Chapter 10 The final design and samples

Following on Jenn's comment, have had a go at amending design - does the process ever stop?!! - Now the mono print has a place as a long view of the ships and scarred sea bed and connected to the net with cords. The extras can be concentrated at  the top of the net.  Thanks Jenn.

Having chosen the large net as my final design I thought about the constraints of the project.  The smaller design is lively and colourful but the development needs to have pattern, the opportunity for fabric manipulation, machine stitching, one main colour group and still retain the liveliness and colour that would go with a net full of trawled sea bottom.

I experimented with tessellations and drew one that gave two stylised fish shapes. These will be for the background of the piece and I will sample for ways of giving texture and high relief to the shapes.

 The big fish shapes were cut from the different decorated papers. Tone is darker at the bottom of the net where the crush would be heaviest and lightens towards the top.

Questions about the larger fish shapes:

All different as in the papers?

Each line different?  My original thought was to have a connected line of the same colour and texture placed diagonally so when the slips are on top the edges show at different parts of the net. Gathering tighter and looser would produce the tessellated shape. Differences in the fish could be made with machining on top of the gathers.

I will sample to answer the questions about the diamond fish shapes:

one background colour?

low relief?

high relief?

varied?

Need to blend with the solutions for the bigger fish shapes.

As I intend to have more fish slips on the top of the background, I am thinking to make sure the shapes on the outside edges have plenty of   relief and texture. 

Sampling also for the net cords, hanging cords, and word ribbons.

The regularity of the tessellated shapes will be broken up by the slips made to go on top - these will be coral shapes, different fish shapes in different sizes and seaweed shapes - some poking out from the net along with the word ribbons and draining sea water. I hope this will answer both the demands for displaying techniques and an evocative design.

Chapter 10 bigger designs

Design A - I think this is my favourite now.  It is very 3D.  The back net shape was one of the A3 decorated papers, though it doesn't show - I was thinking to translate with a heavily machined and gathered base. The 'filling' is from my scrap bag (one of!) and I could have great fun making the 'catch'  in the decorated papers and translating by using lots of the free machining techniques for different textures.  The 'net' I'm thinking machined cords? twisted cords? net made on soluble fabrics?  The word ribbons like sea pouring out of the net could be backed up with more very thin torn fabric, threads and cords also pouring out.

Design B - I had the idea of a manta ray with this design.  It has a lot of the elements of the powerful research pictures.  The big design to be translated into fabric manipulations and the smaller to be printed and lightly quilted around the main areas - the 'tail' experiments with free machining the words on ripped ribbons, or pleated and machined on top. 

Design C - I like the drama of this design together with the fun of making things to put in the net.  The big dramatic boat shapes I wanted to be overpowering - thinking heavily pleated material to make them with machined lines on top and a bit darker than the photo shows.  I'm not sure about the amalgamation with the computer design - though I like the design in the middle instead of sea colours.  I've tried a few different variations but not entirely happy with any.  From the top - 1,2 3,and 4.

1. not enough tonal variation - the ship pieces are darker than photographed but thin they still needed to be darker

2. a bit plain and blocky

3. The best of the four I think, but has lost the mood of the small design where the black shapes are as overpowering as the ship is in reality.

4. Ship pieces again need more thinking, but could showcase the middle more - top edge needs more thought too for its finished middle edge.

Chapter 9 decorated papers

Some of the papers I have decorated for my bigger designs. They include swirls of gel and texture paste, sponging, spraying, allowing paint to run in several directions, salting, monoprinting and over printing.  Some were produced on the computer using the designs from earlier chapters.  Tissue has been crumpled on to cartridge paper with dilute PVA in the paint, as well as crumpled and painted on their own. I did get a bit carried away as it was sunny and I had a table outside, but you can't have too much decorated paper!