Wednesday 28 December 2011

LEGGINGS PROGRESS...

I'm finally getting there with my leggings, I only have a few more shapes to sew on now. Hopefully I should have completed them in a couple of weeks, when I get back to college. I have now resorted to hand sewing them on due to how I am finding using the machine too difficult and fiddly. I still find it difficult to hand sew the shapes on but I think it is a little bit more easier. Can you see the progress?

CONCEPT BOARD FOR ILLUSTRATION BRIEF...

To complete the last task on the illustration unit we had to construct a concept boards that reflected what inspiration we had taken from illustrator's work we had researched.I decided to use a lot of influences from Howard Tangye's work so I encouraged his style of work into my concept board and used appropriate images that I was most inspired by. I used collage to display my images so it would work with the rest of my boards. Overall, I feel my concept board is strong and strongly shows what I have been inspired by and what my style has become and which pathway I want to go with my drawing.

Friday 16 December 2011

FINAL ILLUSTRATION BOARD...

Today I managed to accomplish my goal of completing the last of my illustration boards as I was a bit indecisive on what I thought about it as her head was very big but I might alter it by adding a little bit more tone on the face to define the features rather than makes the head look really big. I am pleased with this pair of boards and am pleased with how they turned out but I might give them a little bit more tone in time. I enjoyed completing these boards rather than the two I did previously as I think I prefer close up images rather than distant angles. I think all the boards work together effectively as they all bring through the same medium and inspiration. What do you think?

Thursday 15 December 2011

FINDING THE RIGHT MODEL FOR MY LEGGINGS...

I allowed some students to try on my leggings to filter through the different body types in which this case I realised I needed a tall model with a athletic figure that would pull off these leggings professionally. I think they look very striking on a real life model and fit accurately so I am pleased with how the fitting has gone so far!

LAY PLANS FOR MY LEGGINGS...

As part of my functional skills criteria for the day I had to attempt to create a lay plan for my leggings creating a different lay plan for three fabrics. I started by measuring the paper to what width and meters needed I needed and started to place my patterns in the most confined spacing to reduce wastage. I completed two and still have one to complete but I shall complete that soon. I found this task a little bit confusing because I got mixed up with how I positioned the pieces so I learned from that mistake and hopefully won't make that mistake again. I also completed a costing sheet which allowed me to work out how much I actually needed not what I thought I needed.

ILLUSTRATION BOARD NUMBER THREE...

As I have now completed 2 sets of A2 illustration boards I am now on the final two boards and I have decided to go with the close up angles as they allow me to be more creative with my work. I used similar techniques of ink, fine liner and collage as these techniques have inspired me the most from my illustrator's research. I still need to add to it so I will upload the finished product so you can see if it makes a difference. I like how I have bought through the charcoal to combine the last two sets together with this set. Hopefully the other board will be successful!

Friday 9 December 2011

MOVING ON TO FINAL LEGGINGS... WITH PVC

As you have probably guessed I have completed my Toile now for my leggings and can now create my final pair of crazy leggings. I was impressed with myself today as I over locked the notches so they were more accurate and matched correctly. I had a few problems with attaching the PVC to the shell of the leggings but I was expecting that so had to fiddle about with it to reduce the ugliness of it. First of all, I had to sew all the individual pieces together inside each other close to edge in same coloured threads to then tack onto leggings whilst on mannequin to then sew and provide equal pressure to reduce amount of bubbles under the fabric. The first few have gone well but there have been a few problem areas that I didn't know would happen but they aren't that visible.

SECOND SET OF ILLUSTRATION BOARDS...

I struggled with creating these as I preferred close up but wanted to show variation with a full length image but it didn't make my life easy. In the end I decided to scrap the face as it wasn't working and use a method which one of my illustrator's - Tobie Giddio by just outlining the face and shadowing it to creating motion in the illustration to make it seem finished rather than unfinished. I also bought through elements of Origami as I liked Jonathan Looman's use of paper folding and using textiles to create the detail inspired by Ernest Dryden. I think this has made me definitely decide to create two other boards that are close up as I could apply my drawing skills to them easier. Do you like them?

FIRST SET OF ILLUSTRATION BOARDS...

To strengthen our portfolios for interview we have been set the challenge of creating 6 illustration boards, 2 design boards and a concept board. For my first set I was especially inspired by Howard Tangye's work using the form of colour to emphasise certain features and used ink in a similar way he would in his work. I was also inspired by colour schemes that he had used and colours from the capsule collection I had created so it would suit my specific target customer. Breaking down the preparation for this to become a success I had to find two close up shots that would work together and experiment with different techniques to see which one I preferred and had to evidence where I had sourced the inspiration from and what design I was trying to illustrate. For the second board I decided to bring through other influences of Jonathan Looman and collage techniques but keep similar structures of the face and colour within the features. I was very surprised at how well these turned out and was really proud of these as they suit my style and suit my target customer. Which is your favourite?

Saturday 3 December 2011

GOT TO LOVE A BIT OF WILLIAM TEMPEST...

Yesterday we were joined by fashion royalty that is William Tempest to talk to us about the realism of fashion. I had the great honour of having a 1:1 talk to him about my work and how he thought I got strengthen my portfolio for university and as a designer. He bought in a few examples from his collections which was an eye opener to see the crisp lines and finishes of the garments and it was nice to see how passionate he was for fashion. He gave me some phrase but also improvements that I need to consider for interviews at university so overall I found the day productive and got a lot from it.

NEW, REFINED DESIGNS...

For this brief, I had to illustrate my designs in a way that was detailed and technical improving the last versions and developing them so they were a suitable standard for interview. I liked my originals because it suits my style and personality but I can understand the construction of these garments now they have the rest of the information on. I think I would improve it by selecting a few to go into more detail with making them appear more stronger. I have managed to incorporate all the stitch and seam lines so the manufacturer would be clear on what they have to produce rather than the vague image that was coming through from the first attempts. Which one is your favourite?