Construct - Weave: Developed

Following formative feedback from peers and my tutor I decided to experiment with more textured yarns as well as looking at weaving techniques to change the surface of the fabric. Here I have added a colourful extra weft to help brighten up this black and white warp. I have also tried very hard to contrast my yarns in order to get the full effect and create a considered composition.

I also found that the way I was presenting my research appeared to resemble patchwork (an area I am very interested in) and so I tried to use looms with warps and patterns that would best reflect this.

Again in these samples I was looking to create a patchwork kind of effect using my colour pallet. I also experimented with floats and thickness of yarn. I feel this definitely reflects my research which seems to be starting to draw focus on plants and their environments. 

I was also very pleased to find an artist whose textural weaving and bright colour scheme was very inspiring to me. 
Vanessa T Cunningham

Construct - Weave

This week we have started our textile world - Construct and our first three weeks will be spent weaving. This is a mood board that we were asked to create in order to narrow down our colour pallet and start to think about a theme for our project. I have found this process very helpful as it shows my progression from initial, primary research, to drawings, to wrappings and colour squares which will be very useful to me when picking yarns and deciding proportions in compositions.  

Making a warp for the weaving loom was a lengthy process, but as you can see, I managed to use many of the colours from my mood board and colour pallet and once used to the counting and mathematics, I began to find the process very therapeutic.  

Using a warp of the same colours as the one we made, I tried my hand at hand loom weaving for the first time! Continuing to use my colour pallet and drawings to help guide my weaving, I began to experiment with different patterns and and a variety of yarns in my weft.

I really enjoyed experimenting with different patterns on various looms and feel like I am starting to create samples that are very relevant to my research.

Research Drawings

These are just a selection of images taken during the "Map the City" drawing/research project. Although the 16 "Chance cards" with different drawing techniques to complete were biased towards the use of black, white an tones, I made an effort to involve as much colour as possible. 

I also enjoyed using new materials such as Guache paints and Indian inks alongside more familiar techniques such as collage. I feel the use of colour and my more textural approach has helped me to place myself in the appropriate "Textile Worlds" of construct and mixed media. 

This piece was a response to a "chance card" asking us to draw shadows. Usually my drawing style is more illustrative and not quite true to life, however using water colour to paint the outlines of the shadow created by my bracelet, I found, was a nice way of creating a more literal drawing. 

This drawing responded to a "Chance Card" asking us to do a drawing on crumpled paper. The drawing is of a mosaic piece of art on the outside of Affleck's Palace. I found crumpling the paper was a great technique enabling me to replicate the mosaic effect by drawing along the creases. 

This a collection of objects I often wear on my wrists, that inspired me to think more about proportion, colour and composition. I also drew this collection to help me relate the tools I use to draw, to the materials I am drawing (e.g. acrylics for plastic, pastels for fabric or yarn etc). 

I am really glad I completed all 16 drawing tasks, because although drawing is not something I often enjoy, it has helped me find techniques and materials that I enjoy using (collage, inks, Guache, pastels, paper cutting). This makes me feel less reluctant to approach drawing tasks in the future.