project 6, stage 4, raised and structured surface textures continued

Some more samples of creating texture on fabric. For the first sample I did an arashi shibori (pole shibori), wetted the fabric and let it dry on the pole. When it was completely dry I removed it from the pole, placed it on a piece of fusible web and ironed it in place. I have to admit that this picture is not my best, but I hope you can see enough of the pleated effect I got.

This same technique can be used if you want to paint your arashi shibori. Normally with arashi shibori the closest you get to the pole the lighter the pattern on the fabric becomes. With painting the fabric you can get an even result on the whole piece of your fabric.

 The second sample looks like a tied shibori, but it is not. I used a grill tray which had holes to poke a piece of fabric through and ironed a piece of fusible web to the back. This gives roughly the same effect as tied shibori, but is quicker to achieve.

 This third sample is tied shibori. To start I had drawn circles on the back of the fabric with a pencil, stitched through the pencil lines, pulled and knotted the threads. In this sample all the circles had the same size, but it can also be done with different sizes of circles.

 This fourth sample was made by scrunching a wet piece of fabric and iron it like it was. The pleats and folds are completely irregular. To make certain that the fabric stays like this I hand stitched with small stitched close to the edges of the folding lines. In this sample I hand stitched, but machine stitching is also an option which gives a slightly different effect.

Project 6, stage 4, raised and structured surface textures

This blogpost is all about fabric manipulation to create texture. There are many ways of achieving this and with this blogpost I will show you some of the samples I made. Actually I made enough samples to fill 3 blogposts or maybe even more. The first picture shows two different ways of gathering fabric together. The row at the left is done with rows of even stitches: thread above the fabric in the same place. This gives a similar effect to all the rows after the threads have been pulled. I prefer the row at the right more. Here the rows have uneven stitches: thread above the fabric is not in the same place. The effect of this is more variated than the even lines.

 The next sample is made from different layers of fabric. Each has a distinctive different color. A grid has been stitched over this and with a seamripper the top layers of the fabric have been cut open. In this sample I cut away all the top layers, but it can also be done in such a way that certain parts are only cut open through the first layer and other parts through more than one layer. Fraying the fabric a bit helps to show more result.

 For the red sample I took advantage of the fact that this red knitted polyester fabric looked different when you compare the front and the back of the fabric. I placed the back of the fabric facing up when I placed a smaller circle front facing up on top of it. The next step was to stitch a spiral through the circle and cut in between the stitching lines. To get the best effect of this I had to trim away some of the fabric next to the cutting lines. This technique I had never used before and I have to say that I really like it.

 The final sample of this blog post is a combination of different textured fabrics, folded, scrunched and pleated at random before stitching it down with a thread of pearl cotton. The big stitches are part of the texture. On purpose I made 3 of those samples because I wanted to see how they looked like when they were painted and dyed. I know that some of the fabrics are cotton, but I don't know whether they have been treated or not. Results of this will be in a future blog post.

Project 5, Stage 4

For this stage a bigger sample had to be made. Mine turned out to be 16"x14". As you can see it is a repeated version of the onion print I did on paper for project 4. On purpose the onions are placed in different positions, the prints become more dynamic this way and the use of the fabric is more versatile. I limited myself to 5 rows of 4 onion prints, but this kind of print can go on forever.
This sample is done on a cotton/bamboo blend and I left the background in the original color. With this print many variations are possible. I am thinking about changing the size of the onions, mix big onions with smaller onions. Use different colors while printing, some can be red, others can be purple or pink. The background can be in different colors, either matching with the color used for the prints (pink background with red prints) or the opposite (yellow background with blue prints, creating an overal greenish effect). There are many ways of playing with this composition.
Another version could be big onions in a row, followed by a row of small onions. In my opinion this composition would be more static, but that can have it's use as well.
There were many samples in my design ideas. My preference goes out to the unusual, more lively/organic shapes. That is the main reason that I choose this design for the bigger sample. Another reason is that when people see this print, they will look again at it when they realise that the stamp was a sliced onion.
This kind of print shows best on a smooth fabric like a cotton, or in this case a cotton/bamboo blend. I think that the effect of the onion print would be lost on a sheer fabric. The print is rather subtile and light in certain areas and the overall effect would be lost on sheers. The different prints are close enough to form a connection, but still represent the individual shape of the onion. Some areas show more background but that is because the shape of the onion is not the same width and hight everywhere.

