Within my first tutorial Sian mentioned looking at the film Avatar in order to expand my research base. I feel this film is aimed at a slightly higher demographic than my own market because of its graphic and destructive scenes; however, excluding these elements there are still a lot of areas i can draw inspiration from.
One thing that has really struck me about the images i have been researching is their consistent iridescent colour pallet. This unlike my previous research focuses on a blue pallet; however, i can still gain inspiration for how hues can work together to create the opulent glow present within so much of this imagery. Although the imagery in relation to this iridescent colour scheme i have looked at previously focuses on utilising a wide range of hues, within this film to create this effect they have only used a minimal range of colours and presented these hues in a vast array of tones. When i start to experiment with creating this effect i will experiment with a variety of different hues some utilising only a monotone scheme and others using a wider array of hues. At this stage i feel this monotone effect may be beneficial and lend its self to my hero designs where there will already be a vast amount of colour and texture present.
Another thing inspiring about this film in relation to my own project is how the Avatar characters are in their shape and form. Instead of making them oddly shaped with one eye and five legs the main difference between their appearance and out own is their skin tone and the textures within this. In order to add texture to their skin tone a striped almost zebra like effect has been added which extends the idea that these characters are in fact alien. From this, when continuing with my watercolours i will remember how much colour can play a part in ensuring imagery looks alien and apart from our own world. Within my experiments so far i have started to explore a range of hues; however, not something as bold as blue. When returning to my watercolours i can experiment with a greater range of hues before making a decision on whether to include them within my final outcomes.
Overall it has been useful looking into Avatar, especially in relation to the opulent glow found within most imagery. Previous to this research i had only thought about mixing a multitude of hues to create this effect and then editing the outcomes digitally; however, i now feel inspired to experiment with a much more refined range of hues to hopefully come out with some very diverse experiments.
Initially i was going to continue on with my watercolour pencil experiments as i felt i could create some good imagery through this method and medium if i kept working at it. However, upon analysing my Colombian florals i realised that they could look much more like aliens if i worked into them some more. Initially i thought of doing this in Illustrator which is how i usually edit my designs but, then thought the software will not be able to create the soft watercolour textures. Although the combination of these two mediums may work quite well i felt it would be interesting to print out my illustrations i had scanned in and then continue to work on them. This is an idea i have never experimented with before so initially i was worried this would not work out.
Overall the outcomes i have created so far from this experiment i feel have been the most successful yet. As i already had the basis of a floral form i could analyse what elements could be added to make the designs appear more alien such as by exaggerating facial features and adding limbs. The only down side to this process which i discovered as i experimented is that due to the watercolours being translucent and my print outs being a mash of bright colours it was hard to block out the background so i could use lighter hues on top of darker ones. After thinking about this for a while i soon had the idea to put a base layer of white acrylic paint over the coloured florals where i wanted to add lighter hues. Although this did work quite successfully at blocking out the colours i did have to apply 3-5 layers meaning it was an awfully time consuming way of going about things.
Within these experiments i utilised the same floral up to twice and tried rotating it before i stuck it down to see if there was any direction the floral could face so i could make it look more alien. Overall i feel this was a really good idea as i have been able to create multiple different aliens out of the same floral. I very much enjoyed the process of rotating the water colour print out to see what i could add to make it appear more alien as it was fun not knowing what i would come up with. A good example of this is the pink floral in the bottom left hand corner of page 15. This i stuck upside down to how i originally drew it, but the original bottom bit of the flower works well as some sort of crown which i feel will really attract my target demographic.
Overall i have enjoyed experimenting over this double page spread a lot more than i originally thought i would have. Due to this and my previous experiment i am gaining a lot more confidence in my ideas and am starting to see my collection developing in a way i really like. One of the benefits of using printed out copies of my original drawings is that if i ever want to include normal florals within my designs i still have the option of this as they are still in their original form. From here i want to continue to produce more experiments utilising this same technique as i feel it has been a really successful method that i have enjoyed the process of.
Although this is labeled as activity 3 i would still like to experiment with stitch within my project which will hopefully be started within week 4 to keep on track with my timetable.
Today i had my first tutorial with a member of staff. Unlike previous projects i have felt confident in my ideas and what needs to be done which has meant i have been able to progress without much feedback. I feel now in our final mogul, especially after receiving the feedback from the DG project i have gained a lot of confidence in my ideas and also understand what needs to be produced in order to create a successful collection.
