From my work in my sketchbook and my sewing samples, I wanted to create some patterns that reflected these motifs and colours, as I am experimenting with colour scheme as well as working on my digital and pattern making skills.
I think these turned out better than I thought, but I think they need to be much more graphic for the style that I want, or I would have to consider moving on to using Procreate. I think I could achieve this with photo editing, which I think I could try next to create more interesting patterns that I like.
I found I was struggling to find small independent ’boutique’ type shops online, as this is something I would get out and do as much as I could in Cardiff or any other places I would visit. I thought about Etsy because loads of people create very unique, handmade things on there.
Bees are a common appearance in interiors, fashion and anything now, due to their declining population, I found these cute fabrics that show bees, but in quite a subtle way with a range of flora around it.
This led me to find Pink Button Studio, clearly with insects being a lovely source of inspiration and covering ladybirds too which I think is a very cute print.
I tried looking at beetles, dragonflies and ladybirds here too with a range of results. The ladybird produced some interesting pattern results and a very clear colour scheme due to the colour of the ladybird, it seems associated with patterns and aesthetically pleasing, considering I think it is rare to see this print in a shop I thought this was quite interesting. The dragonflies produced unusual results, including a candle with an attractive pattern around and some metalwork, which I think is reflected by the wings that could be seen as metallic. This bright and iridescent quality could be explored in my colour scheme too as I think this is clearly a trend of dragonflies. Beetles was probably the harder one, due to the car of the same name, but there were a few items that I would describe as attractive, however nothing close to bees or butterflies. My idea exploring insects was to see about making the less attractive ones cute and attractive as patterns, so beetles will definitely be a challenge for this, however my visit to the entomology department in Cardiff Museum shown me some very cute beetles in some very vibrant colours.
I produced a limited range of sewing samples on my last hand in, which was a shame because it is something I enjoy doing and felt like this was not where I was able to put time in when other things seemed more essential to hand in. However I have produced a few more samples now, which is more of an extension of my sketchbook and motif creation rather than experimenting for my mini fabric collection. My fabric collection will be simple digitally printed fabrics that will be reconsidered for what kind of product they will be used for as I think the idea of children’s dresses is not right for the patterns I have in mind.
I started here with some basic watercolour on fabric with stitching over the top, I experimented with patterns and different colours here in the stitching and in the painting. I think I could try some applique too as I think this would be clearer with the colour changes as something to try out.
My aim here was to find a range of stores locally to me and see what they decide to stock or create with the theme of insects in mind. I started my search online in Cardiff, producing a list of around 20 names that I wanted to look into. I also tried my home area, Llandovery, Llandeilo, and also tried some more Welsh towns I have visited before on holidays.
The main problem I encountered with online searching rather than walking around and discovering these small boutique style shops was that often they do not have a fully functional website, they have a brief overview of their product lines or collections, and usual shop information, but sometimes not a comprehensive shop set-up to view all the products they have available. Another problem I came across was with the current coronavirus shut down, some shops have closed their whole websites as well as their shops, which meant I could not even browse anything they had available online.
Lunacy is based in Port Talbot and is described as a quirky fashion boutique, while it focuses on women’s fashion, it also stocks jewellery and accessories, which I was particularly interested in, finding a few that used insects as inspiration. The ladybird necklace is quite bold, while I thought I would find some jewellery, I expected more like the butterfly studs, using the basic shape and form of the creature but not sticking to the colour scheme, giving it quite an elegant look. The purses are quite simple and colourful, the bugs are beaded on so the shape is quite detailed for beadwork that small. Overall I think this shows that the colour and shape are inspiration points for other designers.
Llandeilo is a small welsh town fairly local to me, I went to school there, and spent a lot of free time there with friends, exploring the countryside and looking at the small bespoke shops. The Cuckoo’s Nest is a giftshop who pride themselves on unique products that avoid the mainstream rush of the big retail stores that we are used to. These two insect necklaces are both unusual and interesting. The butterfly in the top image is used as quite a clear colour and shape motif, and the one below of a moth focuses more on the shape and texture of the wing, while maintaining a smooth silver finish.
Goose Island began in 1993, inspired by the director’s visits to India and the amazing collections of colours, patterns and fabric that the country has to offer. Based in Swansea, the company has branches in Llandeilo, Mumbles in Swansea, and Cowbridge. They describe their clothing as fashionable and affordable and also offer accessories and bags. I found a scarf with an insect inspired pattern which I thought was nice, but very simple and girly, which is not to my taste as I think it looks quite childish. The jewellery as well was inspired by insects, but simply using the shape and form to create them with the metal, creating an elegant effect to them overall.
Online research was useful, but had I had extra time on this when the shops reopened, I thought about how I could walk and visit a great deal of them in Cardiff, Swansea and even my local Carmarthenshire area. I could take the time here to talk to owners and employees about previous ranges and whether they could notice styles and trends.
Trying out this green, pink, yellow colour palette here I worked on some more realism with the shading and form but kept the colours quite surreal and vibrant. I like some of the leaves and lily pads and I think it would be useful to see what these look like as a repeated pattern, I also like the body of the dragonfly, just with some darker shades I managed to get a round and realistic look to it.
I also tried a pink cyanotype, which was hard to do without the proper equipment and darkroom conditions, but it was enough to give this idea of an outline that I was able to play with here, although i do not think any of these would be a particularly good motif in a repeating pattern.
