Nomad - Week One

Anthropologie

This week I had my first print class of the year. I enjoyed print a lot last year and was really looking forward to it this year. This project is different from my other projects this year which are being divided into five week segments. This project is being run over twelve weeks and other than a short one week print project is our only print work that we will have in our portfolios for our UCAS applications. Last year's work doesn't get submitted. Even if I wanted to submit it the college still has my sketchbook from last year to be used as an example. I hope I can get if back at the end of the year though my mum's probably going to kill me for that comment. I have enough stuff to keep without adding more but I really love my first year work in print.

We were asked over the summer to collect objects and source relating to the word Nomad. This was part of a live (but not really) brief for a shop called Anthropologie. While the shop isn't actually involved we have on base our designs on if we had been designing for them.

Anthropologie

I spent the summer gathering bric a brack from charity shops eg pottery, nice boxes and such. Some of it was relevant to the brief and some of it not so much but I ended up with some objects with nice patterns that I could draw. Anyway so I brought it into college and we were giving drawing tasks to do. As with most projects we started with the basic warm up drawings with some added ones that were mind boggling.

The basics are:

Line drawing: Basic drawing with a fine line pen this tends to be what most of your drawing is done in but the other warm up drawings are just basic variations.

Non Dominant Drawing: This is the same as a fine line drawing except the pen is held in the opposing hand e.g. if your right handed you would do the drawing in your left hand. We didn't actually do this one in print class but it tends to be one that we do alot.

Continuous Line Drawing: This is where you cannot lift the pen from the paper. Some lecturers in the past have told me that they will charge a pound for every time you take your pen from the paper. I find it really hard because I like to be able to jump from doing one thing to another.

Blind drawing: This is where you do not look at what your drawing at all and only look at the object itself. This is quite hard to do so many cover their drawing with a blank sheet of paper so their not tempted to look. Typically this is a continuous line drawing as if you lose your place you cant really get it back. it usually just ends up as a bunch of random squiggles.

Double Pen Drawing: Exactly as it sound this is where you tape two pens together and draw simultaneously with both. This can get pretty confusing. The trick is to pick a dark colour and a light colour and concentrate on the dark. Then you don't lose your place so easily.

The two mind boggling drawing tasks were:

Double Pen Symmetry Drawing: We had to use two pens in either hand and imagine a line of symmetry down the middle. So we had to draw on one side and a mirror image on the other side which was really hard to do. Needless to so mine was a bit of a disaster.

Blind Drawing : We had to stare at our objects for 5 mins and then try to draw from memory. I think after the first ten seconds of drawing everyone was just making it up as they had forgotten what it looked like.

It was good to leap straight back into drawing and I really am looking forward to experimenting with the drawings to take them into print however I cannot decide whether or not to do a fashion project or an interiors. At first I was thinking fashion but now I'm leaning more towards interiors.

For next week I can leave some of the less relevant objects at home.


Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

The Curator - Week One

We started drawing at the Hunterian Museum for our project The Curator. I had went over the summer to take pictures (Thank goodness I did for I had a camera fault last week).

I was drawn more to the coral and the rocks than the dead bodies of animals and insects which sort of freaked me out. I did like the idea of the bird's nests but I figured that the rock and corals had more source to draw from.

Before going to the Hunterian Museum I went into Paperchase on Buchanan Street. I would live in places like that if I could. I love looking at all the sketchbooks and papers and paints. Remnant Kings is another place where I could live.

I met a classmate while on my way to the Museum and we arrived but we figured since it wasn't opening time yet we would wait outside the doors. I started drawing the banister as we waited then some of our class came up the stairs and asked us why we were waiting when they were all inside.
I started by immediately drawing in the first hall we came to. I was kicking myself for it later. Most of my classmates had taken up residence in front of the big glass cases full of rocks and coral in the other hall. Those displays had alot more variety but after the first five to ten minutes they were impossible to see. Also these were the same people who had taken all the seats so I ended up sitting on the floor.

I didn't realise until about an hour in that the lecturers were in that other hall.

We were given the task of drawing. Two fineliner drawings, two continuous lines, a non dominant drawing and journal work.

