All Project Work: December 2014

Evaluation

For this project I researched in only secondary format as I didn’t take any photos myself, they are all from google. I also used google to help me decide on who my historical artist was going to be. After looking at both of their work; both William Morris and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, I chose Mackintosh as I like his work using stain glass windows. The colours he uses are very effective for the purpose they are made for; (letting light in through windows). From my peer evaluation by Stevie Booth, I found that she thought that my secondary research skills were at a distinction level and a quote she wrote was as follows… “You’ve got a good range of photos. Well done :)” I am thankful for her thoughts but I think she has given me a level that may not be correct in my eyes. I think that my research, as I didn’t do any primary, I shouldn’t get more than a pass at best but once again in thankful.

I put my mood boards together by first stretching a piece of paper and putting on a background. Then I went onto google and I found images for both my contemporary and historical mood boards by typing into the search engine all of the following… “Pop-art Artist, William Morris and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.” Then I printed them off by coping and pasting them from google on to a PowerPoint and then making the images a range of different sizes. Finally I printed the PowerPoint off and cutting up the images and gluing them on to two sheets, one for contemporary and one for historical.

To have been able to choose a single contemporary artist, I had to narrow the list down by looking at the movement they worked in. Then, choose who fitted well the most with my historical artist; Mackintosh. I looked at the pop-art movement as this has always appealed to me for a long time. I was going to look at my favorite pop-artist; Andy Warhol but I choose James Rosenquist. I did this as I wanted to explore other pop-artist apart from my personal favorite and the most well-known. The more research I did into Rosenquist's work, the more I wanted him as my contemporary artist for this project. I think that Rosenquist's work is a nice contrast to Mackintosh's work. This is because of the different media they both use. Mackintosh's work I have used is of stain-glass windows and Rosenquist's work I have used is paintings of ordinary house-hold items such as; lipstick, bottles, hair clips and nails. So due to this point I think that Rosenquist supports the theme of the arts & crafts movement as he uses house-hold items and the art & crafts movement also include house-hold items.

The experimentations that I did throughout this project consist of the following; a cardboard loom, a peg loom, hand stitching into paper, batik and puff binder. Firstly the cardboard loom. To do this, get a piece of cardboard for the “loom”. Using scissors make some cuts along two opposite edges. Take some yarn, and tape the end to the back of the cardboard, then fitting the yarn into the notches, wrap the yarn around the cardboard. To do this, you want to wrap around the cardboard tab, and then go down the opposite side to make the long lines where you will weave. Next, take a length of yarn and tape one end to the back of the cardboard loom. The other end will be threaded through the loom. Now start threading the yarn in an over under pattern, back and forth across the loom. When you run out of thread, you can continue with a different color if you’d like. I tied a new color to the end of the old color. After the weaving is done, turn over the cardboard, and take off the pieces of tape that are holding down the ends of the yarn. Now peel off the loops of yarn over the tabs along one side of the weaving. Then slide the other side of the weaving off over the other tabs. Gently pull the loops of yarn that were on the tabs, one at a time, so you can tighten down the edges of the weaving. Now tie a knot around each of the loose ends, and then cut off the extra threads of yarn. Health and safety for cardboard loom would be… when using scissors, take care. Also when using the needle, make sure that you don’t stab yourself or others.

Next is a bit more complex then cardboard loom, it's called a peg loom. With a length of yarn about 2½ or 3 times the length you require for your finished work. Thread one end through the hole in each peg. Pull through the hole until both ends are the same length, these form the warp of your work. Once all pegs are threaded and in their holes on the base, knot the ends of 3 pegs together along the length of the loom. Start your weaving a few pegs in from the side of the loom working to the edge. Go round the end pin then weave in and out of the pegs. When you have nearly reached the top of the pegs lift each peg from the hole and slide your work down the warp. Replace each peg as you go along the loom. Carry on in this way until your work has reached the length you require. Make sure you slide all of your work down the warp threads so you have no gaps. A gentle tug on the warp threads will pull them all through so they are laid flat and level. To finish, cut warp threads free from pegs and knot in the same way as the start of project. Any other loose threads you may find can also be sewn in to the weft threads (the ones that go from side to side) in the same way. Health and safety for peg loom is when you’re using scissors, take care you don’t cut yourself or anyone else.

