Chapter 4 - Cut & Fold Design Shapes

Folding paper and cutting shapes is a lovely relaxing activity, I remember my mum amused me for hours folding and cutting when I was little. Both she and I carried this on with my daughters, so I find it quite odd that I had never thought of using it as a design tool before.

Cut & Fold Design Shapes In Black Paper

I started off with symmetrical shapes:

4.1                                                        4.2

And continued with asymmetrical shapes, and some completely random folding & snipping! I didn't make diagrams for the random snips because well, they are just random. I can always use tracing paper if I want an exact copy:

   4.3                                                       4.4

I also added a couple of nice cut outs that were leftovers from too much snipping. Which I suppose counts as an early experiment of disintegration for Chapter 11. I could have made many, many more examples, but I feel fairly happy with the samples and I'm confident I can make more as I need them. I did like the 3 from 1 shapes (4.3) and think I will definitely use this method in the future. 

These are all in my sketchbook (A4).

Cut & Fold Design Shapes In Coloured Papers

I enjoyed this section and I think because I was using my own papers it made it much more pleasing. Some of the paper I had coloured was quite heavy to fold and cut, so in future I need to make sure I colour some background/mounting paper and some thinner, more pliable paper. The textured paper and tissue worked well and I like the effect of the silver colour on various papers.  I decided to make these as design sheets which I can have pinned up, handy for the next section and so they are mounted A3 size.

Design Sheet D

 

 

I used some of my black cut outs as a basis/template for cutting some symmetrical patterns which helped me to compare how greatly a shape is altered by using colours and layers. Again because I'm fairly confident folding and cutting I concentrated more on the colour aspect of developing a design. So I cut the pylon star shape and compared light and dark negative shapes, around the 3 from 1 cutting I had completed earlier (D5 & D6). I also liked the units with the brighter blue added - unfortunately the photographs do not show the true colours very well.

 

Design Sheet E

 

 

 

With Design Sheet E I liked exploring how to add movement to units. I think with E2 where I had four layers I could have left the blue off of the top. I found mixing asymmetrical and symmetrical layers very interesting and I particularly like the effect of the negative shape with 'striped' middle layer (E3 & E4).  My favourite is E5 where I randomly folded and cut and layered, and I liked the colours and textures.

 

I then had a look at cropping designs with a frame.  I decided to cut a couple of frames and leave them paper clipped to the sheets so I have then to be reused as often as I want.

 

 

 

 

I have really enjoyed this chapter. I am continuing to learn very quickly about shape, colour and designing. I'm brimming with ideas for future projects. I'm pretty sure I'll soon have a stack of sketchbooks. I am looking forward to getting my hands on some fabric now.

 



Chapter 3 - Design Development Based on Stars

This chapter is about using a star shape from your research and line drawings and developing it into a design. I have used A3 sized paper for the design sheets.

Design Sheet A
I looked at counter change, negative and positive shapes using two stars from my line drawings initially and then I decided to use what I'm calling the 'Pylon Star', obviously from my pylon pictures. It looks very simple but I wanted to see how far I can go with a simple shape.  I sort of feel I can work with a more complex shape but that if I can push the simple shape to it's limit I will gain more from this exercise. I can always change star a bit further on.

 

 

I had to think about the symmetry and asymmetry a bit & scribbled away on scraps of paper - I couldn't find a pair of tights anywhere! I particularly enjoyed the distortion and was pleased with the results, the circle being my favourite. I made a repeat pattern from the triangle distortion but felt I could have used any of the distortion shapes for this.

 

Design Sheet B

I looked at scale and repetition, and linking designs. Continuing to push my Pylon Star I found I wasn't completely happy with the border & corner design, so I repeated with my Curly Star. Although I like both of the intervals, the Pylon Star was more predictable and the Curly Star was more surprising.

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the new shapes from old and tried different shapes rather than only cutting square corners away. I like the effect when I used a compass. I found using different coloured papers and linking shapes made the simple star shape far more interesting and I began to think of lots of ways I could do this.