Within the tutorial i showed Sian my work so far and got some great feedback from some of my sketchbook work so far especially my double page collage spread of my primary floral photography combined with my Pintrest research. Although seemly happy with the way i was progressing she did suggest the film Avatar and the hit series of Stranger Things may be good in order to inspire my ideas because of their alien themes throughout. I have made a note to research into these two things for added research as i progress with my project.
As well as this research she also suggested researching into some iridescent and pearlescent effects to see which i feel really suits my theme. Although including this imagery within my mood-boards i have not as of yet really explored it in depth so this is something i will also look into within the next week.
Overall i feel this was a really positive tutorial giving me lots of ideas for how i can progress exploring my theme in order to make a more well rounded collection. I will take these points on board and explore them as the larger the research base i have, the more informed my designs and collection will be.
Upon having my first session with my support worker since creating my mood-boards i showed her what i had produced in order to gain her feedback. Although the tutors have a vast amount of knowledge with a direct relation to what i am studying, i often find it can be beneficial to source feedback from a range of people in order to gain a well rounded perspective of my work. Although pleased with what i had produced she did point out that although i am designing for children the designs i have selected to go on my competitor mood-board do not reflect this and are aimed at a much older demographic than my own. After pondering this thought all day i have decided that this is actually a very valuable point and decided to change the imagery on this mood-board to designs that are aimed at my target market from the relevant stores. I have decided to keep my competitors the same as i still feel they are aiming at the same market and within the same price range as my collection will be. Although it has taken time to revisit this mood-board i am very grateful for the feedback in order to develop my professional skills.
To keep my sketchbook up to date i have also added a printed version of my new mood-board on top of the old; however, have not completely covered the previous version in order to demonstrate my development.
As well as researching Pantones colour of the year for 2021 i also researched into Dulux’s colour of the year for 2021. Unfortunately, their hue for 2021 has not yet been released so i have instead included their colour of the year for 2020. I will continue to check whether Dulux’s colour of the year has been released throughout the project incase it is released at a later date and can still inform my colour pallet.
Overall i feel this hue is not appropriate for my target market as it is very dull in tone and would retract from my iridescent colour pallet. If i was working for an elder more mature demographic this is a hue i could utilise but i fear the market i am working for may find it a bit dull. Hopefully they will release their hue of the year for 2021 in time to inform my colour pallet and it will be a shade more appropriate for my collection.
To broaden my knowledge base for what will be on trend for SS’21 i have researched the Pantone colour of the year for 2021. Having already decided on my colour pallet and created some designs utilising it, i am happy the colour combination is successful; however, am open to adding another hue or perhaps swapping one. Initially i was going to avoid using a blue hue to directly reach out to my target market but, now knowing it will be on trend for the season i am designing for has made me consider using it within my collection. At this stage i will not add it to my colour pallet; however, if i feel the need to add in a blue hue somewhere along the line this is a colour i will consider.
After being so inspired from my fist pattern repeat i decided to continue drawing; however, this time using water colour pencils. Initially i was going to experiment with normal watercolours but felt this was a good opportunity to carry on exploring different mediums before i got to that stage.
Inspired by my Instagram research i had the idea of printing off a photo from my primary research and then doing some illustrations inspired by elements of this. Overall i feel this was a good start; however, a process that does need to be developed if i continue with it. I started by analysing the photo and selecting an element to utilise within my illustrations. The top two green aliens were inspired by the shape of the yellow/ orange part of the floral. Initially i created the female alien to the left in relation to my female target market; however, then thought it be sweet if i created a boy alien inspired by the same section of the floral as well. For these illustrations and the rest of the page i tried to stick to the hues present within my colour pallet; however, these hues are slightly brighter in tone. Overall i feel these two aliens are a great continuation of my experiments as they fit in with my theme and give me ideas for how i can build upon these.
Although i feel these two aliens were a strong experiment i feel the other two illustrations on the page are not so much. Unfortunately, i ran out of inspiration from this particular floral and started to become lazy in my drawing and colouring. I feel if i am going to continue with this method i will have to decide professionally when i feel i have got enough out of an image rather than waisting time coming up with illustrations which are not so strong. From here i want to continue with this method of drawing; however, really think about what i am doing in more depth and really questioning myself to see if i actually feel inspired or if i am just doing it for the sake of it.
