UNIT X weeks 3 and 4 (Farm to Fabric)

Over the past two weeks, I have continued working in my sketchbook to create compositions and collages. I have been creating A3 collages and then cutting these up to rearrange them, and have enjoyed this way of working, as I think it encourages me to be less precious about my work, however I feel working in my sketchbook can be limiting. It stops me experimenting with scale, and the technique of doing collages and then cutting them up has become slightly repetitive. To break out of this process, I began working on loose sheets.

A1 and A2 compositions.

At first I was working at A2 scale, and doing detailed collages, trying to fill the space on the page. Although I enjoyed doing these, they took me a long time, so in week three I only managed to complete 3 of them, and they were very busy and dense. Following advice from my tutorial, I continued to work large scale on A2, but also branched out into doing A1 compositions. To inspire these, I went back to my sketchbook and focused on recreating some of the cut up squares of more detailed collages, as though they were little thumbnails of designs, rather than trying to design detailed compositions as I was collaging.

sketchbook 'thumbnails'.

I found this a really helpful process, as it made me stop thinking to deeply about the compositions and allowed me to be more instinctive, which I believe has made me produce more successful artworks. I can see some of the designs now feeding into digital and screen-printed designs, as well as being original artworks.

I found week 3 especially difficult as I was in a rut from working in my sketchbook and wasn’t sure how to progress with my drawing work, but having moved out of the sketchbook, but continued to use it to inform my bigger collages I have felt much more optimistic about the project and the potential for printed design outcomes. As well as this, in between week 2 and 3 I went on a course trip to New York, which was fantastic in terms of artist inspiration, but left me feeling out of the loop of my work when I returned. Now a few weeks on, I am back I the swing of work.

Over the next week, I am going to continue collaging at different scales, to inform new digital designs and screen-printing. I will also be laser cutting shapes from my collages out of Perspex to then attach to my designs, as I am planning the outcomes for this project to be embellished fabric and wallpaper. Rather than seeing drawing/collaging as a step before designing, I am now going to be doing it alongside my design work, to continue informing new ideas.

Designs for screens.

Throughout these weeks I also completed proposals for the Vertical Gallery (which was unsuccessful) and New Designers, which have been useful processes. Despite not being selected for the vertical gallery, I feel confident in putting myself forward for these opportunities which are outside my comfort zone.