week four/five (part one).

I have left the blog for a while, purely by mistake. I think I have been trying to concentrate so much on trying to get my pattern cutting started that I lost track of documenting it on here. Selecting my first design from my line-up of illustrations- I broke the look into pieces and began to three-dimensionally place it in my mind. I wanted to do a mixture of both draping and moulage on the stand but also flat-pattern cutting to develop a more interesting approach to the construction- but also to use both techniques and improve them so it becomes more natural to work in this way. 

This is the first look I selected to take forward through to the three-dimensional exploration. I felt the aesthetic and attitude of the look combined both the feel of Grace Jones- yet a contemporary interpretation of her style simultaneously- without the piece looking laboured with all these elements. 

Using a self-drafted bodice block- I cut the paper pattern and then manipulated it onto the form. Taking the flat-pattern itself, but manipulating it in a more three-dimensional manner. Cutting away elements from the back to reveal the detailing I want to place there and also the bulk to make the piece more form-fitting to the body. Using fashion-tape I also guided my lines across the form- again as another technique to create the fit and design I want from the look. Removing the piece from the stand (below image) then gave me a rough structure of the pattern I wanted to create. 

Taking it back to the flat form- and re-tracing it- I was left with a structure that I will have to toile to see whether the fit is the look I intended. Within the pattern I allowed for the potential use of internal canvassing to again- define form and give support and structure to the look- undoubtedly an element I seem to be focused on achieving at this stage in the development. I feel I'm struggling slightly with this stage just due to the time limits on it and the need to have physical toiles by next Tuesday. This is the time that naturally will take the longest, for me anyway, and their will be potentially some compromises in the process I will have to make purely due to time constraints- which on reflection is the most frustrating part of keeping to a timetabled brief.  

week three.

After my tutorial it was decided that the work I had was heavily focused on colour and it was hard with the images I had (and drawings) to truly isolate shape and form within them. For myself I could see where I was heading in relation to the project but for someone looking through the work this element wasn't as coherent as everything else.

Selecting some of my most important images I started by editing them into black and white. A simple process, yet it changed the whole form of the photograph with the shape instantly taking precedence over colour. This made photographs which, at first, had looked purely useful for colour analysis suddenly become vitally informative for my shape and silhouette development. I began to draw from these producing sketches that were more focused on three-dimensional shape rather than the graffiti art itself. I also used some smaller sculptures made from referencing Dahlem to draw from and create a more developed understanding of the forms I wanted to create. 

Using the black and white photography I began to just play about with them in photoshop making new forms, again referencing my artists- but also just to quickly develop new forms both in the positive and negative.(Examples above) This medium is really useful as I can produce a high volume of work in a shorter amount of time- meaning I can explore more ideas and find the one I like. 

I'm still unsure whether I want to commit to an sole idea at the moment- and have two strong themes through the drawing so far- developing each further will hopefully illustrate to me which one will be potentially more successful to take forward as the basis for my collection. 

week two. part two.

Further than this the graffiti style and 'street-art' was incredibly useful- but limiting in its aesthetic. It will be a strong theme in my work but I needed something more than this to work with- especially in regards to three-dimensional work and proportion. Using artists I had seen in passing before and also new works I'm beginning to look at the work of Bjorn Dahlem and Pedro Cabrita Reis. These works were more structural and industrial yet referenced the work I had been previously looking at. With this I am thinking that my drawing will develop into the three-dimensional references I need.

week two. part one.

Grace Jones progressively used artists and stylists throughout her career for collaborative effect. Especially in relation to her album artwork and covers. Most of the iconic imagery surrounding her work was created through partnership with Jean-Paul Goude for this purpose. I thought it would be an interesting angle if I took this principle and used art to inspire the collection and work to be placed back onto Jones. This will allow me to create both a developed and individual project- also giving me form and colour reference. Looking into urban and underground art seemed naturally more appealing- and also subtly reference Jones' work as for much of her career she was at the forefront of smaller sub-sections of the music industry. Aesthetically this art gave a more graphic, colourful style that suited both her skin-tone and her sense of style. It also was interesting to me. That undoubtedly is important in the earlier stages of the project. 

A selection of two images illustrating my research into graffiti and urban 'street-art'. On a first response these images look useful purely as a colour reference. However I want to develop these images further by isolation shape and form from within them and using that as a basis to move forward in three-dimensional development. 

week one.

Initially I wasn't too sure how to approach the project- in terms of selecting an idol. Knowing that for the next couple of months my work would be focused around them meant that I needed to be sure in myself that they would be both interesting, sustainable and relatable to the project brief. Grace Jones was an initial thought as I looked over the brief- after looking through other options to work with she became the one that I came back too each time. In terms of the All Walks specifications she embodied a new angle of age, culture and body proportion whilst simultaneously being diverse enough to allow creativity and a new point of view to be formed. 

