#electives project

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.

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.

Printing onto fabric was just like printing onto paper- only you do have to consider the thickness and texture of the fabric to ensure the block will print nicely.

I rolled out the ink until it was a good thickness on the roller and then rolled it onto the block- this went well because I'd already learned how to do it from the printing elective.

Des got me to work with the stamping machine, which basically works the same as the ordinary presses. You cover the plate, roll it under the press; only with the stamper, you have to pull a lever across 2-3 times to cause it to press down. You then roll the plate out and the print should be done.

One thing I did struggle with was the fact the block had to be centered when I was rolling it under the stamper. Because the fabric was quite large, and I was printing in the corners, I had to make several adjustments to the positioning of the block, the fabric, and the newsprint under them. However, I got used to this quickly so it wasn't too difficult.

I also had to print kind of unorthodoxly because of the fabric. As the last print couldn't be seen through the fabric, I had to print the block face down onto the fabric instead of placing the fabric on top of the block. This was to ensure accurate placement. However, I made sure to layer under and over the block to stop anything getting damaged.

This is the animatic so far! There's definitely a lot of things that I need to add to it, the main one being some white noise sounds. Both Paul and Yvonne pointed out to me that most rooms and spaces have white noise that we don't even recognise, until you stop and properly listen. I plan to record some outdoor sounds, for example wind, and possibly water if I get a chance.

I also hope to experiment with creating my own Foley sound effects- for the sea, children's voices and maybe even the sound of the stone skimming across the surface of the water. I'm currently using a sound from freesound.org, and I think it would be nice to include my own.

During the week, Paul and Yvonne told us that we'd be preparing master shots to go along with our animatics. A master shot is basically when you choose the storyboard box that exemplifies the animation the best. It usually contains the main characters, setting, or symbols associated with the piece, but it's anything that demonstrates the feel and message of the animation the best.

I chose one of my first storyboard images for my master shot, because it contained all the characters (except the seal of course) and allowed me to draw a lot of the world that they're in.

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.

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.

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.