K00331082

Learning Outcome 1: Aptitude & Ability in Elected Areas: What skills or strengths do you think you demonstrated in these electives? What did you learn that confirmed your choices? Where did you struggle, and how did you improve?

I got to do lots of print during the fashion and print electives, and I feel as though my skills improved a lot there. I originally struggled with rolling out the ink smoothly and printing neatly, but after all the practice I've definitely improved at this. I also feel like I showed my character and designing skills through the animation elective, as I did lots of concept work and sketches.

2. Learning Outcome 2: Creative Use of Materials, Media, Processes: Which materials or processes did you explore? What creative risks did you take? How did your material choices support your ideas?

I explored watercolour, paints, colouring pencils, embroidery and print. I also tried printing on fabric which was a completely new medium and experience- this supported my ideas because there was movement in the prints themselves and the fabric when I pinned it onto a mannequin. This was definitely a creative risk because I had no idea if it would work and it took lots of experimenting. I also experimented with creating my own sounds, which provided an alternate way of portraying movement at the beach through the senses.

. Learning Outcome 3: Research & Contextual Understanding: What research did you carry out? Which elements did you post on Tumblr?

I researched artists like Katsushika Hokusai, Tess Morley, Lino Lord for print, films like Song of the Sea, Bottle by Kirsten Lepore, Gulp, The Hunter for animation and the fashion designers Iris Van Herpen and Zuhair Murad, as well as the embroidery artist Alison Holt. Hokusai greatly influenced my prints, as I tried to convey the movement of the sea using the bold, flat lines in his prints. Bottle really influenced my animation, as I was greatly inspired by the way Kirsten Lepore used natural materials in the piece. I filmed my stop motion movie on the beach as a result. Iris Van Herpen was a great inspiration to my fashion design because I adored the way she used pattern in her collection ‘Sensory Seas’. All of my designs featured patterns I’d made in previous weeks, so I was really inspired by her work.

Learning Outcome 4: Creative & Conceptual Development: What ideas were you trying to communicate? How did your concepts change as the project developed? What parts of the project show your conceptual thinking best?

I was trying to communicate movement at the beach through my project; Movement of the sea, as well as the geomorphological movement of particles over time to form sand, rocks and seashells. My concept started out as a nostalgia for my home county, which is located on the coast of Ireland. Originally, I was doing simple sketches of everything that fit with my theme- but gradually, I began to represent my concept through pattern more, as I felt it showed the way the sea moves better, as well as the patterns on shells and rocks.

I think the designs I made during the fashion elective best show my conceptual thinking, as the shape and form in the garments really coveys movement on the beach. The designs also contain elements form all my electives so it really shows how the concept developed and changed. I also did a few brainstorms to help me nail down my concept, and I think they explain my ideas well.

Learning Outcome 5: Commitment, Motivation, Self‑Reliance: How consistently did you work throughout the electives? How did you manage your time or overcome challenges? What evidence shows independent thinking or initiative?

I personally felt a lot more motivated and excited about this project that the last one, and I feel as though I was very commited to it. I worked pretty consistently during the electives and made an effort to post my processes, research and work regularly on Tumblr. I managed my time by setting a goal each day and if I didn’t manage to complete it, I planned what I’d do to make up for it the next day. I feel as though I’ve shown initiative and independent thinking because I attempted things on my own, for example adjusting the printing press and redoing prints until I got them right. I also worked outside of college to do sketchbook work and experiments, for example when I made my own sounds effects and made a stop motion over the weekend at the beach. I really enjoyed this project and feel as though I’ve learned a lot that will benefit me as a teacher.

How did you bridge your three elective areas? We had 5 intended learning outcomes for you but did you discover any unintended learning outcomes?

I connected my three electives by carrying the work I did each week into the next. For example, I carried the prints I made into the fashion elective, where I printed on fabric and pinned the garment together. I also experimented with using a pattern used in my animation master shot in my fashion designs. I think the thing I learned the most from this was the amount of things you can do by reusing the same resources again and again. I was amazed at how much I could do with the prints and it gave me a lot more opportunities to try new processes and methods since I already had work made.

Here is a flip through of my sketchbook for the movement project! It features some of my background and planning work during the print, animation and fashion electives.

