next couple of months, I will explore the 'enquiry' stage of this criteria, by sampling many different options and combinations. Then once the evaluation of the experimentation has taken place, I will funnel down the multiplicity of ideas, towards the realisation of the final product(s).
Conceptual Skills and attributes to develop ideas through to material outcomes as appropriate to Applied Art (digital textile print)
I think this is about showing how the initial idea of working with a hand drawn pomegranate has developed beyond the idea of printing the initial drawing on fabric. So, exploring singles and multiples, using various media, cropping back to show a section of a fruit, enlarging and reducing the scale, layering different drawn images, using more than one print technique on a piece of fabric; applying the imagery to different domestic objects and other disciplines. This exploration of an idea is what I enjoy.
Practical skills - employ appropriate materials, media and material processes systematically and coherently with skills and imagination, whilst observing good working practices
I think I can do this quite well. Once I am on a roll, I practice a lot. I am keen to work systematically, and having a plan that works through a lot of samples in an ordered, disciplined manner is very helpful. I have set myself a weekly programme for the next 3 months, and this has brought home to me just how much work I am proposing, and that I need to get stuck into the drawing stage right now. I need lots of sample drawings in order for there to be variety at the fabric print stage. Writing my essay provided a lot of the base information for options on integrating hand craft into digital print. This was time well spent.
Transferable Skills - study independently, set goals, manage workloads, meet deadlines using initiative and taking appropriate decisions
I am quite good at this. I have set up a good plan for study, taking in a variety of learning styles - classes; museums; shop displays; reading; taking advice, etc. I know what I plan to do and when, and have the funds and motivation to complete my aims. I am confident I will be ready for mid module review.
Transferable Skills - analyse information and experiences, formulate independent judgements and articulate reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation
With the various classes I have booked at the V&A and City Lit, I will need to sort the interesting information from the useful information to this module. Then I need to work out how to apply the salient points to my work so that I can articulate the environment to which I am designing, and how to apply my art in a coherent way that makes it contemporary to the domestic interior.
Present ideas and work to audiences in a variety of situations
I have explained my work over the last 6 months in tutorials, to tutors and other students, both in group sessions and one-to-one situations. I have discussed my work with family members who have no experience of textile print, and who have limited sight, so my powers of description have been stretched.
Research, evaluate and employ information from a variety of sources
I am getting better at using a diversity of sources. I surprised myself when I finally grasped how to use magazines(!) by scanning through back issues of interior magazines, keeping a theme in mind, and ripping out all the pages that had printed textiles on them. I then reviewed them, cutting out anything I liked, and stuck them in my sketchbook. Previously I had only ripped out things that I thought pertinent, but beng less selective gave me more to think about, and more diverse ideas to explore.
So, I am using books, magazines, journal articles, museums, classes, internet art searches, and stately home and other tourist visits to explore my subjects.
I know what I need to do - roll on the next 6 weeks until mid module review and see what the evaluation of my research concludes.
Thursday, 20 December 2012
A slow student
I had all sorts of good intentions having completed my essay and got it handed in.
I was going to get really stuck into drawing pomegranates - colour, black and white, both whole and sections of broken fruit. But I have only managed 4 pencil versions and 2 colour ones over the last 10 days. Instead I have had a couple of day trips up to London and then my neck started playing up. I thought it was because I had been sitting lop-sided to draw, but when I went to the chiropractor, he said my symptoms fitted well with falling off my bike about 10 days ago. So I am back to stretching and icing my shoulder!
However, having said how little drawing I have done, I am very, very pleased with the pencil drawings and can see how digital print would convey the tonal values very well. Also, I used the inktense pencils to draw the pomegranates in colour, and when I apply the water with a paintbrush it makes the imagery come alive, with a rush of brilliance in the colours. Once again, digital print will make this work very well.
