Technical Drawing

This morning we were looking at technical drawings (also known as, flats, black & whites, diagrammatics or specification drawings). I actually found this very interesting, satisfying and enjoyable, we focused mainly on the shape of a dress and really looking into the detail or things such as the hem lines, pockets, buttons and zips. We then had to annotate and explain if the dress had any bindings, gatherings, pleats or darts. I've never had much confidence in my drawings ability but today I am very happy with my two outcomes. The details must have been exact and clear as if it were being sent to the manufacturer.

I focused on the two pieces of Christopher Kane and Viktor & Rolf. Both completely different designs, yet both lovely pieces.

One to the left (Christopher Kane) used fineliner. One to the right (Viktor & Rolf) I used pencil only.

Workshop: Felt Making

Today we completed one of our first out of several workshops to come during this project, a technique called 'felting'. At first when I heard about it all that came to mind was this really pointless ancient process which done of us needed to know. How wrong I was. I absolutely loved the workshop and made three beautiful samples which combine hessian fabric and mulberry silk. The process in general is only for the patient and is very tiring.

The silk was my favourite. Instead of drying out, shrinking and becoming matted like the wool, the silk became crimped and really began to stood out the dryer the rest of the wool became. I was inspired by the black and white tones that you often see within an urban landscape with a lot of concrete and buildings.

Overall I think the workshop was a great eye opener and will teach me not to be so closed minded about certain processes.

Visit: Cannon Hall

On Monday 15th we visited the park and farm of Cannon Hall, I have to admit I wasn't so keen on the idea of this trip but I tried to keep open minded to new landscapes and concepts. The weather wasn't great and made the whole day feel dull. I now know definitely that I will look further into my urban landscapes instead of the more rural ones. Although the day wasn't completely useless and I managed to get some very good continuous outline drawings from the hills, these I will take through to my development stage. 

Research: Gary Hulme and Stella McCartney

Hulme and McCartney first collaborated back in 2002 and since then have worked together to create various collections of garments, which include Hulme's signature drawing style and McCartney's design. I am very inspired by these collections as Hulme has heavily influenced my drawing style and to see his drawings on a garment is very inspirational. I love the way he uses continuous lines to create portraits and scenes. I feel my drawing is becoming very similar and I will continue through my project with this and hopefully progress towards a complete garment.

Primary Drawing and Photography

On wednesday we had a drawing day out in leeds, we went to various buildings of interesting architecture and shape, including The Leeds Met 'Rose Bowl'. I took a particular interest in the cranes they had on site and focused on the shapes the metal structure created, it was very geometric and mechanical.

From these I used a variety of drawing materials and techniques such as continuous line, not looking at the paper and biros, fineliners and felt tips.

Here are just a few. I am really happy with my ink based media one (top left) and the sketched fineline one (bottom left).

'Landscape'

I have been given the subject of 'Landscape' for my first brief of my second year at Leeds College of Art, at first I wasn't very thrilled about this as it didn't feel interesting enough, but as I thought more about it I realised theres a lot more to the word 'Landscape' than just fields, browns, greens and sheep. I am looking forward to beginning this brief and the design process after such a long summer. Hopefully by the end of the term I will have passed with flying colours and have a gorgeous garment or print collection to show for it.

Visualizations

Final Visualizations of My Patterns

Here is the hand-made pattern, I scanned it into Photoshop  then used a basic half drop repeat to create the finished design. I initially thought these would look better as interiors or wallpaper, but after experimenting with fashion, I decided the prints were more suited to a fashion outcome.

This is my CAD Collection outcome, I have used two designs from my collection for this visualization, these definitely look better used in an interiors situation as the print is very geometric and simple.