Although some of the elements on this page are not as strong as others it has still been a valuable learning experience which i am glad i have learnt now rather than further into the project. Later today i have a tutorial with Sian so will see what her feedback is before concretely deciding my next move; however, i would still like to continue with this drawing idea as i feel if i persist i could create some grate imagery for my collection.
Whilst in Colombia over the summer i started to explore my theme by using my primary photography as inspiration for my watercolours. Upon arrival to the country i already had the idea that i wanted to utilise florals within my work; however, wanted to make them slightly different to just normal floral designs as there already so many on the market. It was when i initially started seeing the range of Orchids that i thought they look like aliens which inspired this theme i have build on. I selected watercolours to portray my theme as this is a medium i have not as of yet utilised when studying at CSAD. When i graduate i want to ensure i can display competence with a range of mediums and styles so wanted to utilise one i have not previously.
To begin each illustration i would start by being inspired by the shape and form of the floral and then try to slightly manipulate this with some alien like features. Unfortunately at this point i had not completed my research so my ideas for how i could manipulate these florals was lacking. Despite this, i wanted to utilise the time i had out there so persisted with each illustration knowing even if they are not perfect they will still be vital experiments for my project.
Having not decided on my colour pallet i wanted to also utilise this book of experiments to explore hues without being restricted. It was at this stage i realised that the blue hues i was using were not appropriate for my girls market as they had a very masculine feel. I am still open to adding a blue hue to my colour pallet; however, this would be much lighter in tone than those i have utilised here. Utilising a softer blue would much better link to my young girls market and also match the other hues in their tone with the rest of my selected colour pallet.
As well as illustrating the florals which will mainly be featured in my hero designs i thought it may also be worth a try to see how i could extract elements from each floral to create a secondary or blender design. At first i started by extracting simple shapes and textures and repeating them across the page. However, after a while i felt these were too simplistic so started to put more thought into how i could make these more appropriate for my alien theme. I have labeled each image to indicate whether i feel it is appropriate for a hero, secondary or blender design to demonstrate this.
Overall despite these illustrations not being perfect as of yet i am so glad i started to experiment with watercolours whilst i was away as not only did it confirm my theme; however, also give me a change to experiment with this medium un restricted by time. With the high level of detail within each image these illustrations do take a long time to complete so they have saved me a lot of time now three weeks into the project. From here i want to start to build on these designs by using them to inspire my next wave of watercolour paintings.
To develop my drawings from pages 11 and 12 i decided to scan some of the illustrations into my laptop and then edit them on the Photoshop and Illustrator software. For this i selected my two favourite illustrations which i felt would be the most successful to develop and best related to theme of my project.
Initially i scanned in the imagery at 300dpi and then converted the illustrations into black and white on photoshop. Following this i then opened these new black and white versions in Illustrator where i image traced them and played with the threshold to ensure i was left with the cleanest and crispest lines. Once happy with my new black outlines, i then thought this would be a good opportunity to have my first experiment with my colour pallet to ensure the selected hues worked well together. To do this i opened my colour mood-board in Illustrator and simply used the eye dropper tool to select the desired hues and then used my Wacom tablet and the paintbrush tool to fill in the sections. Overall i feel my colour pallet has worked really successfully within this outcome as all the hues are equally balanced and do not appear to be fighting against each other.
Once adding colour to my illustrations and being happy with this, i could not resist the temptation to turn them into a repeat. Although i am at an exceptionally early stage of the drawing process where i do not necessarily need to be considering repeating structures as of yet, digital imagery can be manipulated and edited so easily and quickly it is more than worth the 3 minutes it takes.
To turn my motifs in a repeat i simply slightly staggered them and then copied and pasted horizontally until it covered the entire width of the page and then, repeated these rows vertically to create a block repeat. I did also experiment with a half drop repeat; however, due to the positioning of the motifs the block repeat had a more evenly distributed amount of negative space. Once happy with the repeating structure i then used the box tool and added this to create the background hue. I initially experimented with all the hues from my colour pallet; however, felt this pink was the most successful and also felt it was most appropriate for my target demographic.
Overall despite not being overly pleased with the imagery i created on sketchbook pages 11 and 12 i am exceptionally keen on this pattern i have produced and i find it really motivating to push forward and see how i can develop this using new imagery. Although the repeating structure is awfully simply and the motifs are in a very linear structure, i feel it really works and could in fact be appropriate for a much wider range of products past bedrooms such as stationary and giftware.
