Today i had my first tutorial in a few weeks after receiving feedback saying i should be having more regular contact with the tutors. Despite feeling that i am progressing very well and confidently on my own i can see the tutors point as it is always good to gain feedback on my work from someone working within the domain. Despite not having tutorials i do meet with my support worker and mentor on a weekly basis who i always give me feedback on my work so although this is not coming from the tutors i do always seek regular feedback.
Within the tutorial the first thing i asked Sian was about my creative CV. Although this is not related to my project i have been having issues and it is essential i solve this if i want to get a job. The only issue with this was that the file size was too large and when changing it to a PNG this did reduce the file size massively; however, many jobs i have been applying to do not accept CV’s in a PNG file. Luckily Sian managed to solve this issue for me and all we did was change the .PNG to .PDF. This is not something i had thought of and even if i did have i wouldn’t have thought it would have worked. I am really glad Sian managed to solve this issue for me as i can now progress with my job applications.
In relation to my project i showed Sian my sketchbook and asked her a few questions i had. My main query was to whether i should include any additional imagery to my aliens as i felt it would be nice with some additional motifs. In response to this Sian said it may be nice to combine my aliens with some normal florals. This is something i had considered but was unsure if these were too similar to my alien illustrations. In response to this i will create some repeats utilising my florals with aliens to see if this helps to vary my imagery.
Upon viewing sketchbook pages 21 and 22 Sian mentioned i should try producing some designs at the scale they will be within my final collection as well as experimenting with a white background. Although wanting to display the full extent of the repeat, looking back it would be nice if you could see the details of the aliens. This would also be a good experiment to see if the scale i am visualising is good enough for my final collection. In response to this point when creating repeats from now on i will present my outcomes showing the full repeat; however, also at the scale i intend to use. In relation to the white background initially i was hesitant about using white across such a large area of negative space as within our previous DG project i had feedback saying a white background was not appropriate for a younger demographic. Despite this i feel this feedback is correct as my aliens do stand out a lot more against a white background. When creating my final collection of designs i will explore a white background for some and others keep my coloured background so there is variety within my collection.
When showing Sian my sketchbook she also mentioned that i should stop using the paper based substrates i have and start focusing more on my colour pallet. Although wanting to use a variety of hand techniques and paper based substrates i feel now is a good point to start to focus only on my colour pallet. I feel i have experimented with a range of papers and hues and the half way point is a good point to refine my ideas.
Another point Sian raised was that i should develop repeats further. This is something i have started to do in my croquis designs but i do want to develop a lot further on a digital platform. After creating some iridescent effects i will start to work with my illustrations on a digital platform to experiment with a greater variety of repeats.
Overall this tutorial with Sian was very useful as it has shown that i really need to push on with my designs and start to think about my first designs for my collection. It is always a tense point when i start to produce designs for my final collection; however, if i am not happy with them i can always reflect back and edit them at a later date.
BA Hons Textiles Final Major Project Blog 