Next, hand stitching into paper not fabric. With this process, it’s not that complex as it is the same as hand stitching into fabric you just have to be a little bit more careful as the paper rips quite easily. So you thread up your needle; with a colour that you want to use, and then tie a little knot at the end of the thread. (If you would like to double thread your work then make sure that the thread is long enough to; once you have threaded up your needle, you need to pull one end of the thread till it’s the same as the other. Then using both ends, tie a knot.) Next you begin your sewing. Once you have finished with a colour of you have run out of thread then all you need to do it knot the thread at the back with another already made stitch. If you need a new colour, and then just do the same thing again to thread up your needle and continue until you have completed your work. Health and safety for hand stitching would be when using scissors or the needle, make sure you take care that you don’t cut or stab yourself.

Now for the next technique that I used was batik. I did use this for one of my final outcome pieces. First I drew my design on to a piece of cartridge paper. Then Kat set up the hot wax for me. When the wax was ready I used the tjanting tool, (a bowl with a tap for the wax to come out) to go over the areas that I wanted the wax to go. This means that the colours didn't go there as the wax resisted them. Then once all the areas had been covered that I wanted to covered, I left the wax to dry. Once dry I made up some brusho inks and paint the areas that I wanted colours in them. Again, I left this to dry before doing then next step, using an iron to melt of the wax. Once all of the wax was off then my piece was complete. Health and safety for batik would be a bit more than weaving. When you’re heating up the wax, make sure that you don’t stick your fingers in the wax as it will be very hot. Also when using the tjanting make sure that your fingers stay clear of the bowl and tap area as the hot wax will have heated up the tool, making it more hazardous for the user. Lastly, always make sure you wear gloves when using the wax if you are pregnant as the chemicals can harm both you and baby.

Lastly I used puff binder. This technique is where you use puff binder to make a 3D effect on your work. I used both a paint brush and a lollypop stick to apply the puff binder to my design. Then I left it to dry. Once it had dried, I used a heat gun to heat up the puff binder to create the 3D effect I was aiming for. After this, I used acrylic paints to fill in the areas that I wanted colour to be applied to so that you could clearly see my pattern. Health and safety for puff binder will be when you’re using the heat gun, take care that you don’t touch the hot part of the gun as it can get rather hot in use. Also, always make sure you wear gloves when using the puff binder if you are pregnant as the chemicals can harm both you and baby just like the wax can. Moreover, the health and safety for all the workshops are that before you do anything, when you enter the room, sign in so that people know who is in the workshop at all times in case of a fire.

When I received my feedback from Stevie; my peer assessor, I looked through all her comments and found that she has given me a mixture of grades. I got 1 referral, 3 passes, 2 merits and 2 distinctions. Also she identified that apart from “primary research”, I have completed every piece of work to at least a pass standard. From her feedback I have looked though her comments and the next time I do a project I will try my best to add more of my on interpretations to all of my sheets. As well as this, I will also try to keep my work neat and in the lines I have drawn. Within my designs I have found that my strengths are mainly drawing shapes to a standard, painting and cutting & sticking photos I have printed off from google. These are being demonstrated within the following sheets; the contemporary & historical mood boards, the contemporary & historical artist research sheets, the visual sheets and also the final design.

If I was to redo this project again I would change how I have managed my time because I believe that I could have finished before the deadline if I did more work at home and asked for help when I needed it rather than just trying to figure it out on my own. Also I would have liked to try more experimentations than the four that I did. I didn’t have chance to try the textiles mark making as I was unwell during the time set for us to try this. When I have looked through all of my work I think that I have done well on most of my work but still could have done a lot better. For example; I think that my experimentations went really well but as I have not done any primary research, it was all secondary. So that could have been done better that what I did. If I could choose 2 sheets that I could improve on they would be my contemporary mood board and my first artist sheet. I would choose these as I don’t think that I have fully shown my skills to my full potential, especially on my mood board I should have done it the same as my other one and filled all the negative space and not shown any background.