Project 4, stage 4 plus review

For this project I decided to work with this doodle. In my previous blogpost I already wrote a bit on how I plan to work with this idea.

Knowing that I wanted to work in black and white I cut out some shapes of black card stock: wavy lines and circles. Al of them in different sizes. I drew 3 rectangular shapes in my sketchbook and started playing around with the shapes. Here are the designs I came up with. I added my comments to each of them. The first design was A:

A bold wavy lines and 3 rather big circles. Because one of the circles overlaps the wavy lines, the shape becomes confused. Two other negative points of this design are that it is mainly vertical and because of that the view leads out of the design.

My second design was B:

I made the wavy lines much thinner and added a horizontal line as well. However the horizontal line is too bold compared to the vertical lines. The circles are much smaller than in design A. The positive points of this design are that the design is both vertical as well as horizontal and because of that the view stays within the design. The eye roams around starting in the top left corner.

My third design is this one C:

The vertical lines are still thin. Instead of the bold horizontal line of design B, I used 2 thin lines and placed them in a more playful position. I reduced the circles a bit in size and added a third one. The size of the strips and the circles are better matched this way. The thin horizontal lines are more in harmony with the thin vertical ones, more pleasing to the eye. Same as with design B the view of this design moves over the design, starting at the top, but stays within the design.

Out of these 3 designs, design C is the most balanced. The black lines and circles are not overpowering, they are in balance with the white background. Because of the different shapes (lines as well as circles) there is a difference in shapes used which makes it pleasing. I really like this design and will make a small quilt out of it. The texture will be created by the fabric I intend to use:

A bit difficult to take a good picture of, but the white is a uneven woven linnen and the black is a smooth Kona. Additional texture will be created by the quilting.

Review:

- Did you manage to make space move?

Yes, I did. By placing the shapes in different places I can create movement. Especially when some of the shapes go over the edge of the design.

- What are your thoughts about the drawing you did in stage 3?

Drawing is not - and will never be - my strongest or my favorite way of expressing myself. I wrote about that in an earlier blogpost. Doodling is the most I do for a design. But I love the mindmapping or word association to come up with ideas and how I can make use of them.

- Were you able to use your drawings successfully as a basis for further work? Are there any other things you would like to try?

Yes, I can use my doodles for further work. Actually I have several designs in my mind and in doodles on which I will be working the coming weeks.

- Now that you have a good working method, do you feel confident that you can carry on working in this way independently?

Yes. I can write a lot here, but it all comes down to the fact that I have been working in this way for many years now.

Project 3, Stage 4, Exercise 2

Another exercise on color :-). I picked an image from my collection which I really like. It is 'Blue Triangles with Yellow' painted by Susan McDonald (www.mcdonald-studio.com), oil and encaustic on panel 18"x12":

I love the combination of yellow and blue she used. Using this picture as an inspiration source I made a color bag using threads, fabric and some fish scales). Also I mixed some of my acrylic paints to identify the separate colors used.

Somewhere later in this course this color bag will be used.

Project 3, Stage 4, Exercise 1

It is some time ago since I last posted, but computer issues took up most of my time. I have a new one and that meant transferring files and reorganising everything. But that is done so I can now spend time again on this course.
This exercise is about color and the moods the colors can represent. These contrasting words I 'translated' into colors and this is what they look to me:



I know that cultures respond different to colors and even in our Western cultures there are opposite words which can be represented into the same colors like love and hate. Many people associate both colors with red. Even in the examples I used some of them are a bit alike. The association with active, young and healthy can be done in the same color.



Project 2, Stage 4 embroidery

More exploration of stitches and the effect they give. My books have not yet arrived, but through Google I found this site on which a huge range of embroidery stitches is mentioned. My collection of yarn is still small so the choices I could make are limited. The designs are based on some of the mark makings I did earlier on in this project.
On the first picture at the right I used a splitstich done with hand dyed yellow DMC embroidery floss. The design on the right is made from a blue fruit nett and yellow floss.





On this picture is a variety of stitches. The top one on the left is a coral stitch, next to that an open Cretain stitch. The long one at the right is an interlaced running stitch. The spiral in the middle is a white yarn couched down with a herringbone stitch and the crescent shape is made with French knots.

My experience with hand embroidery is limited. It is something I will have to work on the coming months. That is the reason I signed up for Sharon's class (see link above). It will give me more change to experiment with stitches and I will end up with a range of fiber cards :-).