I found the way I used my sketchbook evolved a lot depending on the elective I was doing. For example, during print, my first elective, which is near the start of the sketchbook, I was doing lots of primary source sketches. However, as time went on and my two design electives began, I found that I became more focused on planning and teasing out different ideas and methods.

Here is the progress I've made with the seashell embroidery! I added in a darker orange and a brown tone to start adding depth to the design.

I also used a chain stitch for the brown to start introducing different textures into the shell - However, I do think outline stitch is the most effective for conveying the ridged line patterns commonly seen on this type of seashell.

I'm particularly enjoying the colours in this piece- it's based on one of my primary sources and I think it's coming along nicely.

I spent the rest of the day further experimenting with illustrations!

The first thing I tried was making a portrait oriented mood board rather than a landscape one- I used a photocopy of my prints for the background and stuck one of my sketchbook designs on top, mainly because I coloured her hair in red and this contrasts with the bluey grey background, putting the focus on the outfit.

Later on, I went back to designing outfits. I tried to take inspiration from Iris Van Herpen's 'Sensory Sea's collection, focusing more on dramatic shape and form! I had to sea foam shoulder pads extend down past the models arm, and I really enjoyed creating this look.

Here are some of the different ways I tried to help the designs stand out against the background. The top page shows the better result and the bottom page shows my experiments.

I tried using a black outline, as well as a pure green outline- but I felt the block of colours could have been made a bit more interesting. However, I did really like how the green outline worked.

This morning I made my second mood board!

Mairead photocopied some of my favorite work to use as a background and I decided to use the black and white patterned design for this mood board. I thought the stretched out pattern would bring out the detail in the outfits more.

However, when I laid it out to get a preview, I thought the outfits didn't contrast against the background enough, so I glued all the designs to a photocopy of my prints and cut around them, creating an outline around the designs.

I'm making slow but steady progress with the embroidery experiment!

I'm trying to introduce darker tones to create texture and add depth to the seashell. I plan to add some brown tones in as the colours darken.

I'm still using the same outline stitch technique, and trying to convey pattern by sewing in skewed lines. I think it's quite an effective technique, but it will definitely look better when I've blended the colours together a bit more.

Iris Van Herpen is a Dutch fashion designer who launched her collection "Sensory Seas" in January 2020. According to her website (linked below), Van Herpen was inspired by "the sensory processes that occur between the intricate composition of the human body, mirrored with the fibrous marine ecology of our oceans".

I find Van Herpen's collection to be really inspiring, not only because she's dealing with an ocean theme but because of the patterns and techniques featured in this collection. She uses various folding and layering methods in the dresses below to allude to the movement of the sea, and additionally her use of pattern adds to this; for example, in the black and white dress.

I particularly love her use of pattern because it's what I really focused in on to capture the movement of the sea for my designs. I also think the way she creates form by layering fabrics is an incredibly effective design technique, one that I think would be very beneficial to try if I was to do this elective again.

Here is my first mood board! I plan to create another one using the original template I designed.

My goal for this board was to utilise the same patterns, colours and elements (eg. The ruffles) in different ways and to see how many different combinations of outfits I could come up with! I feel as though I've designed a wide variety of garments based on these aspects.

I created the background by arranging some scrap paper, photocopied prints and sketchbook work on top of the photocopier, before copying it and creating a collage like background that matches my theme. I think it goes well with the outfits and links back to some of my previous work, for example the prints and sketchbook work.

For this outfit, I decided to design something a bit more practical. Looking back at the illustrations last week, I was inspired by the one I did of the suit jacket and skirt, so I decided to create a similar work style shirt and skirt.

I placed the large piece of fabric around the mannequin like a cape, and then folded the collar back. I tucked in the frayed bits underneath the collar. The collar adds a practical and working feel to the garment which I really like.

I then had to figure out how to give the impression of sleeves without cutting up the fabric. I ended up pinning the fabric near the front of the garment back, creating a diagonal line going from the front to the sides of the mannequin. This actually worked really well and gave the piece a very eye catching and distinct shape that I really like!

