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.