FMP evaluation

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland has always been an important book to me and not in the sense that it has taught me something valuable and life changing, its more to do with how Alice follows something that doesn’t quite make sense to her and she falls down the rabbit hole and down there she sees all kinds of nonsense.  Alice’s adventure will always be one of my favourites and it is still a very popular book today. I’d always had a little idea on my FMP theme and I wanted it to be about something I enjoyed and possibly something I could have fun with then I did research into it, I settled on Alice because as I said before she means a lot to me, she reminds me of being young and  not having to understand the adult world.

Like my other projects I had to get my primary and secondary research, unfortunately even though it is the 150^th anniversary of Alice’s adventure in wonderland there wasn’t much I could get involving Alice. There weren’t any exhibitions for my artists either so I just focused on what they look at. I went to a fancy dress shop and got a couple of pictures of some costumes, I also took pictures from my copy of Alice’s adventures in wonderland that has the illustrations by john Tenniel and took picture of the illustrations by Yayoi Kusama. I got pictures of a few other things like a bush in my garden that looked a little bit like a rose bush and I have a planter which has rabbits on the front o I took a picture of that too. As for my secondary research I used mainly Pinterest as it was easier to find pictures that had links so I knew where they were coming from. I didn’t really have much chance for drawing from observation in this project but I wish I had tried to allocate some time just to do even a small one.

I chose to look at two artist who had done pieces on Alice in wonderland, the first artist I looked at was Salvador Dali and I chose to look at him because his works is very unique and surreal much like wonderland and I just felt that it would be interesting to look at his work and to see if it would influence my work. The second artist I looked at was Yayoi Kusama and she has done her own illustrations for Alice’s adventures in wonderland, all her illustrations are done in a repeating dot pattern and it is really interesting to look at, like Dali her work is unique and different and I think it works well with my theme. As I am basing my project on the book rather than the Disney film I wanted to look at the illustrations by john Tenniel as I think all art that followed the book would have been slightly influenced by his drawings and I think they are very important and capture Alice and wonderland very well.

I developed my research by taking parts from my sheet work and sort of mashing them together, I did struggle quite a bit with my sheet work and didn’t quite get the inspiration I was hoping for, I think my sheets are quite poor compared to what they could have been.

I wanted to do a repeat print that looked like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and to do this I took parts from most of my sheets. What I found while drawing my design was I couldn’t use my artists style because they just didn’t fit well with my style so I had to simplify it by using bold colours from Kusamas work and just took the pig from Dali’s work and a few of his colours which I thought were quite muted in parts of his work, I think that the rest was inspired by John Tenniel.

Like any other project there has been constraints, mine were more to do with time, I was a little late at getting my tracing in which meant I had less time to experiment and less time to do samples. I’ve also had trouble getting things done when I’ve planned to do them because whenever Id go to do something I’d find something else that would need doing first. Another problem was we only have priority in the print room on a Monday and Friday, this meant everyone who needed to work in there in my class went at the same time and there just isn’t enough room to get in so I’d have to wait, luckily I’ve managed to get in on other days when it’s been empty and I’ve been able to get more done when there are less people in.

I’ve tried experimenting a little with this project, for my artist sheet on Salvador Dali I was originally using water colours and it didn’t work as well as I wanted, I was then shown how to use brusho inks and wallpaper paste to get a similar effect as Dali. I really enjoyed doing this and I spent a quite a while just trying to build up the colour, I think it turned out really well. I also had a chance to use my t-shirt yarn I’ve wanted to use for a while, I used the 25mm needles and I think it worked out and looks really good. I had a go at some 3D felting which I really enjoyed and I think it fits in very well.

I didn’t have to do as much problem solving as I’ve had to do in the past which is a good thing, I did have a little issue with my screen as if I’m using the registration bar it won’t fit very well and it just meant I had to move my fabric out when I do my screen with Alice’s dress. I bought a lot of fabric and I decided to cut it down so I could get three samples to a screen, this allowed me to do it quicker.

If I hadn’t had any time constraints I would probably have sewn into my fabric and maybe experimented with some other fabrics. I probably would have done another wall hanging with other colours.

I don’t think my artists influenced my work that much, I struggled trying to include their styles and in the end I uses Yayoi Kusama’s bold colours and then I took the pig from Dali’s work and changed it into my style and then used muted colours for the background to try and relate to his work. I think John Tenniel influenced me the most and you can see that in some parts of my print.

I decided on my final design by looking at my sheet work and taking parts off that, I know I wanted to do it so it looked like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and I just added things to that idea.

I didn’t use as many processes as I wanted to during this project but I did use needle felting, sewing, embroidery, knitting and screen printing. I really enjoyed these processes and I feel I did well in most of them, I think I explored embroidery quite a bit and I wish I’d had time to use in in my final piece.

I think my print went really well and I’m proud of how it turned out, I think it would have been better if id trued some more colours but other than that I think my prints went really well. I think my sheet work wasn’t as strong as it could have been and I’m a little disappointed with that.

I don’t think I managed my time that well, I did try keeping a diary and I started by planning what I was going to be doing each day, but this didn’t work and I ended up having to do other things that were more important.

I started off by using my blog effectively and then when things started to get busier I sort of lost track of where I was on my blog and I had to upload a lot of posts on the same day, I could have used it better and it would have been easier if I had.

Over all I am fairly happy with how my project turned out and I think I did quite well, I think my strengths were my prints and my needle felting. I could have spent longer working on my sketchbook and sheet work.

I originally wanted to make a dress which had a repeat print on it, but with the amount of time I had I just didn’t think it would be possible for me to do, this made me rethink what I could do, I decided that a wall hanging would be better and after doing my design it would look much more effective. It was also suggested that I do a cushion as there where two prints that were chosen for me.

