Inspiration: Eatock's playful pen prints

I've been using markers a lot recently in my research drawings- the bold, graphic marks work well for extracting ideas from my box of playful things. But look at these! I can't help loving how Daniel Eatock has played around with the markers in a slightly different way, using them to create sets of 'prints'  from. 

Created by simply placing paper ontop of upright marker pens, and allowing the ink to organically soak into the paper, the results are bright, colourful and unpredictable…I like the fact that it is impossible to create the same thing twice. I like the slightly random, out of control way the prints form. 

Especially inspiring to broaden my view of 'print' at the start of my print technical block!

Image Reference:
Daniel Eatock (2011) Pen Prints [Online Image] Available at http://eatock.com/projects/pen-prints/ [Accessed 30/11/13]

Hands on Drawing

The 'drawing week' just gone wasn't made up of sitting around quietly sketching- oh no, it was the complete opposite: collaborative, large-scale and hands on! I felt like I was in one of those Art-Attack challenges that I used to love watching on kids TV.

For our first task, we were each given a 1cm section of a cut-up picture. Without being told what the image was, we then had to enlarge and draw out our section onto an A1 sheet. It was actually quite freeing not having a clue what I was drawing, or how it fitted in with the rest of the picture as a whole. Seeing everyone's different drawing styles in our group, it was interesting to imagine how our drawings would fit together as one. When our individual sheets were all taped together in sequence, then dramatically unveiled from the balcony at the end of the day at college, it was quite a surprise…we'd drawn the Queen! I think she turned out looking quite fine...

my tiny section to enlarge- I had no idea at the time it was part of the Queen's crown!

Taping and rolling the drawing together face down: still in suspense- what was it?

The unveiling- it's the Queen!

Continuing with a royal theme, the next day we were instructed to create a portrait of Henry the 8th from Lidl plastic bags. This specific (and perhaps slightly random!) constraint on our media use, lead to quite an amusing result. I like experimental processes, and it was good to be reminded how just following through an idea to see the results, can allow you to play around and have fun- the constraints we were given stopped us having to make choices about what we were doing, freeing us up to just get creative with the materials at hand. 

Bags, scissors and glue. A truly regal King Henry-sponsered by Lidl?!

We also used the bags as a way of exploring colour, creating gradients and mixing colours using just shades of red, yellow and blue. I love working in the studio and getting to tape all our work on the walls as we go. Just seeing all that colour is instantly inspiring!

I tried to keep my creative process loose, fun and free in our collaging workshop the next day, where I was working from my Box Clever project objects again. 

Finally, a bit of life drawing. I decided to join the UAL life drawing society after getting to do a few sessions on foundation, and finding it really useful and challenging. Hopefully this will give me a chance to to practise, and improve my drawing skills and style. here's a few from when I went the other evening. It really has been a full on week of drawing!

Final Weaving samples

It's crazy to think that we are half way through our technical rotations! Both Knit and Weave have been very technique based and constructive- in the last few weeks I have actually been able to play around with forming a fabric myself. Although I enjoyed the process of weaving, at first I found I was a little frustrated at how to express my ideas more creatively due to the pace and not knowing what was achievable. Then when we reached the point where our looms were set up and we knew enough to have some time and space to experiment, I just wanted to try a little bit of everything!  
Here are my final samples:

This block challenged me to think a lot about colour- as I wanted to incorporate some of the dark blue from my partner's side of the warp into my weaving, I had to think about how I could try and cover the beige colour that was also part of Mary's warp threads, as it doesn't fit the feel of my work. As my warp was already very bright, comprising of shocking pink and orange, it was interesting playing around with how to introduce other colours that linked to my research to get the effect I wanted. I found that using areas of darker colours in the weave helped to intensify the brightness of the other colours that I wanted to achieve. When I cut up my samples, some of them were smaller than I'd thought they'd looked on the loom, so if I return to weaving, next time I will have more of an idea of what sort of outcomes to expect from what I'm making. I wanted to try and give each final sample it's own feel that related to different areas of my Box Clever research, while conveying an overall sense of fun and energy through my samples as a whole. It has felt like quite a privilege to try this amazing process for the first time. It's been a challenging and satisfying block, and I definitely have an appreciation and understanding for weaving that I didn't have 2 weeks ago!