I have also been thinking about how to enhance digital print, when applied to home furnishings. I drew the pomegranates with the calyx facing me, and it occured to me that if this were a cushion front, I could hand stitch the calyx to make it physically stand proud and come forward, to give an element of dimensionality. What about greatly increasing the scale of the calyx? Also what about drawing the pomegranate from the rear, and stitching the end of the stalk so it stood proud, and using this for the back of the cushion.
I was going to get really stuck into drawing pomegranates - colour, black and white, both whole and sections of broken fruit. But I have only managed 4 pencil versions and 2 colour ones over the last 10 days. Instead I have had a couple of day trips up to London and then my neck started playing up. I thought it was because I had been sitting lop-sided to draw, but when I went to the chiropractor, he said my symptoms fitted well with falling off my bike about 10 days ago. So I am back to stretching and icing my shoulder!
However, having said how little drawing I have done, I am very, very pleased with the pencil drawings and can see how digital print would convey the tonal values very well. Also, I used the inktense pencils to draw the pomegranates in colour, and when I apply the water with a paintbrush it makes the imagery come alive, with a rush of brilliance in the colours. Once again, digital print will make this work very well.
I have also been thinking about how to enhance digital print, when applied to home furnishings. I drew the pomegranates with the calyx facing me, and it occured to me that if this were a cushion front, I could hand stitch the calyx to make it physically stand proud and come forward, to give an element of dimensionality. What about greatly increasing the scale of the calyx? Also what about drawing the pomegranate from the rear, and stitching the end of the stalk so it stood proud, and using this for the back of the cushion.
Monday, 10 December 2012
Feeling virtuous!
I am feeling very virtuous today. I have been to uni and handed in my essay! It was due this Friday 14 December, and I finished mine last night, so I could submit it 4 days early. I hate working right up to a deadline, so I planned to get it completed early, in case there was any illness or upset to delay completion.
I have been thinking about the purpose of the under-graduate essay. Lots of people complain that they get fed up of reading other people's opinions, and want to write their own thoughts in their essay. The conclusion that I have drawn about this is that you only get to write your own opinion at doctorate level. Under-grads are meant to write their essay with the purpose of creating an informed opinion of their own. Opinion means "personal view, not necessarily based on fact". By reading widely around your subject, you are able to gain enough knowledge, hopefully, based on quite a lot of fact and well reasoned conclusions, so you gain an informed opinion. Under-grads spend 3 years assimilating a lot of knowledge, none of which is original thought. The knowledge acquired is new to the student, but is not new in the wider educational establishment. Lots of students want to write their own views, because they think their own thoughts are more interesting, but really we do not need to re-invent the wheel. Just read what has already been written!
If we continue with further studies, a Masters is, I think, a more specialised and narrow field of study, but still does not require original thought. It is narrower than previous studies, so needs a greater depth of analysis to enable it being a higher qualification. It is only a Doctorate where original research and design needs to take place. I'm a long way off that.
I have been thinking about the purpose of the under-graduate essay. Lots of people complain that they get fed up of reading other people's opinions, and want to write their own thoughts in their essay. The conclusion that I have drawn about this is that you only get to write your own opinion at doctorate level. Under-grads are meant to write their essay with the purpose of creating an informed opinion of their own. Opinion means "personal view, not necessarily based on fact". By reading widely around your subject, you are able to gain enough knowledge, hopefully, based on quite a lot of fact and well reasoned conclusions, so you gain an informed opinion. Under-grads spend 3 years assimilating a lot of knowledge, none of which is original thought. The knowledge acquired is new to the student, but is not new in the wider educational establishment. Lots of students want to write their own views, because they think their own thoughts are more interesting, but really we do not need to re-invent the wheel. Just read what has already been written!
If we continue with further studies, a Masters is, I think, a more specialised and narrow field of study, but still does not require original thought. It is narrower than previous studies, so needs a greater depth of analysis to enable it being a higher qualification. It is only a Doctorate where original research and design needs to take place. I'm a long way off that.
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