Art Diploma Blog Ellie Fisher: 25th Sampling And Dyed Fabrics

On Tuesday 25^th April I continued to develop samples and experimentations around the Textiles studio from my chosen colour schemes and layered screens. The opportunity was given to progress within the Textiles studio to produce a diverse range of sampling and experimentation of techniques and processes to contribute towards my project outcome. Also within the studio practise, I gained continued sampling through experimenting with different surfaces obtained and planned before my task with my blue card and costing sheet. The materials continued to explore the basic fabrics of cotton and calico which have been summarised previously and worked well within my chosen outcomes and colour scheme experimentation. However, I also decided to move away from the aspect to create samples with different textured fabrics including Muslin, Chiffon and Azeta. Through the material of cotton, I have expanded the bleached surface further to follow the process of dying fabrics with procian colours displayed within the studio. Also within the studio I have continued to generate T-shirt sampling with the experimentation of a yellow surface to adapt to my surface design exploration and the campaign aspect theme. It has allowed me to maintain the understanding of the campaign method well through the T-shirt surfaces as it was an importance element within the movement to capture the support and maintain the community spirit. Also the T-shirt sampling was important as it allowed me to follow the restraints of the colour surface yellow to suit my screens and sampling well. The task has allowed me to plan, prepare and organise within the Textiles studio to complete chosen techniques and methods achieve to suit my development and project outcome. Also the task has allowed me to prepare through planning the amount of fabric required the cost restraints within the pieces. The task, has allowed me to problem solving theoretically and practically to suit processes and outcomes when generated through the studio. Finally, the task has allowed me to generate practical skills within the studio to suit my process of design well. The practical skills element has allowed me to work independently and safely within the studio to produce samples to a high standard and gain the methods previously learnt and achieved within the specialised element of Textiles.

To start the task, I decided to create dyed fabrics with the chosen material cotton to capture different surfaces in which the screen-print designs can be progressed and developed onto. I have previously used the process within the Textiles Studio and I wanted to expand and prepare for the technique further to suit my style and requirements. For the task and chosen colour dyes, I wanted to maintain the importance of my highlighted choice of colour schemes through the surface development. To capture the importance and miners’ strike outcomes, I decided to use various colours previously generated within my sampling and visual sheets as they capture the understanding of the striking colours used within the campaign work. Also through the fabric dyes, I decided to use also cool colours including green and blue to capture the surface and expanded colours obtained from the national flag and traditional tapestry banners. As all of the works connected together, it contributed my knowledge and understanding of the research generated within my project. The procian dyes included:

· Procian Blue

· Procian yellow

· Procian turquoise

· Procian orange

· Procian scarlet

These dyes were planned and organised before the task to generate the samples within the studio. To prepare for the task a paint brush was obtained and newsprint to transfer the material onto the surface. To avoid contamination of the dye, brushes were washed at each stage when a new colour was generated. Health and safety was maintained throughout the task to avoid the dyes becoming in contact with skin. Firstly, gloves were worn when handling the chemicals to avoid the risk of in contact with skin. Also, an apron was worn to avoid the surface being transferred onto clothes but also skin. The rules were maintained throughout the task. Newsprint was used to avoid spillage of the designs being transferred onto different fabrics within the drying rack. Once the process was left to dry, I continued to generate further T-shirt samples within the studio.

Dyes Left To Dry

Dying Fabrics

For my t-shirt sampling, I decided to expand my knowledge further from previous designs including the white cotton outcomes to create an experimentation of different surface backgrounds and colour scheme. To prepare for the task, the T-shirts were obtained within my independent study which continued to have the same size as previous experimentations. For the colour scheme within the yellow surface I decided to explore the outcome of green and black as it was previously explored within my sketchbook and contributed to my understanding well of tapestry works. As the background surface was yellow it allowed me to experiment with two surface layers within the design well. When transferring the colour green onto the surface, a problem was faced which was that due to the surface change it caused the tone to change into a mint colour appearance. However, the problem was resolved as it maintained a strong appearance within the surface well causing a positive appearance within the design. The black layout also contributed to the surface well and combined the appearance effectively to create a final outlook. I was pleased with the understanding of the T-shirt appearance and how the restraint and colour surface worked with in my favour to produce effective outlooks. The designs worked well but to improve further within reflection, I am going to gum strip the top half of the design as the guidance line continued to appear within the surface and corner layer of my outcome. Also within the T-shirt sampling process I started to develop another white cotton T-shirt with the scheme of the national flag of blue, red and black. Within the task, I generated the background layers of the design which was the colour blue on the surface and background of the layout. I will be completing the T-shirt outcomes further within the Textiles Studio.

Blue T-Shirt Sample

Surface Design Of Background layer

Final Outcome with errors of exposure

T-shirt Background

Next, I focused generating and preparing further A4 samples of each surface outline through colour schemes and varied material displays. As each design samples were created through 3 layers this was a restraint as I had to manage my time efficiently within the studio to produce large scale amounts and pieces of designs. However it allowed me to plan my time efficiently to suit the time amounts given within the studio to produce analysed samples. Each sample below shows working progress and will be analysed within my Technical file the positive and negative aspects of the design. Within the surface layouts I have produced 4 calico pieces capturing each individual layer and chosen scheme of red, orange, black and yellow. These have been identified within my blog as these are going to be explored and developed further within the process of Applique and patchwork design within the sewing machine process. The calico fabrics will connect and develop to my understanding of the final outcome and piece I am aiming to achieve initially which is displayed within my sketchbook of Textiles processes.