I don’t think I handled the amount of work I was given all too well, I think I got a bit overwhelmed and work just started piling up on me. I tried to organise my time the best I could but I really did struggle.

If I were able to do this project again I think I may have chosen different artist and tried to do more experimentation and possibly focused a little more on my sheet work.

I’m really happy with how my prints turned out and I think I did quite well with it.

 

Wall hanging FMP

For my main final piece I chose to do a wall hanging, I had a design meeting and this was chose for me, My print is done on silk light, I dyed it with yellow MX4G which I watered down because I wanted it to be quite light and a softer yellow. Because I was doing silk I had to put either cotton or calico under it before I started printing otherwise it would have bled and ruined my print. I started with my black screen as this had the registration bar on it so it would be easier to line up. Next I did my red screen and that went well, Then it was my gold screen, this was a bit harder because it was permaset so it is thicker and much harder to see through, this meant I had to wash my screen after every print. I eventually finished it and got on to my pink screen, this was much easier and quicker. I then had to move my fabric away from the registration bar because my screen wouldn't fit. I finished my print and then went in with a paint brush to fill in any arts that didn't print properly.

Cushion

When  I had my design meeting my class chose two prints for me to do, this was one, They suggested I make it into a cushion cover. As I wasn't dying my cotton I had to wash it because otherwise it would have shrunk and my screens wouldn't have lined up. I taped it to the table and started to print, the first time my screen moved and I had to start over, luckily I had enough fabric for one more go, I managed to do the rest of my screens and it worked out really well. I did have some problems with mixing up my colours as I couldn't get the right shade, eventually I got them close the shade I needed, I had to accept that I was never going to get the exact same shade. I took my material home and finished it there by hemming and sewing it, I chose to do an envelope cushion as I've done a few before and they are quite quick to do.

Printing Samples

I have done around 15 samples, this was so I could use different fabrics and colours and see which one worked the best, I really enjoyed doing my samples because it helped me look at other colours which I wouldn't have thought of using at the start of the problems. Most of the colours I used have been used in my sketch book and on my sheet work so they aren't just random colours. Once id finished all my samples I had a design meeting and I showed everyone in my class my samples and told them which ones I think worked the best and just talked them through the process. I then asked them to chose which one I should do and they chose two, this meant I could do a cushion cover and then my wall hanging which I've been planning on doing.

FMP Business Cards

For my unit 10 I had to create my own business card, one had to be corporate and the other had to be creative, they also had to relate to my FMP. For my corporate business card I chose to use one of my visual sheets as a background, I used vista print so I could get a load of them, this saved me some time.
For my Creative business card I wanted to do something different so I put my information on some paper and attached it to some string and but it in a small craft bottle, much like what Alice drinks out, I also added a tag that says read me. I really like how these turned out.

Embroidery

I bought some water soluble stabilizer a while a go because id seen a video on how someone used it to sew wool and other fibers together. I really wanted to have a go so I put some wool and threads between some stabilizer and then began to sew using a sewing machine, it took quite a while to complete because I wanted all the stitching to be interlocked so it wouldn't fall apart. once id finished I ran it under the tap to get rid of the stabilizer and then left it to dry. I'm really happy with how this turned out so I've done another.

Needle Felting

I've done needle felting before but I've never tried to do 3D needle felting, I wanted to have a go so I tried to make a toadstool and it took quite a while but once id finished it I thought it looked really good.
I then tried to do a rabbit head, it was supposed to be the white rabbit but I struggled so in the end it just ended up being a normal rabbit head. I'm really happy with how this turned out.

FMP Tracing

For my FMP I wanted to do a repeat print, I decided that I wanted to do it as though Alice is falling down the rabbit hole along with various things I've looked at throughout this project. I drew my design in pencil and decide on my colours and then got Kathryn to help me to get it to repeat. I then got some tracing paper and started to block out my first colour, its easier if you start with the colour you have the least of and work up to the one with the most. I started with my red screen and put on my registration points on so that it would line up with put on the screens. The next one I did was my gold and pink, when it comes to using this screen ill have to tape off either the pink or gold parts depending on which colours I want to use. When I came in a few days later to finish this someone had moved my tracings so it was out of line, this meant I had to spend quite a while trying to line it all up again and I'm lucky that id put on my registration points. Once id sorted this out I did my blue and then my black, the black took the longest and I had to have a little help on blocking it out. when id finished I gave it to the print technician and she transfers it onto screens for me.

Artist Research

one of the artists I chose to look at was Salvador Dali because he has done a few pieces on Alice In Wonderland, I really like his work because it is so unique and different, I think his surreal style really ties in with Alice in wonderland. I tried to recreate some of his work but I had a lot of problems with it not looking anything like his work, this was probably because I was using water colours. My tutor showed my how to used brusho inks and wallpaper paste so it would look better, I really enjoyed doing this because you just have to build up the paste and brushos and once its all dry it looks great. I spent a few hours just messing with it and I think the end result is really nice especially compared to my first attempt with water colours.

Knitting

A while back I made my own t-shirt yarn and I finally had a chance to use it, I'd tried using it at home but the needles I have aren't big enough and it just didn't work, so when I got to college I found some of the biggest needles and started by casting on 5 stitches, I really enjoyed doing this and I like how the bigger needles made it softer than one of my other pieces where I used slightly smaller needles. If I were to do this again I would probably cast on more stitches so it would be wider.
The t-shirt I used to make the yarn had an image on the front and you can see parts of it and I think it looks quite good in a way rather than it just being plain.

Business cards

As part of my unit 10 I have to create my own business cards, I had a chance to look at other peoples business cards and look at pervious students creative business cards. I really like some of these business cards and they sort of gave me an idea on what I could do for mine and what works well and what doesn't.