I then pinned the smaller piece of fabric on the mannequin to create a makeshift skirt- however, I didn't have enough to go around the whole mannequin. I think the idea behind the piece is still visible though.

I also experimented by adding various accessories, such as a 'tie' that I quickly made with a fabric scrap and a pocket, which I made by unpinning the skirt and folding the fabric up into a square.

This is the third design I created on the mannequin. This was honestly one of my favourites, I focused heavily on form and shape and used some different folding and twisting techniques in the garment.

First of all, I twisted up the small piece of fabric in a similar way I did for the necktie for the last dress. Then, I got the large piece of fabric and pinned it to the mannequin. I did this by putting it over one of the mannequin's shoulders and wrapping it around the body in a clockwise direction, adding pins as I went. I then added the belt to the front of the dress. I also twisted up the neckline a bit to add some volume to the front of the dress.

Overall this design came out very well in my opinion. I was surprised at how much a little bit of twisting can make such a difference in terms of the shape a garment will have. Even though it's a simple enough looking dress, I think it has a very strong shape and I'm very happy with it.

Here is the second design that I played around with on the mannequin!

This time, I took the first piece of fabric I printed on and tried rolling it up, creating a belt like structure. I then pinned the large piece of fabric to the mannequin to create a dress shape, including two pins at the front to create two pleat like structures, to give the garment a bit more life and appeal.

I then pinned the smaller rolled up piece of fabric around the neck to create a scarf or necktie accessory.

Once I finished printing onto the fabric, I started to play with the fabric on the mannequin.

First of all, I experimented with creating ruffles, resembling the designs that I drew out last week. I folded the smaller test sheet of fabric into pleats and pinned each one down, creating a folded effect.

My first attempt turned out a little crooked, but when I created a base for the top I managed to straighten it up a bit. I used the large piece of fabric to create the top and the small sample piece that I made before reading week for the ruffle.

Today I finished off printing my fabric for fashion! In total the piece features 32 prints of my woodblock!

I did the design by working in rows of gradient colours, starting with the turquoise and working down to the dark blue.

Today I started by finishing the dark green row, ensuring the pressure was correct after what I'd learned yesterday about the prints coming out faded if enough pressure isn't applied. I used two sheets of newsprint and two blankets to get the pressure right with the stamper.

One thing that didn't go to plan was effectively showing the blue gradient. When I did the third row, or lighter shade of blue, I only mixed a small amount of white in, which makes it difficult to differentiate it from the darker blue. You can see the difference on close inspection, but it would have been nice if the contrast was more obvious.

Overall though, I learned a lot about correctly managing the printing press, rolling out ink and how to apply enough pressure to create clear prints. I'm also very excited to use this fabric in my work for fashion!

Later on, I decided to just finish printing the row of turquoise blocks. This time, I made sure my woodblock was fully cleaned when I started and I was extra careful rolling out the ink. I also ensured that there was enough pressure coming from the stamper press. The prints began coming out clearly and neatly after this, and I ended up printing over some of the really blurry ones from earlier.

Even though this wasn't ideal, I do think it improved the fabric's appearance by a lot.

Today I started working towards printing my woodblock onto a large piece of fabric, with the hopes of making a top during this week.

However, the first six prints I did were honestly failures. The Printing press wasn't set up correctly for the woodblock, and I did the six practice prints to experiment with how to set it up right. In the end none of them came out clearly, but luckily Fiona was able to help me and I started working with the stamper press again.

I rolled out a turquoise colour by mixing green and white ink, and then adding a little transparent white to make it more smooth. However, I made a mistake at this point because I forgot to clean the oil off my woodblock from the blue tester prints. The oil caused the ink to not apply properly to the block, and as a result the first few turquoise prints came out very faded.

I decided to try out an experiment that I've been meaning to do since the start of the project!

I drew the outline of a seashell, cut around it, and then traced the design over and over again, overlapping the shells.

I did this because I wanted to see if overlapping the shells could potentially create a sea like effect, resembling waves coming into the shore.

The result that I got was more electrical, but I think if I tried this again with cold colours it could work very effectively! I would also focus more on lining the shells up, so that the bumpy pattern going across the bottom of them would line up to resemble the sea foam that accumulates at the end of a wave.