Project 1, Stage 4

The last stage for project 1 was working from my sketchbooks - again making textural studies. It asked for 4 or 5 images to work from so I then only made 2 textural studies for each. I feel partly guilty that I'm not doing more but I don't want to go on forever!

I ran out of A3 paper today so I've had to order another book - in the meantime here are all the separate studies arranged around the 5 focus areas.

And since I now have the A3 book here they are all glued in....

Now is the time to reflect upon work so far...

Have you ever thought about drawing in this way before?
Actually I sketch A LOT but I tend to sketch things like my dream house layout or website designs or dress designs rather than sketching for the sake of sketching. My sketching has always been for a design rather than for the art itself. I've enjoyed sitting down and forcing myself to draw. 


Were you able to be inventive about the range of marks you made?
I don't think so!!! I looked at a lot of other students blogs so I think I had over-saturated my brain. Those moments where I was a bit more out of the box and free-flowing I didn't think turned out so well. I do think I've been quite inventive in my sketching at moments though so I think the exercises have opened me up a little bit creatively.

Did you explore a wide range of media?
I explored all the media I have and I don't want to go purchasing any more! I've used crayons, pencils, ink, felt tip, watercolour (hard, liquid, crayon, pencil), acrylic, gouache, chalks. On a few different papers - perhaps not quite as exploratory with the papers but I had to reign it in somewhere.

Are you pleased with what you've done? Will it help you to approach drawing more confidently?
I look at my work and I sometimes I think 'it looks like a primary school kid did it' and sometimes I'm really happy with it. There are definitely some pieces that I'm thrilled with though so I have to take that as a plus. It will help me to approach drawing more confidently in that I'm more confident about starting. I'm not any more or less confident that the actual result will be pleasing!

Which exercise did you most enjoy? Why?
I enjoyed Stage 3, Exercise 1 the most - making textural studies based on images. I enjoyed it the most because I could take a starting point that I was already inspired by. I also found it interesting because I could analyse *why* I loved the image i.e. colours, textures, patterns, contrasts etc.

Which media did you most enjoy working with? Why?
Pens. I did enjoy painting but I do not enjoy the faff associated with getting out, putting away, tidying up. I love the quickness of pens, the depth of colour that I can get, the tidiness, the portability. I don't even want to try to force myself to use other media because I think instead of producing more work I'll end up doing less.

What other forms of mark-making could you try?
A lot! I know I could have gone on for a long time but I was conscious of time and also running out of inspiration and focus. I've seen posts from other students and other creative sources for different styles of sketching, painting and some amazing mixed media. But I'm happy with what I've done for Project 1 and know it will help for the upcoming projects.

How will these exercises enrich your textile work in the future?

I'm more focused on textures, how lines are put together, what media might be best to test out a design or to prototype an idea. 'Sketching' does not necessarily mean just using a pencil to me now. I'm happy to explore the varieties of an idea. All of these things can only help to enrich future work.

Any questions for your tutor or any points that you specifically want to remember?

Not really notes or questions for my tutor other than "Am I doing this right?!" It is a little hard to do via distance learning if only because I think I crave approval!


Points that I specifically want to remember:


* When I'm truly inspired by something that seems to often be when I produce the best work.
* When I 'force' something it often ends up disappointing
* I like dark and/or muted colours. I'm not going to struggle against it!


Notes for continuance of the course:


* I still haven't completed taking photographs of man made things relating to texture, groups of objects, looking into the distance etc.
* I need to go to another exhibition - I'm planning to go to one soon but its an architecture one - I'll have to see what sort of exhibits are there before I can decide I can properly relate it to textile studies.
* I've stalled on my reading. I'm currently on 'Drawn to Stitch' by Gwen Hedley and I'm struggling with the repetitiveness of the course textbooks i.e. Its good to sketch. Take a notebook with you everywhere you go etc etc. I've allowed myself to get slightly annoyed by taking an 'I know it all attitude'. Time to rein that in I think...
* I've been doing the work on time but updating the blog (with retrospective dates) in big pushes at later dates. I'm happy with this but wanted to note it down here in case anyone gets confused by checking in one day and seeing no posts then another day to see weeks worth backdated!