Digital Textile Design short course at Central St Martins, part of UAL.
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Want to know what got me up early on frozen mornings to photograph spider webs in my PJs? Then read on… (Please note I did have a coat and boots on, nothing to get me arrested).
I recently completed an online course in digital textile design at Central St. Martins, part of UAL. This was just a short course that ran for four weeks, taking us through the design process to produce digital designs for textiles (and more). I say just a short course but we had homework! It may have been only an hour and a half tuition a week for those four Mondays but a lot was packed in.
Our brief was 'code create' which gave me so many options to pursue. We were still in lockdown so I decided to look at what I could find in my local area, where nature featured highly in my research.
Spiders webs, leaves, bark and textures all featured in my primary research. I looked back at flowers I had photographed over the years in my archive and was even up at 7am to try and photograph frozen spiders webs on frosty mornings.
Within my secondary research I could see that there were themes emerging and I was drawn to geometry, microscopic and medical images, and structures in nature.
I was particularly drawn to certain colours to create my palette, and the different ways you could work with the proportions of those colours. If I can I will use all the colours available, so working with a specific palette gave me a fresh challenge and I love a challenge. We were introduced to using proportional and nonproportional colour inventories. I really like this idea.
My understanding is that a proportional inventory uses the colours that appear in the images you have selected based on the amount in the picture. For example, if the picture has a lot of black, then black would be a big section of your palette and yarn winding. A non proportional inventory is the opposite where the colours are not used based on the amount they feature. Both offer lots of lots of design ideas.
I started creating surfaces on which to undertake some experimental drawing and mark making, which led me to discovering the technique of pouring acrylics and making cells within this technique. Well, that was it! I was away with the help of YouTube.
I had a few practice pieces in colours that were outside my palette and then had a go with my colours. Initially I was painting in the garden and then it started to rain. I moved inside, spreading out pieces to dry where the cat would not tread in them. I inadvertently did though! Whoops! Fortunately I had only trodden in my practice pieces. There are different ways of applying the paint and getting it to spread. Using a drop of silicon in the paint mix makes the cells appear. I also appropriated my husband's kitchen blow torch to dispel air bubbles, not set the house on fire.
I created my pieces on A5 size boards as I knew I would be photographing them and I was also conscious of using up too much paint in one go.
I was very pleased with the results considering I am new to the technique, though the real magic came when I zoomed in on my camera when photographing the pieces, much like zooming in on a microscope. This was exciting. Suddenly I could really see all the ‘cells’ I had created.
I created my yarn windings with my colour palette and some design ideas for products. We went through using photoshop to create repeat patterns. I use Affinity Designer so I was following closely to make sure I could replicate everything. I applied a couple of ideas to clothing, taking sections of elements from the photos where I had zoomed in on a section. I found that a bit flat for me, however, I do love creating the repeat patterns. To create my initial ideas I simply took paintings and mirrored them to create repeat blocks. I also tried taking pebble shaped sections from photos to create a block. I liked the effect and there is so much more to play with here.
Working in a creative industry it may seem a bit strange to go back and do a course in design. When I was learning my trade nearly 20 years ago we just did not use computers in this way, well not at all really. With access to so many print on design options I wanted to learn more. I am also an eternal learner and sometimes in order to make progress I find you have to step out of your comfort zone and even go back and revisit areas. It is also a great way to get feedback and advice on developing my work. This allows me to open up to new possibilities and how I can improve my working practices. I’ve even purchased a graphics tablet (electronic device, not a type of medication) so I am heading into the current century!
What is next for me? More design practice and product development. I received some encouraging feedback on the course and I want to put that into developing my ideas. I do want to learn more about acrylic pouring as I like the possibilities for fabric design using this technique. I plan to exhibit some of my fabrics and design portfolio as part of Bucks Art Weeks in June 2021.
It was always going to happen. I did also have some leather printed too.....
And to finish with, a new tie for Mark. He grew some tomatoes about ten years or so ago. He did very well and I decided to turn them into a tie.