 

Design Sheet C

I found this more difficult, particularly the complex counter change. I produced a design I was pleased with but didn't feel it was what I wanted to achieve - it wasn't quite right. After some time I realised if I change the position of the Pylon Star with the square, making the star tips point towards the corners I found the shapes I wanted (Complex Counter Change a & b).



 

 

 

I then found two new units I could work with if I needed to from separating the shape. I used both to make a new motif and I particularly liked the overlapping unit.

 

Leftovers

I was interested to notice as I worked through the design sheets that I had lots of little leftover shapes from cutting. I made a 'Leftovers' design sheet in my sketch pad (A4) I found a whole new set of design units from this.

 

 

 

 

I kept my rough drawings from scraps of paper in my sketchpad as a memory aid. Not a particularly good scanned image, probably because its 4 or 5 scraps of paper stuck on a white background.

 

 



 

 

Reflecting on this unit, I found this extremely interesting and enjoyable. I feel I can take a very simple shape and make dozens of new designs. I will practice this with more complex shapes in the future. I've found by making my own coloured paper this has made a huge difference to my design results. I should add I've never made design sheets before and I am so pleased with them, I will definitely be approaching my own projects this way from now on.



More Coloured Paper & A New Book

After reading through Chapter 3 - again - I spent an hour yesterday colouring more paper. I was a bit more specific and much quicker. I still have blue hands though!

Then this morning a book I ordered arrived (I just love a new book) and after perusing it for a while I added a sample page of my new papers to my sketchbook. The book is Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists by Kay Greenlees and its a real gem. I'm getting a bit hooked on sketchbooks, especially when there isn't much sketching involved!

I took a couple of quick pics here:

 

I'm still loving the tissue paper, more coloured, but I also wanted to add a metallic silver for a different effect and also a brighter blue and orange - Bahama Blue & Goldfish Orange. I was pleased with this batch of papers and am formulating some design plans now for other projects. I probably need some more sketchbooks...

Chapter 2 - Making Coloured Papers

This is something I have never done before, I usually just buy paper I want. I was a bit unsure of which dyes to use and decided to try some cold water dyes and some alcohol inks.

 

 

Clearly by the bright pink and yellow don't believe what you read on the packet! I kept these for future use. I had great fun once I got going. I could only find a Christmas apron and did get a bit messy, and initially I wasn't too happy with the results. I found though that once the paper had dried I was pleased with my efforts. I used cartridge paper, textured paper and tissue paper. I love the coloured tissue paper and I think it was the best result. The cold water dyes worked well for big sheets but I'm going to invest in some Brusho for future use. The alcohol inks were not really suitable but I will explore with them in the future.

 

For the printing I chose part of one of my line drawings and cut the shape into a rubber. This worked surprisingly well and is a very cost effective way to make a stamp. I used 2 colours of acrylic paint. It was very easy to pick a line drawing to make the stamp, usually with no drawing I would dither for ages. I enjoyed the printing and found it 'lifted' some of the papers which I hadn't particularly liked. I'm gaining a much better understanding of colour.

 



 

2.1                                                               2.2

 

 

 

 

 



 

When cutting out star shapes from the coloured papers I tried to look at some geometric shapes and some natural shapes. I tried overlapping some shapes and mixing two shapes together. I found the coloured tissue paper gave a good contrast. Also, the coloured papers improved even more once I started cutting them and I began to think more about how I can colour more to help with Chapter 3.

 

 

2.3                                                               2.4

 



 

Chapter 1 - Research On Stars Or Crosses

I started by having a few thoughts about stars and crosses. Crosses seemed an easier option for me to choose because I love ecclesiastical embroidery and history, I like crosses, I have lots of images,  and so after a debate with myself I chose stars as the less comfortable option.

Notes:

 

 

 

For inspiration I looked through photos I had taken on a trip to the British Museum, in particular the Islamic Room, and a google search found some more. I decided I wanted to be a bit more spontaneous and so grabbed my camera and ambled off down the garden. I really enjoyed 'spotting' star shapes, and found they were more irregular and abstract.