Leighton House

Yesterday I went to Leighton House, a place Emmanuelle mentioned in a previous lecture. She'd been raising questions about what the 'exotic' is, and where the passion to collect things that are considered 'oriental' and different to the culture we experience, came from. 

Leighton House dates back to the Victorian era, and is a purpose built studio home, designed and lived in by the artist Fredrick Leighton, who was fascinated with the Middle East. When I visited, I was just overwhelmed by the visual impact of the main hall space. Known as the 'Arab room', it contains beautiful mosaics, a fountain, large decorative screens over the windows, a domed ceiling at one end and walls covered in the most stunning turquoise-blue tiles. The colour was just amazing!  It was hard to drag myself away from the space, as it was so peaceful and beautiful. I would highly recommend a visit just to stand in that room. It felt like you'd been transported far, far away from the busy bustle of London. Interestingly, Lord Leighton's own bedroom was very plain and bare in contrast. It's as if all he'd channelled all his energies into creating the wonderful world downstairs, that nothing else could really compare...

photos don't really do it justice- just go and experience this beautiful place for yourself!

Weaving away

Back on the loom, I've been experimenting and working up to my final samples for the block. In the last day or two I suddenly felt like weaving made much more sense. Initially, I'd found the mathematical side of the lifting plans a little restrictive, and although the weave patterns are all beautiful, I wanted to create something that wasn't so flat! However, once I started exploring looping, adding in contrasting yarns and combining the patterns I was using, it all became much more freeing and alive.

looking back to research drawings and windings for inspiration 

exploring looping with jelly cord and shredded metallic paper

using lurex against warp yarns to create a shine!

playing with patterns and textures

a pile of design ideas and yarn cuttings for final samples!

When we cut all our samples off the loom at the end of the week, it was such an amazing feeling to spread all our collective work over the workshop floor- it was like we'd created some kind of giant rug! 

The process of weaving has a very satisfying end result- I am still amazed that I have physically woven together my own fabric samples from 3 meters of warp yarns, that, a week and a half ago was still just a load of threads on a big spool. When I visited Leighton House Museum yesterday, there was a video clip about the restoration and recreation of the fabrics that would have furnished the house in the 19th century. It showed a workshop with a lady hand-weaving silk braiding for one of the upper rooms, and I thought- wow, now I've had an experience of this wonderful process too! Images of my final samples are to come….

Weave under-way!

It's weave-time! First I tried plain weave, the most basic style of weaving. I think it could be quite effective to have strips of plain weave in bright blocks of colour between sections of more structured/manipulated bits of weaving. 

Looking at my artwork and windings, I decided to start playing around with a few different colours and qualities of yarns in the weft. I especially want to focus on getting the plastic-y shine of my research objects, so I've been making up bobbins with iridescent thread wound into them and have brought some jelly-like plastic cord. 

mixed blue and iridescent bobbin

 Lisa introduced us to lifting plans, where you can move the heddles in different formations to start creating different patterns in your fabric. Here I was playing around with a 1/3 twill- I like how you get a different effect on the front and the back. It will be interesting to fully examine this when my samples so far are cut off the loom!

I feel like I only just got going- now I have so many ideas I want to try out! Next week, I want to try and experiment a bit with the surface of my weave, and see how I can add in some more texture, rather than having all completely flat pieces. I hope I'll have enough workshop time to play around a bit more, as well as making some final samples for the block. 

Weave preparation

Weave definitely has its own pace- after preparing our warp yarns, we then had to learn how to thread up and 'dress' the loom before we could begin making. 

It was so exciting to start our first sample after all the anticipation! It feels very satisfying to actually be creating your own fabric- it seems like there are endless ways to change the structure of the weave and manipulate it. As we're sharing looms with a partner, its also quite interesting to see how Mary's blue and beige colours sit next to my pink and orange. The blue creates quite a striking contrast to my warp when added in along the weft, so it should be fun to play around with this when we get chance to experiment individually.