As well as spending nearly all of my waking day in London yesterday, I have managed to be able to print off my fabric print for the dress I am making for my final show... It was a bit touch and go at times wondering how it was going to turn out, have I got the sizes right? Is it going to shrink when I wash it?... It did however shring a little bit but luckily I had added to this in my print design and sizing things up. I am really pleased with the outcome so far, I have pinned the skirt area together for now, until it gets made up properly, just to see how it sits and it is exactly how I imagined it to look especially with the hooped skirt underneath. I have taken some pictures of it so far, and also of my print as it was layed out after being steamed in the print room...

 

This week has so far been a success. Yesterday i went down to London to visit some stores for inspiration and to look at what designers have currently on the market, in terms of print.... Harrods and Liberty for Scarves and fashion and also for Ceramics in Liberty as they have a vast amount of ceramics for sale to take inspiration from. I also went to the V&A gallery and museum as I wanted to go up to the prints and drawing area. This was a research area which housed an enormous archive of prints, for those that wanted to research prints and drawings from hundreds of years ago to the present day. I had asked to look at the Illustrations of fashion illustrator and artist Julie Verhoeven and I was able to take images of her original drawings that she had used for fashion designers such as John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan, Topshop, Cacharel, Versace and Louis Vuitton, as well as illustrations she had worked on for fashion editorial magazines, and music covers etc. Julie Verhoeven is a British illustrator, and her work has also been included on bags for Mulberry. Her style of work is of a surreal taste and feature collaged natural forms with illustartion heads. Black and White with splashes of colour. I was really lucky to have seen these images because I felt that her style was quite like mine and she is a very contemporary designer working with some of the largest most prestigious design houses to date.. Take a look at her work..

Just had a tutorial to determine where I am up to with my designs. I had managed to get my design together for my final dress, which I am hoping to have printed this week, so, I can work on it over the Easter period. I will upload images of  my design once I have designed the print for the back of the skirt tonight. I have painted up three more 60x60 scarves, so I now need to decide on borders for these and determine what market level I am working to properly. I also have to work on designs for my ceramics, which I am hoping to get done and finalised by the end of this week so that I can have them printed off over the easter break.... Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

 

 

Boards almost ready for Bradford

   A couple of illustrations I have been working together for print

 

Textile Competition design

 

I'm not going to lie but this weekend has been an absolute waste of time for me with regards to work.... Saturday myself and Susan turn up at Fab Lab in Manchester for our freebie session on the laser cutting machine. All armed and ready to go we arrive promptly at 10:30am to be told that it was the time slot for a Health and Safety 5 minute chat, We am then prompted to put our name down on the waiting list for our turn, with the only available time at 3pm! So not only have I sacrificed my Saturday morning lie in to get up as I would do on a school morning, I am asked to leave and return almost 5 hours later..... On our return at 3pm we get set up, are assisted in putting our work on the computer ready to print on the laser machine, by this time it's getting on for 3:20 and the lady that has been using the machine since the morning is still there, using it and cutting into our time... I put mine on ready to start, only, because mine is being "Rastered" It's going to take at least 40 mins for my illustration to appear on wood. Our hour slot finished at 4, the man next on the list turns up, makes me take mine out so he can use it for his time. I walk away with a third of mine produced and Susan walks away with nothing!!! Thanks for the experience, but I think were going to stick to our slot at Fred Aldous and pay the price!.. That was Saturday. Today I have managed to ink up another 60x60 scarf which is great, because i've managed to get two done this week, however, I have had to tweek my design for Bradford and my Photoshop has decided to go extra slow on me. I give up, looks like another early doors for me in uni tomorrow so i can work a little more on it and send it to print through the day.. Here's a preview of my final design and a couple of other illustration motifs I have put together....

Just finished pattern for Bradford Textile competition, inspired by my rabbit design from last semester. I just need to get it ok'd now before I can get in the print room next week to print it off. I then need to produce a A1 mood board to go with it, and then it's ready to go... Also had an afternoon meeting with my dressmaker yesterday who will be putting together my final piece to check that I have all measurements right before designing onto my pattern piece. An appointment booked tomorrow to speak with a creative designer working in industry, and a weekend booked of laser cutting. I'll keep you informed of the outcomes. 

One of my final illustrations

A view on this week..... I have been able to sit down on a mid way review which has given me some ideas into my designs..... Still spent the day looking at the computer though, thinking of what to do!!!... On a good note. A day out at laser cutting has given me a fresh idea, moving forward. Take a look at the day we had at Fred Aldous, which included a tutorial session of the machine, a guide into the different programmes used and materials. Below is one of my final outcomes made using laser programme Photo grav, which enables you to use any JPEG image and turn your artwork into something new...