October 2022

Kelly Lam

task：2

Reflection.
I did this TASK and I actually didn’t understand what my teacher meant at first. Through talking to my classmates, I understood the detailed requirements of the task. This caused me to waste a lot of time because what I did upfront did not meet the teacher’s requirements.

In the future I will make sure to watch the recorded content carefully and also to solve problems in time.
Through this learning, I have made new discoveries and I feel that I was particularly lacking in exploring new patterns before. Pattern exploration is not only about the shape of the object itself, but also about new developments through superimposing, copying, rotating, twisting and distorting, which can be very rewarding. This is very important for design.

For this assignment, I tried a pattern layout that I had not tried before, by changing the size of the pattern and copying and pasting to get a new shape. The colours of the original patterns were changed through computer software. These new methods helped me to think and feel in a new way. It gives me more possibilities to develop my designs in the future.

In order to make these ten paintings different from the previous ten paintings, so I combined different images. The colour and shape possibilities have also become more varied. New patterns can also be unlocked.

For example, in the one with the different faces, I just tried the technique of distorting the faces to express different human emotions and used wool felt for the eye part. The new pattern was obtained by copying and pasting.

Figuring out how to go about this task. Things went smoothly too.

Task1：

Reflection.
At the very beginning, most of my colour choices were very monochromatic and poorly saturated, and then the patterns were more line oriented. There were very few colour blocks. I reflect that this made my designs, less selective and more limited. So later on I added more colour block extractions. The choice of colours also became more varied. This has advanced my drawing a lot since then.

I had a new way of thinking about the choice of materials and expressions. So I experimented with the expression of tie-dye prints. This gave me good colour extraction. I found that there are actually a lot of colours in life that I can use to get new inspiration.

I reflected on how little first-hand research I used to do, which limited my imagination, so in future I still need to learn to get out more and get new inspiration. This is so important for design. By observing and touching reality can bring more inspiration and feelings.

Through this assignment, I found that crayons are great tools, they are great for creating new colours and getting new colours by overlaying different colours. Compared to watercolour, I would find the use of crayons would be simpler to mix colours. Also white crayons work really well and this discovery has really helped me a lot at this stage of learning.

Reflection:

I found ‘Intro to Fashion Textiles’ tricky yet enjoyable. At first glance, I thought I’d be able tackle the drawings and task with ease; however, it proved to be more difficult than I thought.

Adventuring around London was enjoyable and I loved seeking out colourful objects, buildings, clothes and taking notice of my surroundings more than usual.

When it came to drawing, I found it challenging to come out of my comfort zone at first. For example, using different media and exploring styles such as: mark making, using block colours, collaging. Although, once I got into the swing of things and I relaxed, it was enjoyable and I especially loved creating patterns, as it’s something I have rarely tried.

During the course of the project (for ‘Talking Colour’), I discovered that using black paper helped to increase the vibrancy of the colour and drawing to life. Personally, I think my ‘Confetti over a crowd’ helps prove this. Moreover, (for ‘Seeing Pattern’) I attempted paper manipulation through weaving, which is a technique I will be using in the future, as I can truly envision the translation into textiles.

Looking back, I wish I had used a larger variety of paper colours and textures, rather than restricting myself to white, black and tracing. Nonetheless, I am pleased with the different media I used such as: watercolour, pastels, gouache.

I found the project a very useful starter for me and a good introduction, as to what is expected in terms of creativity and experimentation. It was lovely to have freedom with this, as well as, seeing what peers chose to do.

Observational drawing of Astronaut at The Wellcome Collection- Repeated design using watercolour, gel pens and oil pastels.

Scale: A4

Drawing of building in portobello- Repeated design using watercolour, gel pens and photoshop.

Scale: A5

Abstract painting of oranges using watercolour, Posca pens and acrylic paint.

Scale: A4

Three pieces using the paint palettes from my original paint designs- creating an abstract trilogy of paintings.

Scale: A5

Life drawing repeated in a pattern using photoshop.

Scale: Three A4 pieces

Abstract painting of leaves in Kyoto gardens- using watercolour, acrylic paint and gel pens.

Scale: A5

Underneath a mushroom repeated in a pattern using photoshop.

Scale: A4

Square design seen in tube station repeated using photoshop- original design using watercolour and oil pastels.

Scale: A5

Reflection:

Intro to Fashion Textiles was a good way to explore different medias and gain a greater understanding of colours and textures. It was also a way to see what gained your interest beyond just architectural and natural forms. 

When creating these drawings and patterns I found it particularly hard to follow the original colours of the pieces as I have my own way and style of using colours to compliment different qualities of a photo or observational article. This can be seen in my observational drawing of half of an apple in ‘Talking Colour’, I use blue tones as the base colour of the apple contrasting with the normal yellow tinge an inside of an apple has. I also explore a green skin that contrasts with the usual red skin. I think playing with the colour wheel and exploring opposite colours is quite prominent in my practice.

