I wanted to choose animals that I had actually seen or own myself. I felt in Module 1 the work that was based on/designed from, something I had actually seen myself worked better and I felt more of a connection to. I can add to my animal 'stock' later in the module if necessary.
For each of the animals I made a list of words and altered the photographs in different ways on the computer using Picasa. I made some line drawings of close up areas and also looked at other media. I added my machine strips to my sketch book pages.
Giraffe
I took this photograph on a trip to Longleat Safari Park. Alongside some drawings I painted some heated Tyvek I had in both black and white, which reminded me of the pattern markings of the giraffe. I had a bought stencil which also reminded me of the markings and made some positive and negative prints. Finally for the machine stitched strip I stitched some random geometric shapes and then filled them with a variety of stitches to show some tonal effects.
Sheep
I took this photograph at a local farm park. I found this one more difficult to produce drawings from and spent more time. The texture of the fleece is lovely and curly and I'm not sure I quite captured it. It will be a good idea to revisit this again and add to the page. I had a pre bought stamp which worked fairly well as an impressionistic view. For the machine stitched strip I tried to find a pre set stitch which would give an appearance of the curls. I think if I layered the stitches more I will get a better effect.
Chicken (Lotta)
This is one of my own chickens, who wasn't particularly keen on being photographed! I found she had quite a bit of scope for finding different patterns and markings. The comb was difficult to get a clear photograph of but gave different markings to the feathers. Again I painted some heated Tyvek I had and tried to tone from black to white to get the effect of the feathers, and include the bumpy comb. For the machine stitched strip there were a variety of pre-set stitches that would give a feathered effect. The white on black gave more of a feel for the actual chicken. I started with more formal rows and then overlapped to give the feeling of the difference in the chicken's feathers.
Bearded Dragon (Norbert)
This is our own bearded dragon. This made the word list quite easy as he (or she) has quite a distinct personality. I found the stamp similar to his scales and I painted a new sample of Tyvek and heated it to give the feel of his skin. I also painted and distressed some Lutrador which is similar to shed skin. For the drawings I tried to get some tonal effects and found there were lots of patterns when his skin was studied close up. For the machine stitched strips:
Top Page 1:
I started with a background of a pre-set stitch and then covered with random cable stitch to represent the raised scales.
Bottom Page 1:
This was a more formal strip to represent the quite geometric and equal scales, with a curved zig-zag to represent the spikes. This could be embellished or used as a background stitchery.
Top Page 2:
I combined whip stitch with pre-set stitches which made me think of the scales and shed skin.
Bottom Page 2:
I used two pre-set stitches but varied the width and length, and layered sections. I could add more layers for added depth.
Overall I feel I can add more to these two pages as new ideas occur.
BD Page 1
BD Page 2
For this chapter I feel these pages are more like composite sheets, which I like because they draw all my ideas together for further exploring. I will put these pages on my pin board to add to and be available quickly while I work through the module.