After being happy with this outcome i thought i could play with some Photoshop effects to see how i could distort the hues to develop this initial idea further. To make these edits i simply played with the range of tools within the Photoshop adjustment panels such as brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, levels and black and white amongst others. Although this new range of images are not bound to my colour pallet they do present new ideas for how my project can develop. During my research i thought a monotone colour pallet could work really well for some of the designs within my collection and although black is not within my colour pallet the third image bellow of the black and white design is really striking. Depending how my ideas develop i may consider adding black to my colour pallet.
Overall despite this being an experiment for which i produced these five designs in about 15 minutes it has been really worth while as it has demonstrated how i can develop my ideas especially in relation to how i use colour. From now on i am keen for every piece of successful imagery i create to be scanned into the Adobe suite as by spending no more than an hour playing around it can provide some new and really inspiring ideas.
Initially i was going to sick my pink design straight into my sketchbook A4; however, i felt this produced quite a boring page. To try and bring the design out of the bounding box i initially thought about printing off the two motifs at a larger scale and arranging them around the image; however, then i felt it may be nice if i could integrate some of my colour adjustment experiments. Despite liking those that i have produced above i felt a monotone design would be appropriate; however, in a negative effect to the black and white design above. To create this i simply copied and pasted the original pink design into a new Photoshop page and then played with the levels until i achieved this effect.
Overall i feel this image is very striking as the contrast is so high between the black imagery and white background. However, if i were to develop this further and use it for my final collection i would experiment further with the hues used so they closer match and relate to my colour pallet.
Overall i am happy with this sketchbook page and creating this design has actually been quite a relief. I always find the initial drawing stages quite hard as you have a mental idea of what you want your project to look like from research but the pressure to achieve this mounts when trying to put pen to paper. From here i am going to crack straight on with some more drawings in order to not loose the motivation i have gained from this experiment.
To kick off the drawing stage of my project i have decided to experiment with a range of materials and substrates as well as drawing implements. For this double page spread of experiments i have decided to stick to mostly dry techniques as this is what i have felt most inspired by at this stage.
Inspired by my research i decided to experiment with imagery which i felt related to my theme and stuck within the closest colour pallet i could to this. Unfortunately i wanted to utilise certain scraps of paper such as the gold card which does not fit in with my colour scheme; however, felt the finish on this card had a really nice finish which may attract my target demographic.
Overall i feel i had varying levels of success throughout these experiments, mainly due to how experienced i was with each medium. I feel my least successful image is my charcoal illustration as this is a medium i haven’t utilised since first year. Although there is clear room for improvement with this technique i do not find the process so pleasurable and much prefer to work with other processes such as pen, pencil and digital. As well as not enjoying working with this medium i feel it would not allow the level of detail i want to include within my illustrations as the charcoal does go blunt very quickly which produces much thicker lines.
One medium i did really enjoy working with was the black marker especially on the gold card. The fluidity of the pen made it exceptionally easy to draw with and as it has a fine tip it allowed me to include as much detail as i wanted. When developing my drawings further i feel this image i have created will really be inspiring as i can extract certain elements and combine them with my floral primary photography.
As well as creating my paper experiments i also produced a design using a cotton fabric and fabric paint. This fabric paint comes out of a tube which is much liked that used in silk painting; however, this paint does not create a barrier meaning if i added colour it would bleed through. Despite thinking this process may be satisfying to work with it was awfully tricky as the lines come out quite thick meaning there is a lack of room for details. Overall despite being glad i did experiment with this technique and medium i do not feel i will be progressing with it throughout this project.
Although not feeling that each individual illustration came out exactly as i imagined this is still a good start to my drawing stage as i can extract positive elements from each image and combine them to create something totally new. From here i want to experiment with pencil to see if i can start to create some more detailed drawings which match up with my theme. I feel pencil will allow me to work at a lot slower pace and also rub out any mistakes i make in order to create the best outcome i can. Although i am looking forward to being able to utilise a rubber i think it can sometimes be beneficial to work where you can not use one such as in these experiments as it means you have to carry on with what you have produced and it is not so much a constant back and forth process.
Although this post is labeled as activity 2 i intend to continue to explore ideas related to activity throughout my project. I feel exploring drawing and painting amongst other mediums will form a solid basis to my project so i intend to carry on exploring this as i go along.
BA Hons Textiles Final Major Project Blog 