Rachael Mrvos
Information Evaluation
My initial ideas for this project were to
collect as many bus tickets, train tickets and leaflets as possible as well as
taking photos of things such as street signs. I saved all my collected items of
research in a folder after going online to find secondary sources and printed
them off ready to get out and start working from.
I didn’t attend any galleries or
exhibitions for this project as there was nothing local which related to the
theme. I did however go out and take photos in Scarborough of signs on boats,
bin signs and food price lists. I searched the internet for photos from Google
images and Google for artists my tutor suggested. I collected magazines from
the Tattoo shop I work in to cut out the contents page and price lists etc. I
saved magazines I got free from shops such as Republic to use the prices and
information which was about the clothes etc. As well as this I saved tags from
clothes and labels from food tins and newspapers.
I did a couple of pages a
week for my sketchbook in the summer, and managed to get quite a lot done,
however I didn’t like my idea for making my own and started again a couple of
weeks into being back at college, costing me valuable time and giving me extra
work to catch up on. When I’d caught up I managed my time well and got the
tasks done on time and to my best quality
I looked at the artist Dawn Dupree who is
a textile artist. I chose to look at her because she did a certain piece on a
pillow with a television on it. . I copied the image using fine liners over a
painted background in my sketchbook and visual sheet. I also looked at Sean
Martin because a piece of her work was a book created with loads of little
pieces of fabric covered in text sewn together. I re-created her work by
sticking small squares of newsprint together in a similar way. However I did
not like her work very much because it was plain and very simple. As well as
these I looked at Vicky Olfield because she did a piece based on nature but the
background was music notes which contain information. I really liked the nature
theme in that work therefore recreated it in my sketchbook and on my visual
sheet using acrylic paints for the robin and printed off music notes on acetate
and layered that over the top. I researched information from the artist Barry
Goodman because he used prints to create cars and buses and I looked at the license plates.
For my repeat tracings I firstly used
designs from my sketchbook and visual sheets then went onto putting new things
I haven’t used in my work yet such as clothes tags, shop symbols and the
Olympic rings. I did this to fill in small spaces and for fresh ideas and a
change from what I’d been doing for a while in my sketchbook. I did a lot of
thin lines which I regretted after as they didn’t all show up on my screen.
My experiences with the sewing machines
have been all positive. I already knew how to use one including threading it
up, changing spool colours and using the different dials for different
stitches, but I was unfamiliar with the machines at college and I’ve problem
solved for myself without asking for help. Near the end of the project when I
was finishing my final piece the machine I was on wasn’t doing embroidery
correctly, causing me to have to get another machine out and set it up, which
was time consuming but worked out in the end.
Firstly on the machines I did a basic
sample including the different stitches on the machine I chose. Due to there
not being many varieties on my machine, I changed the colour twice, including my
spool, and repeated the same ones. Secondly I practiced free hand embroidery. I
did messy simple flowers for my first attempt to get the hand of it and a feel
for how to move the hoop around without putting my fingers inside. This went
well and I got the sample finished in time. I also did a layer burn and stitch sample with
the machines. This included ironing bondaweb to several sheets of organza and
place this is a hoop ready to do free hand embroidery onto before applying heat
with the heat gun, causing the fabric to scrunch up and burn. I enjoyed this so
much I did a second sample to attach to a space on my second visual sheet of a
tin of baked beans.
I did a sample for heat
transfer using a page out of my sketchbook and printed it onto calico because
my page was a mixture of browns and beige's. The colours went well and I was
pleased with the end result. Firstly in the printing room I had a few practices
screen printing with Yellow 2G and Orange OL pigment inks onto carbon paper.
The inks leaked a bit and smudged on the paper but the final result was still
nice. Following I did an A3 sample to practice matching my screen up to create
a repeat pattern by eye. I used the colours Green B, Red BB and Orange OL
(pigment inks) lined up above my screen to see what it looked like. I did this
sample onto white cotton to ensure the colours showed up as bright as they
could. I liked the result of this as the colours merged together in certain
parts and made a nice effect. I did samples with devore paste after this. Firstly I dyed my sheet of velvet devore with procion dyes.
(Green Mx2B, Blue MxR) then pressed when dried under the heat press before
washing to get rid of the access dye before screen printing with devore paste.
This was difficult to match the repeat pattern up by eye as the devore paste is
clear, so I did a4 and a5 samples in this. After I did some puff binder
samples. I dyed some muslin with procion dyes, (Red MxG, Yellow Mx3R) then
pressed when dry under the heat press to lock the colour into the fabric. Then
I washed it to remove the access dyes and left to dry again. I used plain white
buff binder for my first samples then used a dark blue one another student from
my group made for my extended sample and final piece. I appliqued a piece of
muslin with puff binder screen printed onto it onto my final piece. Then I added
some free hand machine embroidery over the top of some of the patterns in silver/white
cotton. Then added some varied sized clear beads onto my final piece by hand.
The process I enjoyed the most was screen
printing with puff binder and free hand embroidery over my designs after. I
think this looked the best and worked out the best, apart from the coloured
puff binder I mixed, which didn’t come out as dark as I liked so I only applied
hear to a section of that part. I didn’t enjoy using devore paste onto the
devore velvet as it didn’t work out well
and the final result didn’t show up enough. If I were to do these again I would
experiment with more colours I’d mixed myself. I only had chance to mix my own
pigment inks when the black was running low and made more.
After starting my sketchbook again I
managed my time well and completed the tasks given in college on time, if I had
outstanding work I took it home and completed it ready for next time. I also
tried to do extra samples and use a fabric no one else had to be different and
try gain extra marks.
I am satisfied with my overall project
especially my Tec file and final piece, however I do wish I had don’t my sketch
book to my best quality the first time instead of starting again and taking up
time I didn’t have to waste.
Techniques Used:
. Procion dyes
.Pigment inks
. Screen Print
.Puff Binder
. Free Hand Machine Embroidery
. Hand sewn beading