We were told to use fineliner pens but I did sketch the outlines for some of the coral to avoid getting lost. I started drawing coral before moving to drawing some Minerals. One of my lecturers came over and suggested I use pencil so I used pencil for a while but then our other lecturer came over and said I should only be using pen. So I do have one pencil drawing from today.

The coral drawings were good although some of them I lost where I was drawing some of the time and some of the coral was really hard to draw. I did try to stick to the easier ones.

We go back to the Hunterian next week and I think we're using watercolours and ink and such which is really what I enjoy doing most drawing-wise. I love using watercolours. It's one of my favourite medias to work with.

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

Transformation Project

Today was the first project of my second year of my college course and we were thrown in at the deep end.

We were given set timings to follow and tasks to complete within that time.

Our first project was called Transformation. We had seven hours to make a collar and two samples from one white shirt. We were give words to inspire us such as Shred or Fold. We were also asked to bring in source that lended well to fabric manipulation.

I took apart the shirt with a  seam ripper. I laid out everything and started the samples using the sleeve sections. I had a short sleeved shirt so I ended up using more than just that but I was determined not to go for the obvious (Using the actual shirt collar to construct a collar) because to me that sort of defeats the purpose of making a collar from a shirt.

So the two samples I had no idea of what to do. We had brought in some source photographs from our print project but the photos of actual physical source images that I had for my print project were stuck as a RAW image on my camera and so unreachable without proper software. I just experimented with random stuff. I looked at the source images and noticed some plaiting on the neckline of one of the source images so I tried out pleating and gathers and then I used strips and draped them around the neck then stitched them together. I liked ripping strips off the shirt pieces. That satisfying ripping sound as the pieces turns to strips is heavenly.

 

I really got more of good idea for the final collar. I started by pleated the shirt section with the button holes and arranged it around the neck I had an idea of maybe buttoning on strips to hang from the collar but I scrapped it as I like it the way it was. I then put fabric at the back to join the two sides but the back was looking a bit plain. I decided to used an idea taken from the source of tubes of fabric sewn in patterns onto the fabric background.

I went back and added to my samples as I believed I had finished my final collar. I knotted the plaits with strips of plain fabric so that they were all connecting and tied it to the centre back to make for a nice finish where the two gathered semicircles met for my first sample and added twisted fabric strips to my second as well as an almost hooded effect using the actual collar of the original white shirt as I felt that my samples were not as good as my final collar.


 I did forget that I had to be able to fit my collar over my head and so I was about to take it apart when one of the lecturers came over and said to me that I was supposed to add my samples in to the final collar. It solved my problem of a small space for the neck. Instead I took one seam out and added my first sample in. It actually looked quite good when I finally finished it with ten minutes to spare. I used the rest of the time to tidy up as I'm quite the messy worker though I can usually confine it to a single desk.

We later did find out that the last year to do this project got twenty one hours to do it which was a little unfair but then it did push us to make the most out of our time. I reckon any less time and most of the class wouldn't be able to finish.

We were told to start visual journals and technical journals. I'm looking forward to making up a journal. It might help me keep my thoughts in order. A technical journal certainly would be useful to record where things are sourced from and sizes of things.

Bobbi Jean Shields

Quintessential Designs

Welcome to my Blog

Hello

As part of my college course I have been asked to start a blog. I already have a separate blog in which I talk about my life and thoughts however this blog will be to document my work and ideas about Fashion and Textiles.

My name is Bobbi Jean Shields. I am currently 18 years old and am currently studying Fashion Textiles in Scotland.

I discovered my passion for Textiles a few years ago. I have always been a creative person and I have emmersed myself mainly in music and theatre but my favourite subject was always art. My course concentrates on embroidery and print however I do knit, crochet and weave in my spare time.

I picked a Fashion Textiles course because I thought it looked enjoyable but I feel I have really found myself during the course of the first year of my HND and I am now moving into my second year hence the blog.

I am quite computer literate so I enjoy typing up blogs and such however if I get into a project I enjoy I sometimes do forget to update.

As this blog is going to be a blog for my projects it will probably be updated alot more than my original blog as it has more of a purpose rather than just being for fun.(I hope!)

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs