Evaluation

Evaluation FMP
Beauty of the End
For my Final Major Project, I decided to create a project based around an initial idea that came to me whilst listening to a song. The song 'Beauty of the End' by Paloma Faith inspired me to develop a project that mainly focused on Death and instead of looking at it from a negative and depressing point of view, I would look at it from a positive and celebratory point of view. This idea was inspired by the title of the song which also got me thinking about the Mexican Day of the Dead, where the dead is celebrated through a festival. The Day of the Dead is an old tradition in Mexico, where friends and family gather to pray and remember the dead. It is now a national holiday which has spread to other parts of the world. The tradition is traced back hundreds of years to Aztec festivals. I thought this would make for an interesting project, different to any we had done this year. I wanted to pay particular detail to the sugar skulls and colours.
For my research I have looked a great amount at skulls and sugar skulls. I am really inspired by the sugar skulls, and my final design is made up of elements from the sugar skulls I have looked at. I produced pencil sketches of the human skeleton, as I wanted to extend my research from just skulls.
I also produced a series of samples, which were done by using heat transfer of a drawing I did of my favourite sugar skull I had found whilst researching. These were originally meant to be pages in my fabric sketch book, but as that did not work out, they have becoming extended samples.
I wanted to do something different for this project, so it would stand out from the other work I have produced. I decided to make two clay skulls in the ceramics workshop.  I was really proud of how these looked and painted one in the style of the sugar skull I had drawn.
For my primary research I visited local graveyards, to photograph graves. I found that the older ones were more useful for my project as they had more religious connotations. I particularly liked the angels and emblems on the graves and if I had had more time I would have liked to develop these further.
I also took photographs of a wooden skull I borrowed from the fine art department. I got some really photos of this skull by using it alongside mirrors and metal. My favourite photo came from using it with the mirrors, which reminded me of a kaleidoscope pattern. This is what originally fuelled the idea behind my final piece.  
After researching into Kaleidoscope patterns, I decided to draw my own sugar skull which I would create a kaleidoscope pattern with.  Once this was drawn, I took a photo of the skull, and by using an application on my table, I produced a series of kaleidoscope patterns. I selected my two favourites, which I believed would work well together, in order to create a repeat pattern. I scanned the tracings I had done of the patterns, and used Photoshop to edit and manipulate the images to make them fit together to create a repeat.
During this project I have looked closely at the art by Jose Guadalupe Posada as his work is so closely linked with the Day of the Dead. He was a Mexican artist and cartoon illustrator, whose work has influenced mine greatly. His art consists of black and white prints, which aren’t particularly neat, and I my final print is holds a similar style.
Whilst searching across the internet, I stumbled upon an artist on tumblr.com. Sabelle Rena is an artist/ designer whose work consists of beautiful prints, created using a range of media. I was most drawn to her work which included an element of death/skeletons alongside beautifully drawn characters. I thought her work really supported my theme of my project, and embodied the idea I was trying to portray.
I had decided early on in my project that I wanted to produce a fabric sketchbook, but after a few weeks, I realised this was going to be an unrealistic task, and decided to buy a sketchbook. This left me behind throughout the project, as I had trouble getting my sketchbook up to date.
Due to situations and other commitments outside college, time management has been a huge issue for me. As a result, my work has fallen below the standard I had hoped to be working at for this project. This was something out of my control, but I feel that I have managed to catch up the best that I can.  I have done this by coming in on days off and working hard at home, which included quite a few late nights.
Due to this, I haven’t been able to do some of the things I had originally planned to in my proposal, such as my daily dairy. I fell behind on this and as a result have produced a weekly journal, instead of a daily one.  I also haven’t produced a collection of lyrics, as time was against me, but in the end decided that they weren’t necessary for the project. My final piece is only two panels, instead of three, as I wouldn’t have got it finished in the time restraints.
I am really happy with how my final piece has turned out. The colours on the back panel have stayed really vibrant and fiery, after needing to re-dye the cotton, as the colour had faded a lot the first time. My only problem with it came whilst printing, as I didn’t press down hard enough with the squeegee and the first print was slightly double printed.
The front panel, which was devored, worked really well and I was really happy with the final outcome. This would work as a singular hanging due to the veil like appearance, but the two panels work so well together as a hanging.

My final piece would be easily reproduced, due to the size of the screen, but if I was to do it again, I would possibly want to sew into it, and possibly hand stitch on beads.

If I was to do this project again, I know that I would do much better with it as I would make a better start with it, as I wasted a lot of time trying to make a fabric sketchbook which I abandoned. I also would organise my time better because of knowing what is achievable with in the time I had.

 

FMP Journal

Week 1

This week is the beginning of our FMP. We have been asked to think about possible ideas we could do for our project. This week we are to come up with a rough copy of our proposal.

My initial idea has come from listening to the song 'Beauty of the End' by Paloma Faith. I want my project to be based on death, but instead of looking at it from a depressing and morbid point of view, look at it from a more positive and celebratory point of view. This idea came from a fascination with the Mexican Day of the Dead, and think combining the two will make for an interesting project, different to any we have done this year.    

Week 2

This is our week off, and we have been asked to research possible artists that would support our project.  I have looked at artist Jose Guadalupe Posada who's art is now closely linked to the Day of the Dead. I want to also look at the artist Damien Hurst, as his controversial pieces have similar ideas to my project, such as his crystal skull, and preserved animals.  

Week 3

Not much has got done this week, as we had a trip to London Wednesday and Thursday. Monday and Friday was spent working on research and writing up our proposals. I have finished my rough draft and will be writing up the proper one next week. I have also managed to start some drawings from my research and will use these to make extended samples next week to fit in my sketchbook.  

Week 4

This week i have wrote up my final proposal and this will be sent off to the examining board. I have also been experimenting in the ceramics workshop Monday, and created two clay skulls. These should be ready for next Monday and I plan on painting these.

Week 5

I have begun my research sheet this week, but i need to get this finished at some point. I have mostly been looking in to research this week, and creating drawings. My skulls were ready for me this week too and I began to paint one of my skulls as a sugar skull. I still need to keep working on my fabric sketchbook.

Week 6

Not a lot got done this week, due to situations outside college. I managed to finish painting my clay skull though. I mostly focused on research this week and over the Easter break plan to catch up with my sketch book.

Week7

Easter Break.

This week I have focused on my sketch book. Having decided to scrap the idea of a fabric sketch book, i have bought myself a sketch book and I am now working into it. I have already completed three pages  which contain research into the Day of the Dead.

I will next be working on artist research and continue filling my sketchbook.

Week 8

Easter Break.

This week i haven't had chance to do as much as i would have liked, due to other commitments and situations. I have started a few more pages in my sketchbook but these are yet to be finished.

When we go back to college, I hope to continue with my research and sketchbook whilst at home, and concentrate on sheets whilst at college.

Week 9

Over half way through our FMP and I am beginning to worry about my time management. I have made a start on my sketchbook over the Easter Break but it is not as full as i would have liked at this stage. I have started one of my development/visual sheets this week and hope to get this finished next week.

Week 10

I finished my visual sheet and started another. I am worried about sketchbook, at the moment there is little time for me to work on it outside college but hope to really get in to it next week.

Week 11

I finished my other visual sheet this week and started my third. By now i should be working on final designs, and realise i am slightly behind. I have been working on things at home in order to try and catch up the things i am behind on (mostly sketchbook) and hopefully will continue to do this.

Week 12

This week i have finished my visual sheets and have made a start on one of my final design sheets. I am finding it hard to work on this project outside college due to other commitments such as work, and struggling to find time to do it.