I also enjoy playing around with scale and zooming in and out of drawings and paintings. For example, my painting of the radish in ‘Talking Colour’ – it was originally a batch of radishes but I felt that pinpointing one radish would compliment the final piece and create a more accurate representation of what I was seeing.

If I were to start ‘Talking Colour’ again I would play around with textures more as I feel that in ‘Seeing Pattern’ they are more pronounced. Particularly in my paint palette pieces- the paint has hardened in a 3D form which brings more depth to the final piece than something like the observational drawing of the mushroom as it’s quite a flat design and doesn’t give much to work with when transferring onto textile design. 

Overall, I think Intro to Fashion Textiles pushed my boundaries to using more colour but also showed me that textile design is all about textures and creating flat drawings and illustrations will make it harder to innovate new materials and designs.

reflection

For this tasks, I found that seeing patterns and talking colour helped me come out of my comfort zone because of the use of colour. It has  also shown me that everyday objects can be used to make a pattern on a number of different items. 

While looking back at my drawing I realised that the majority of my drawings are of nature and people, not so many of  them are objects.

In the beginning, I struggled with using colours as it is not what I’m used to.

Most of the drawings are in the style of line drawing as that is what I’m comfortable with. However, through this project I wanted to work on trying to move away from line drawing by using different techniques, different mediums and exaggerating the colour of the subject or object I am drawing. 

I have experimented with digital drawing, pencils, oil pastels and markers.

My favourite technique was digital drawing as I feel that there was a lot I could do with the media and a lot I could experiment with as the are many different types of brushes and colours.

I especially enjoyed making digital patterns. I learnt how to make a pattern from ordinary items and how to make ordinary items look more interesting. I have done this in the pattern of the flowers, where I have drawn a simple flower from a garden and copied and pasted it in different areas on the page and overlapped it with the same flower in a different colour. 

If I could do this again I would experiment with more media such as collaging and painting

For this task we observed colour. Colour surrounds us in our day to day lives; however specific colours and shapes capture individuals differently. After analysing my work, it appears that the colours red and yellow grab my attention. The colour red associated with love and anger; yellow is linked to happiness and energy. When designing my work I generally started with a monotone colours, e.g. blacks\greys, which became very dull to the eye. When applying a coat of colour: paint, pen, crayon, paper, the image starts to transform, bringing life and excitement to the image. It allowed me to question the importance of colour.

I’ve produced a range in my work; people, nature, zooming to certain objects that we come across at some point, sometimes without realising, in our lives. When taking a step back I decided I wanted to take some of my objects and break them down, emphasise shapes, lines, colours; to make them so if you did see them in real life 3D you would most likely – Stop. Stare. Suspect. I then got on a tangent of ripping magazines up, large and small, creating a different textures and structures to an object, allowing shades of colour I’d not seen, shine through.

I decided that flowers are a beauty of nature so I used strong shades of colour to enhance their elegance. I exaggerated lines which caused my art work to echo their personalities and emotions. I came to the conclusion that the importance of colour is crucial as it’s a powerful communication tool; when researched – an influence on phycological reactions. 
I enjoyed working with collaging – shown in my Belladonna Lily – as I find it fascinating that so many shades of red can form a whole new shade itself. For the future I would like to make progress with my collages – large and small.
If I were to do this topic of ’Talking colour’ again, I would experiment with different colours of media and paper. I think a coloured background is just as important as a plain background as it can compliment an image for the better.

MICHELA CARRARO

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Reflection

When I started doing this, I always struggled with what to showcase. But later I realised that it was useless to tangle too much, as long as I showed what I was interested in. So the things I show are all common items in life. For example, a glass of drink, a box of biscuits, a flower on the side of the road. At the beginning, I used a pencil to draw these things figuratively, so that some paintings looked monotonous and boring and completely unattractive. But I’m not good at drawing, so I didn’t know how to change it through fun. I thought about it for a long time without any ideas. Then when I took a break I thought of Yayoi Kusama. In her eyes, the world looks like it’s made up of coloured dots. And then I thought outside the box from her point of view. I used cotton swabs to dip the paint into the dots to make a painting that was a bit abstract. In addition to this, I also tried using different coloured pens in the same place over and over again. Finally, I got some interesting drawings.

As a result, when we don’t have a purpose, just research something that interests us and inspiration will naturally come as it develops. Furthermore, letting our brains relax after a busy work will give us better ideas. For instance, some unconventional painting supplies to paint with will always give us an unexpected effect on our work.