I wanted to look at Grace Jones both in primary aesthetic sense and then secondly her contextual surrounding. Using both her body and style initially as a reference point but then developing a concept from this using her career and life making the outcome potentially more interesting. Working with her as an idol has so far been productive and from the surrounding context the information i've managed to gather the project is moving forward. 

Three-Dimensional Progression.

Within my collection a lot of the pieces began to use similar sort of panelling combinations, especially in the top halves of the looks. So developing it into the next stage of the project I needed to basically achieve this pattern before I could determine whether the majority of the designs would work as intended on the page. Using fashion tape on the stand I marked out what I wanted from the design, and then placing calico onto it and tracing it off I began to cut and slash what elements of the material needed to be removed for the look to fit close to the body. This currently is still the stage I am working on as it is becoming the integral part of my work at the moment, if it looks as if (with the material I have selected) it will be unachievable it may mean redesigning elements, so the patterns become feasible.

Secondary.

Both Pheobe English and Antonio Berardi are currently serving as strong forms of inspiration for this collection, especially the beautiful use of texture, and the compulsory lace. English’s work in particular is proving really useful as an innovative take on eveningwear, bringing something new to the table.

Finally another post.

I’ve seriously been neglecting this blog for a while. Not in the sense that I haven’t been doing it- I’ve just been scribbling the posts into various pads/ and on post its and now I’m finally sitting, editing and attempting to make sense of it all. The picture above is one that is currently serving as a keen element of inspiration in the collection. The geometry and simplicity of some of the lines and forms I have taken from it are developing into some interesting silhouettes and further pushing me into new approaches to garment construction, which is ultimately never a bad thing. Putting a piece of acetate on top of this image and simplifying down the form and line, the pieces for the collection slowly are subsequently emerging.

Sketchbook two.

I started to get really into working in my sketchbook, if not in all honesty in neglect to the 'quality drawings' we are supposed to be producing. I think in this sense I personally see this as a good thing for me- I often see the sketchbook as a secondary element in a project which it shouldn't be but for some reason this time I'm loving it more than is healthy I think. Not in a deep and unnerving way though- nothing weird.

The bottom image is just a quick collage I had done that became surprisingly visually useful in what I could use it for. Again its graphic nature is something I worry about, but can't avoid liking, maybe its potential manipulation into a pattern piece could be the answer to my work at the moment.

The top image is really, if clear, the idea I want to be running with- I managed to produce a three-dimensional sculpture from coat hangers (inspiring to me it seems) and from this simplistic idea I have gathered so many thoughts and ideas on how this could progress into garment shape/pattern piece design. I guess sometimes the concepts that seem throwaway at first quickly become the crucial link in a project and its development. I began today playing with the idea of negative space, although this is something that isn't manifesting itself into anything influentially beautiful yet. I'm beginning to see exhausting all possibilities is producing the best results from this project but the time in which I have to do this means I'm falling behind on hitting the 'numbers' for how many drawings I have to do. The word quality seemingly means time-consuming, as it should I guess.

Sketchbook one.

I found this term working through my sketchbook definitely more useful in relation to this project- it doesn't seem groundbreaking but a drawing project always seems more logistically placed alongside in a sketchbook. I found just to get my ideas down and for my own piece of mind the sketchbook almost consolidated what I was thinking rather than relying on so many bits of paper here and there. I do get that this isn't really revolutionary thinking and in essence the sketchbook is integral to any project- but anything that makes me feel like its helping is never a bad thing really.

Getting a little clearer...

This image was definitely taken in the period where I began to gather a clearer idea on what compositions were working, and furthermore the images I would be able to take forward and use in the next stage of the brief. The hard geometric manner formed from this image juxtaposed by the graphic and at times softened objects creates, I feel an really valuable image. I managed to take these sorts of images simply by getting use to what I was doing, road-testing compositions and seeing by both my eye, and what my lens was capturing. An element that I seemed to struggle with was the sense that the naked eye seems to view elements of these compositions differently to what a lens will ultimately capture. The distinctive difference at times created a surprising result, and in other moments disappointment.

Indexing- a little later than expected.

My initial response to our new project was pretty negative- with the themes being very similar to one we had done in first year. The idea of indexing our belongings over the next couple of weeks seemed a little tedious- further being far reaching in terms of my design. Nevertheless when I began to start placing objects into compositions and photographing them the imagery I was producing seemed more visually interesting than I had first anticipated. The collection of images I managed to take gave me a strong basis to then form the next part of the project on.

The first two images (above) became some of my successful compositions taken from the initial response I had to the brief. I thought the concept of placing together objects would be difficult, but I found combining certain shapes and forms together started to produce images that I could see a lot of potential with. A started to gather a very graphic quality to my images- something that I treated with an air of precaution as I felt the more the viewer became focused on this, the less it was about form- ultimately what I was concentrating on.