Mark-making is something that I struggle with sometimes, as I tend to stick to the same media and prefer my favourites, although I wanted to try out some more variety here with the textures that I researched and looking into my colour palette with the colours I will experiment with now.
I explored textures through painting, using dry and wet brush strokes in a range of colours and thicknesses to see what looks effective and what would work well in my pattern. I think the scratchy quality of the strokes makes it look unfinished, so I do prefer the bolder lines, but even the paint then leaves behind the brushstroke, so maybe using pens or something sharper would be more effective for this.
I explored the idea of the graphic colour block with the lining here, which I think works well. I did not like how the paint looked lining the leaf as I think it is too thick and uneven, and draws attention to the imperfections in the lines too much. The sharpies were better and came out cleaner, I also like how the line misses the edge of the leaves sometimes which leaves a white bit through it, I think this is a graphic bold bit that could look very good with a coloured background behind it, giving it the effortless effect. I tried a variety of patterns over the leaves and patterns, but I think the most simple actually work better, avoiding black and going with a darker colour to go around the leaf, for some complimentary colours rather than contrast. I only did a little illustration of the pond with the dragonflies over it and the trails they leave behind them, which I think could be quite an interesting pattern idea.
Cyanotyping at home is totally different to the controlled darkroom in Uni, at home the solution had to be applied quickly and the leaves placed quickly, the result depends on how even the sun is too, so I was careful to avoid shadows. Luckily, it was a very sunny day so the development did not take long, I watched as it changed from a very pale colour to this nice pink.
The result was quite nice as I will show once I have drawn on them, but I did notice that the sun did carry on exposing even after they had been washed, so the colour difference is not as obvious as I would have wanted.
After a couple of weeks to relax and get on top of my health and wellbeing, I decided to formulate a plan of action for the coming weeks that I would like to work on. Going back over my feedback, I identified a few key areas within the different areas of marking that I want to improve on.
Research
Additional research about boutiques and online outlets, create a list of these that I can find online, and perhaps visit some local ones first-hand. Use a box file for the stationary and press pack samples, and add more annotation for them. Relabel files to the correct module name and number.
Drawing
More experimentation for the backgrounds in the colour scheme I am working in. Soil and leaf abstracting that link with insects. Experiment more with lino, photograms and cyanotypes.
Digital
Stitch samples need to be evaluated, are they an extension of my drawing and markmaking? Work more on turning the basic motifs digital and into patterns. Work on patterns further.
Moodboards
Heavier card to be used for the moodboards. A more stylised layout and a more uniform boarder. Look at colours in the colour palette.
Stationary Collection
Make the products after redefining the designs.
Fabrics
Redefine patterns and print.
Blog
Look at layout and make sure all images are visible.
In light of the recent events and disruption with coronavirus, I will be trying to complete as much of this at home as I can, starting with the research and drawing aspects. I also plan on signing up for skillshare and learning to better my patterns that way, after finding youtube to have reached a limit with the amount of help I have been able to take away from it.
I enjoyed this module and the challenges that came with it, adapting patterns for products particularly. I think my skills in Photoshop, digital work and pattern creation have improved a lot, although I still want to work more on this, so it becomes easier. I also think my mark making was better this term, I spent more time on it and it flowed better through my book to the patterns that eventually became digital outcomes. I was more creative this module with my research, taking every trip in Summer as potential inspiration and capturing plenty of photographs throughout, I also actively enquired to the Cardiff Museum to a contact there and was able to gain access to the Entomology Department’s archives of insects. This allowed me to get close to the insects for detailed images, something I would not have been able to do while they were alive. I think one of my biggest strengths remains using the fineliners to create the pattern that I want, I have adopted this style for years and believe I have found my handwriting style, when I transferred it to digital I was adapting to the change of a thin nib to the Apple pencil, however I found the motifs worked well. They were time consuming to complete but the perk of being digital, it could be manipulated and moved around if needed, so other options could be explored quickly, this worked for pattern and colour.
I think I could have improved on my trend research, I knew from shopping and social media that bees were trending the recent years however a search on WGSN could have been useful, as well as visiting shops and doing my own research there, however as I was unwell, I was not able to do this. I think I also could have improved my stitch work, I did some basic samples but due to timing I prioritised my digital over this, I could have really explored some interesting finishing effects to the fabric samples. Stitching could have been a nice touch over the top of the pattern on a summer dress for example, or even beading. I also would have liked the chance to do some digital stitch as I think I could make some nice repeated designs with this and tried out some interesting decorative stitches with it, I would like to properly learn how to do a good digital repeated pattern on a larger scale, I imagine it involves marking out the borders around it and a lot with measuring, the same would apply for adding stitch over digitally printed designs.
If I was to repeat this module, I would have done more research back when it was the main task that could have influenced my designs. I also would have done a wider range of motifs, some not so patterned with blocks of colour maybe, so this was an option to include more colour into the patterns sometimes.
I looked into fabric samples and what I wanted to put the patterns onto for my mini fabric collection, and I settled on young girls summer dresses. I thought the subtle patterns suited this quite well.
Patterns on Summer Dresses
There were a few unsuccessful attempts before these, where the image quality was not good so the patterns began blurry immediately. I thought these ones were quite interesting and both patterns work well on the dresses, I think the scale is also good but could be tried smaller again to see if this looks better.
Tahlia Paige 