I have started coming in on my days off to catch up and managed to get my tracing for my screen done. This is a kaleidoscope pattern, which i have made by drawing my own sugar skull, taking a photo and using an app to make kaleidoscope patterns of it. I have chosen two patterns which i thought were the best, and turned these into a repeat pattern with help of the graphic design tutor, by scanning the images in to the computer and playing around with them until they were the right size and the pattern repeated.

Week 13

I have been working back into my sheets whilst waiting for my screen to be ready. On Friday my screen was finished and i got in the print room and started to create samples. I am trying to create samples that have experimentation, such as free machining and hand stitch beads.

Week 14

This week was spent in the print room making more samples. I am really happy with how these are turning out and next week I hope to start my final piece.

Week 15

This week I have finished my final piece and been trying to catch up with the work i still have left to do. I worked really hard on my sketch book and tried to catch up the best i can, but there is still a lot to get done before next Friday. I realise now that i have been working backwards throughout this project and made myself a lot of work to do at the end. Hopefully this will all get finished.

Week 16

 This is our last week, and Friday is our deadline. I still have a lot I need  to get finished and as a result, I am working on it every second that I can to catch up. I am really disappointed in myself for my poor time management and will evaluate this in my evaluation.

I have finished my creative business cards so that is one thing to tick off the long list of things still left to do and will be working hard to make sure i have all my sheets and blog up to date. 

Final Piece

This is me printing my final piece, with the help of the lovely Katherine. Starting from the left and working our way across, we printed one, missed one, printed one, until we got to the end, and then went back to do the same with the missed spaces. This is to ensure a consistent print by even distribution of the pigment.  

Filling in the missed spaces.

The final product. I left it taped to the table to dry, to stop the chance of smudges. I am really happy with the outcome, and cant wait to see it with the other panel.

Starting Final Piece

Here I am setting up the stops for my screen. These help line up my screen  to print the repeat. 

This is me printing my Devore panel, being helped by Kat as the screen is so big. 

The final product. You can vaguely make out the print but it will be much more clearer once the fabrics dyed. The print has worked really well though and not smudged at all.

All Puffed Up!

This sample is printed on to cotton, dyed black with Black K2647 procion dye. After being pressed, washed and pressed again to take out the creases, it was ready to be printed on. I firstly mixed Puff Binder in three separate pots. The red was made with Red BB, the black with Black SNG and the yellow with Yellow 2G. I arranged the puff binder on the screen in repeated colours, with the hope they would blend in together. This worked well and looks really good. 

This sample was done by dying cotton using three procion dyes; Yellow MX3R, Red MX2R and Black K2647, and used my hand to blend the colours into each other to create a gradient effect. I did this sample the same time as the first puff binder sample, so the puff binder is the same. I like the puff binder on this sample and how they are really clear but i don't think they work with the background colour.

This is one of my favourite samples that i have produced for this project. The fabric is cotton, which i firstly splashed wax over from the batik pot. I then used the procion dyes Yellow MZ4G, Red MX2R and Black K2647 to create a yellow to red to black ombre. Once the dye was dry, i ironed off the wax as much as i could to then press, wash and iron the cotton ready to print. Where the wax had been left a the cotton un-dyed and whilst it was being washed the colours bled which only added to the effect. I then printed using plain white puff binder. I really liked how the white stood out from the background.

I liked the first print so much, i decided to experiment more with the idea. The fabric  is still cotton and dyed the same as the one before, but with out the batik, as it is a time consuming process, and was interested to see how it would work with out it. This time i printed using pigment (Black SNG) first. I then printed on top using puff binder. The sample works really well, and also works as a extended sample.

This sample is on calico dyed using Yellow MX3R. I then mixed a dark pink puff binder using Red BLT, and lined this on my screen with plain white puff binder. The print was really clear but the puff binder colours didn't match the background.

This sample was done alongside the previous sample.This too, is a calico sample. The only difference is the fabric colour, which i achieved by lightly brushing the procion dyes Yellow MX3R and Red MX5B. The colours matched alot better on this sample but the print doubled in some places and I pulled the puff binder through to many times, so the puff binder puffed up a bit too much.