 

 

1.1                                                               1.2

 

 

I then decided to have a search around my workspace and found fabrics and some crocheted stars in my stash - I can't actually remember which project the stars were for! Finally I returned to the computer and compared snowflakes (nature) with electricity pylons (man made). I particularly like pylons and the geometric shapes of them. I manipulated some pylon pictures on the computer to see how snowflake looking I could make them.

 

 

1.3                                                               1.4

 

 

I gathered a large amount of material to work from and could have filled many A4 pages of my sketchbook, so this was an excellent exercise in cutting back! I often find I end up with so much I can't decide on how to progress.

 

 

 

So onto taking rubbings of star shapes. This I found difficult. I scoured the house and pretty much came up with nothing. So I rubbed beeswax crayon over floor tiles and rotated the paper. I found a Fleur de Lys pattern on some wallpaper and compared pencil and crayon rubbings. I can see how this can be a good design source.

 

 

1.5                                                               1.6

 

 

I enjoyed moving along to making line drawings from my images. I find this quite therapeutic. I tried not to make lots and lots of drawings and be more selective. I like the neatness of geometric shapes, but have enjoyed discovering what a good line drawing can come from a photograph I took myself in my own garden. I'm quickly learning how a design from my own source can develop.  

 

 

1.7                                                               1.8

 

 

Finally for this Chapter - produce a colour wheel. This took me a long time. I started off well, once I actually did start. I spent a long time pondering a blank wheel. I had to really concentrate on mixing my colours, on some occasions more successfully than on others. The green could have been better, purple drove me to distraction and violet was a disaster. I came back the next day and retried purple and violet with a little more success. As frustrating as I found this exercise I learnt a huge amount. Adding black and white made me notice how the colours change from darks to pastels, and I started to take more notice of how the colours complimented each other, warm and dark tones and how opposites attract!

 

 

 

1.9                                                               1.10

 

 

 

 

It's All In the Preparation!

I have started off Module 1 by reading through the Students Handbook and module several times, and thinking carefully about what I need to achieve, what I need to research more, where I can find information, the bits I am going to find more difficult and of course what resources I will need. I am a bit of a planner and organizer so I like to gather as much as I can before starting anything so I can really get stuck in without interruption. I made some rough notes to myself to keep handy.

To improve my level of technical skills I need to concentrate on the design and colour aspects in particular - or the bits I usually avoid! Fortunately I have had my mother in law for a visit, who is an artist, and we had some in depth discussion about the colour wheel. We also spent some time poring over paint in various shops. I have also had lots and lots of encouragement and help from the lovely Denise at Craft Arena.

I decided to purchase some of the books from the list and check which ones are available from the local library.

 

 

This was well worth doing before I started because I have been able to do lots of background reading. I'm going to review books on a separate blog page, but Colour Works by Deb Menz is fabulous and exactly what I need. I am sure I will use this again and again.

 

I am going to keep records on the blog, both on separate blog pages and noted down in my working sheets etc.

 

The Student Handbook has a section on 'Stretching Yourself' and this is definitely what I need to do. So to that ends I decided to choose a colour scheme and start collecting bits from my stash and when I'm browsing in shops so that I am more focused - I tend to magpie bits and pieces if I'm just let loose, and fall back on what I am comfortable with.  I would usually choose red/gold/green and very much traditional/historical colours, so I have picked something I am not very relaxed with.

 

 

 

I had all of this stashed, although not grouped together. I probably need to review my storage and my stash with new eyes. I'm guessing more colour study is going to help with this!

 

 

Now onto Chapter 1.

 

Distant Stitch Learning

I've finally taken a step forward and started my C&G Level 3 Stitched Textiles Embroidery course with Distant Stitch. My tutor for the course is Sian Martin. It has been a long held ambition to achieve an actual qualification in textiles and embroidery, since I was at school actually - some time ago now!

I am going to record and share all my work here as an online portfolio.