Evaluation

                Checks and Tartans have been of interest to me since I began to weave; however throughout this project I have been able to explore and understand the construction much more while also developing my own techniques. Through colour and pattern, I have examined the possible outcomes for my tartan/check patterns and expanded on what I know to understand of this area.

                From the outset I tried to push myself and go out of my comfort zone – This began with my warp. The colours I chose, I was very unsure of due to their limitations in contrast to each other. I was very aware that orange and green would require specific colour combinations to create an aesthetically pleasing design, but I wanted to take the risk. Now having gone through the project and seen my final outcomes, I am very pleased I took the chance and went with the warp that I did. In regards to risk taking, I am aware that I generally work very flat (which is again how I began this project) but was hoping to try and expand on this and include some more textures. Through using mohair I was able to brush some of my samples to create a much more warm, cosy and tactile effect which therefore expanded my ideas for my context.

                In terms of skills, which I have augmented throughout this unit, I was very pleased I chose to dye my warp. Not only did this allow me to enhance my dyeing skills and refresh my memory, but I also felt much more sense of pride once my warp was made and ready to be woven. In addition to this, weaving on the floor looms has been a great experience that I thoroughly look forward to continuing with. It allowed for more design options, saved time and really pushed me to think more about and plan what my intentions were.

                As a result of this project, although I am very pleased with how I have worked and what I have created, I feel as though I need to work with patterns and designs that are more out of my comfort zone for the next unit to really expand my skills. Tartans and checks were almost a bit of a comfort zone because it’s what I enjoy to look at (even if I have only really explored them once before this). Perhaps next time I will work with a plainer warp and a much more limited colour palette to push myself to think and create in new ways. 

Mon 6^th – Fri 10^th Nov, 2017

                I had an issue this week; running out of the 3000 yards I had made of 2/40s Mercerised Cotton, Orange. I had tried to initially make enough so that I wouldn’t have to dye anymore but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. When I went to try and dye the same colour again, I struggled to get the ratios of colour right due to the big difference in the weight of yarn since this time I was dyeing much less. However, taking this into consideration, I think I did quite well in getting a colour match.

                In terms of samples, at this point I have focused a lot on checks/tartans and getting those how I wanted them. Since I have reached quite a satisfied point with this, I thought it best to try some things a little more different and out of my comfort zone involving texture. A lot of my work is very flat so I have been testing peg plans and yarns that give more of a 3D effect. Rebecca also noticed that I was using mohair and recommended I test brushing it to see the effect. I am actually very happy with the brushing finish and think it work well with my check/tartan patterns.

                Looking at all my current samples together I noticed everything was very warm and yellow. Since I was contrasting flat with texture, I thought perhaps I should try some colder colour and look more into the blues that I’ve been using; which was also suggested in our group crit. So far I have been happy with the testing I have done and hope to continue this next week and produce some nice samples.

Mon 30^th Oct – Fri 3^rd Nov, 2017

     Sampling has been my main focus this week. I feel as though I have spent a lot of time testing but don’t really like a lot of the test pieces – Therefore I’m having the dilemma of not wanting to waste any more of my warp but also not knowing which bits I could move forward into samples. This means I have tried to have a big focus on where these sample ideas could come from; with colour being my biggest issue throughout (since my warp is so bold). A couple of my sketchbook pages from early on have lots of bright, vivid square yarn wraps on them which I thought could help me develop my ideas further. I have tried using these wraps as collages with newer, more relevant wraps alongside. 

Mon 23^rd – Fri 27^th Oct, 2017

                Last week I was still unsure about my warp, while I was making it, and was worried that I would hate it as it would be too dominant against my weft. However, now that it is on the loom and I have started weaving, I could not be happier with it – It has fulfilled everything I wanted it to be: quirky, autumnal, slightly traditional and much more versatile than I was expecting. 

                My issue now is that I am struggling a little with how to sample. This is a problem I had last year and am still learning. I keep wanting to jump straight into making samples without putting much thought into them – But with a limited warp that isn’t the best way to work. With help from Lesley and Rebecca I am learning how to be more selective with what I produce and how to get to that point to begin with. I have been trying new ways of drawing/ collaging to try and create possible ideas for samples. I am still in the early stages of this but will hopefully get some nice samples out of it. 

Mon 16^th – Fri 20^th Oct, 2017

                This week has been very busy due to preparing to get onto the looms next week. Since my EPI for my warp is very high I wanted to get as much done as possible so that my allocated time on the looms can be use to its best potential. Therefore this week I began by getting all of my yarns dyed. My initial plan was to try and get two tones of 3 of the colours so that I could wrap them round end on end. However due to the technique that I used, unfortunately this didn’t work so I ended up with just the 3 initial colours. I also ended up with my brown/grey yarn colour coming out a pale Khaki Green. Thankfully this colour is in my colour scheme and still works with my plan so is still useable – I almost think it looks better and more complimentary.

                After the dyeing process I wound my yarn onto cones so that I could begin my warp. However it took 2 days to wind all the yarn on so I have started making my warp a little later than planned. Once I finally began my warp on Friday, it all looked really nice together and worked really well. But after I added the orange I started to question if I still liked the colour combination I had chosen. I felt as though it looked a bit more spooky, almost like Halloween, rather than the warm autumnal colour palette I was looking for. At this point it is too late to change anything so I will have to hope that once it’s on the loom I will really like it and will have lots of ideas to play around with.

                So far I have tried out a few possible peg plans on Scotweave. I am hoping to create a fairly simple one to use for my first go since I will be focusing on how the loom works and getting used to that, rather than necessarily focusing on creating a nice sample.

Mid Project Review

                For my mid project review, I was able to get some positive and also constructive feedback from my group which I found very helpful. To deconstruct these points and see how I can take and use them to my advantage, I’m going to pick them apart and apply to areas that the group have stated I need to work on, but also what I know myself still needs to be done.

1.       I have made clear connections with my visual research but was told to try and narrow down my ideas. I agree with this to an extent since my sketchbook seems a little more disorganised than usual. I think this is due to needing some more connecting images to previous work to make my progress clearer. This can be done by spending some time looking back through all of my work and seeing where the influences came from ie. Drawings, artist research etc.

2.       I was told there is evidence of material sampling with lots of variety; especially with yarns. I have looked at a lot of possible warps to make a clear and thorough decision. To extend this, once my yarns have been dyed, I will need to create another yarn wrap of my warp plan and show what the yarns are – I will also document the yarns in my technical file.

3.       This question was not answered in the group critique but I would still like to self asses it. I think my colour palette has been established well but almost has two halves to it of autumnal colours and bright colours. Finding the right balance of these colours to fit with what I wanted took a bit of time but I now feel as though it has been defined well. I have also tried lots of colour combinations that I can work with later on within my weft.

4.       I have shown clear evidence of experimentation in Photoshop that I should continue with. Perhaps it would be worth starting to think about weft ideas from older drawings or photographs. It was also suggested that I maybe work outside of my sketchbook to continue drawing. I absolutely agree with this since I would like to try to continue drawing away from digital and go back to pen to paper.

5.       I have shown clear evidence of contextual research through my mood board. I would like to expand on this and start to think more about the options that are available on it eg. mens suits, interiors, scarves. I need to find some artists that are making the same sort of things that I imagine my work fitting into.

6.       For positive recommendations, it was suggested that I make more links to my digital drawings within my sketchbook. Again I completely agree since the connections in my sketchbook are lacking and I need to clearly show where everything is coming from.