This is an extended sample done onto a sample of knitting i did early on in the project. The sample was intended to be a page in my fabric sketchbook before i had to start a paper one. The knitting was done using 5mm needles and three threads at once (red wool, yellow yarn and black yarn). The print is done using plain white puff binder. I had originally printed using black pigment but you couldn't see it at all, this is when i decided to use puff binder and i am really happy with the final product. The puff binder on the wool makes furry effect, which adds to the texture. 

This sample is on white felt. I used the same yellow, red and black puff binders i had made previously. I then puffed up the puff binder with the heat gun and burned the felt slightly to try out the effect. It worked really well but the smell when i burnt the felt was really bad!

This sample is done on cotton, dyed to a similar effect as the other waxed  dyed sample. For this sample though, i tried experimenting with both puff binder and pigment dyes. I used the same puff binders that i had made, along with the pigment dyes i made; yellow, red and black (explained in an earlier post). I don't particularly like this effect as it looks unfinished or the there wasn't enough puff binder on the skin. 

This sample is cotton, dyed using Yellow MX3R and Red MX2R. I then printed using my black and red puff binder with plain white puff binder. This is another sample that i don't think worked that well as the white was too bright alongside the red and black.

For this sample i decided to experiment with colour. I dyed the cotton using Turquoise MXG and then dripping Yellow MX3R over the top and working it in to the fabric. once pressed, washed and ironed, I printed using plain white puff binder. While i was heating the puff binder, some wax from the table underneath melted on to the sample, but i think it adds to effect as it provides darker areas.

This sample is white cotton which i rubbed on the table after dying other fabrics. This gave a very aged and antique-y look. I used my black puff binder with the dark pink puff binder i had previously made. I quite like this sample, but it would be hard to repeat as it would be impossible to get the background the same.

Embroided

This sample was done on white cotton, dyed with Yellow MX3R and Black K2647. I used black pigment to print with, and i was really happy with the clear and full print. I then embroided into the sample to create a extended sample. I really like embroidery, but it can be time consuming depending what parts i embroid.

These two samples were done while i was waiting for my screen to be exposed. I heat transferred my print onto dyed fabric usinf magic touch paper. The dye is one i made by mixing Red MX2R and Yellow MX4G to create a dark orange. I embroided into the sample. I also hand stitched pearl coloured beads on to it and glued fabric roses on with fabric glue. I think the sample worked well but would be very time consuming to do again.

This sample is done using a heat transfer of my tracing, like the sample above. I left the cotton white for this sample and decided to do a quilting sample. I layered white cotton with wadding, with my print heat transfer sample on top. I then embroided into the sandwich, making it quilted. Once i had finished, i finished off the sample by over-locking around the edges.

Devore

These samples are done using specialist fabrics for devore and devore paste.

This sample is on Devore Silk Velvet. The paste is printed onto the fabric first and left to dry. Once dry, i heat pressed the fabric, which burns away the man made fibres. The fabric was the washed and dyed. I dyed this sample using Black K2647, Yellow MX3R and Red MX5B. This is one of my favourite samples, I really liked how the colours worked together.

This sample is on Devore Viscose dyed black with Black K2647 procion dye. I really like this sample as its simple and reminds me of a veil, possibly something you'd wear at a funeral, which supports my research into graveyards.

This sample is also on Devore Viscose. I firstly dyed the fabric using Red MX5B and Yellow MX4G. once this dye was dry, i batik'ed over the top and then dyed it using Black K2647. I ironed off the wax onc the dye was dry and pressed and washed the fabric. the yellow and pinky red dye was hardly visible, and the devore bled a lot whilst drying.

