Tutorial with Jane flew past me this week, and then I got overwhelmed with the amount to do and forgot to write about! Tutorial went really well, and Jane liked my designs so far. My original idea had been to select say 3 or 4 of my designs (or variations of one design) after evaluating them and working further with them. I would then have had 3 mugs, and some fabric printed from these designs with which I would create a mini room set up. This would have involved a small arm chair and a side table with the mugs, and maybe a vase with flowers on it. Jane pointed out that this could look rather "bitty", unless I upholstered a chair with my fabric. After looking at the work, and the worksheets, on which I have laid the designs she pointed out that both my way of thinking and my way of designing is very logical and my final show should reflect that. She (and I have noticed many other tutors also doing this) pointed out that the final show does not have to include a 'final piece' as such. It does not need to be narrowed down quite such, and that for me this works to my advantage as the logical design process has become the main project, and so the final show should again, reflect this.
And so she suggested that I skip the evaluative process I had chosen, and instead create designs with 2 or 3 more birds. I could then have printed up to say 8 or 10 max. tea towels and mugs of each bird. They could be displayed in rows, by bird and type, creating a 6 x <10 row of pattern and colour products with a strong impact and wow factor. This keeps the products linked, by home placement, allows for mass production and little work on my half. It also give me the option of selling stuff at the show. Over all I loved her idea and am definitely going to do it! Now I'm just researching good manufacturers and prices.
I have also started to re-think my catalogue and whether I want to include home set up style photos with my designs in or not. Part of me thinks this will be really tricky and could look a bit tacky if poorly done. We will give it a go and see, I'm thinking.
So today I started the hummingbirds, and after doing some more sketches in my sketchbook and traced some more photos (this time not my own) to get the bird shapes. I chose to use images that weren't my own as the ones I already had were from Paradise Park, and I had really struggled to take the photos I needed and wanted as many of the birds were not only hidden behind trees, but were also far away and were all in enclosed areas with horrible wire fences in the way. All of which did not make for successful photos!
The one thing I did differently though, was that this time, with the birds already selected and in my mind, and therefore in my sketchbook it was much easier to draw pattern and background ideas on an attached page to the sketches and to play around with ideas in my sketchbook rather than on paper. I don't mind where I do my drawing, but I found that at the beginning of the project I didn't really know what I was planning to do or where I was going to go with the project and so did a lot if drawing that consequently hasn't been used in the project designs at all. While I think that it is completely understandable for this to happen, and is how most of my projects begin, I am really enjoying the confidence and better results that I feel come from the small amount of prior knowledge of choice that I have at this stage for kind of starting again with new bird designs. This is something I think I will have to work hard on in the future. In order to do this I think I need to do a certain amount of drawing before a project begins, before a project proposal happens and even on a daily basis of everything that inspires me in order to have drawings ready and have ideas with which to start a project. This has also been the key and start to a new online course in surface pattern design that I started this week, and can now understand much more where the teacher is coming from. (There will be more on the course to come tomorrow!)
Anyway, onto the Hummingbirds!
What do you think!?
Abiento x