Pigment Printing

This sample was done on calico dyed using Yellow MX3R and Red MX2R. Once the fabric was pressed, washed and dry, I printed using a Black Pigment dye, which i made using binder mixed with Black SNG pigment. This sample didnt work as well as i would have liked, as the print doubled in some places.                                                                                                                           

This sample is cotton, dyed with Red MX5B, Yellow MX3R and Black K2647. I used my black pigment to print my design. The sample worked well, and the colours worked well together, making this another of my favourites. i won't use this as my final piece however, as it is too pink and borders on my colour theme of red, yellow and black.

This sample was an experiment to see what the print would look like layered.  I dyed white cotton using Yellow  MX4G and Black K2647. Once it was ready to be printed on, i firstly printed using my black pigment. I then lined up my screen so that the center of the two patterns were layered on top of one another and printed again. I like the outcome, but the print is not neat, as it has smudged from moving my screen and doubled in some places.

The sample is white cotton dyed with Yellow MX3R and then Black K2647 spotted randomly on top. I like the effect and decided to use my Black pigment with a red one i'd mixed. The red pigment was made with binder mixed with Red BB, Red BLT, Brown RBT, Brown RRT and Black SNG. The two colours worked well but i'm not sure that they work with the background colours.

This sample is on white felt using my black pigment dye. I liked the effect of printing on felt, but think i needed another pull of dye.

This sample was done on cotton, which i had rubbed on the table after dying other fabrics, in order to soak up the excess, and i really liked the effect. I decided to use pink, purple, brown and turquoise pigments to compliment the colours on the cotton. The sample worked really well, but would be hard to replicate, as the effect would be different for the background every time.

This sample is cotton dyed using Black K2647 and Red MX2R. I used my black pigment to print. I really like this sample as the colours work really well together.

I wanted to experiment with colour on this sample and decided to opt for turquoise. The sample is cotton dyed with Turquoise MXG with drops of Red MX2R rubbed in. I printed with my red pigment, to compliment the drops of red procion and the effect is quite different to the other colours i have used, i can't decide if i like the turquoise and red together.

This sample is also on cotton, dyed using Red MX2R, Yellow MX3R and Yellow M4G. I experimented using my black, red and yellow pigments, alongside turquoise. I think the pigments would have looked a lot better on another coloured fabric as they didn't stand out as much as i had have hoped.

I wanted to experiment on the fabrics i was using, so i decided to try printing on organza, which was something i had not tried before. I firstly tried on the orange organza using my black pigment. I pulled with my squeegee two times, but that left a really faint print, I used the heat gun to crisp up the organza, to add some texture.

This time i used a pink organza and pulled the pigment through three times. This worked better but the print was still faint. I used the heat gun again on the sample too!

Finally i decided that a better idea would be to use two pieces of organza together. I used bondaweb to fuse a pink piece and a orange piece of organza together. I printed with my black pigment, but this time pulled it through four times. This had a much better effect, and worked well. Again, i used the heat gun.

Screen Print!

This is a test of my screen onto cartridge paper. I am really happy with how the print has turned out, and really glad it my screen works. 

Tracings

I had decided from the start of the project that i wanted to use a big screen. In order to do this, a needed to make sure my print was big enough to fit it. To do this, i firstly photocopied my tracing on to tracing paper several times. I then had to slot these together to make a bigger print. I did this by using a craft knife to cut around the lines, and used a specialist tape to stick the print together. This took a while for me to do, being left handed i hold the knife awkwardly, so i had to take extra care, but got there eventually! 

The tracings all taped up together to make my print for my screen!

Me, hard at work trying to carefully cut around the lines!

Drawing Developement

This is just an example of progression of one of the skulls I doodled. 

Graveyard Photos

These are just some of the photographs I took whilst on my visit to local graveyards. I firstly visited Burncross Cemetery, which is just a 15 minute walk up the road from my house, and later on that day i visited Wentworth Cemetery. I particularly liked the angel statues, even though they were a little creepy! I got lots of great images from these visits, 218 to be exact!