Plant Sampling On Linen

After deciding that I wanted to screen print my plant collection on linen with white pigment, I chose to do some samples with one of the cut out plants that I was going to use.  I used the positive and negative of the cut out to make sure I was getting the look I wanted.  It worked well so I decided to stick with this method for my final designs for the plant designs to be put on linen.  Although I wanted to just use white pigment, I decided to try another colour to see if it worked which I was also pleased about as I think using some colour also works well and is something I can think about doing if I wanted to move on from using white pigment on its own.

Lana MacKinnon

Birds And Fish

Leaves

Birds Of A Feather

Mobiles

Lara MacKinnon was a designer that created designs for both fashion and interiors.  It was worth me looking at her work as a source of research as she used simple but effective techniques such as the simple lined drawings and collaged effect like those in Leaves and Birds Of A Feather.

Sisters Gulassa

These are a small selection of images and work created by Sisters Gulassa.  I have found them really beneficial to look at.  Not only do they use a variety of bright colours, but they also use a collection of block paintings and drawings as well as lined drawings, collage and what looks like tracing/transparent paper within their work.  As some of my work involves lined drawings, a cut out and collaged effect and tracing paper, it was useful to see how they used these techniques and combining them with composition to create the images they wanted.

Cut Out Work Reversed

I was experimenting with some cut out work of plant shapes and decided to scan them so I had the option to create some ideas and designs on photoshop or illustrator.  The sun happened to be shining and as my work went through the scanner, the wrong side was the side I saw and as the sun was shining, it was also shining through the brown paper with the cut out plants to create a different effect that I thought could be used as part of my collection.

Natural Plant Collection - Animal Kingdom

Using white paint on brown works very well and made the decision to just use the plant shapes that you could find in the jungle and not use animals in this collection.  The combination of painting white paint on brown paper and hand made paper and painting it in different directions helped to create a lovely textured, natural feel.  Layering paper and cutting out the plant shapes then using the positive and negative of the cut out work and combining that idea with the white paint have helped to create this collection and has worked very well.  

Magenta And Black

The three collections that I want to produce are all linked in one way or another and are all part of my animal kingdom theme.  There is one with just jungle type plants with the natural colours of brown and white, one with the natural colours of brown and white with the coloured lined drawings of the animals and/or birds and then the black and magenta collection with the lined drawings of the birds/animals.  These are some ideas that I have started off with to see how the collection will work and how it can be developed.  The idea and colours work well but the composition and size of the animals and plants when placing them together need to be taken in to consideration for the final design(s) to look right and work.

Lined Animal And Bird Drawings

Two of the collections I want to produce for my final degree show will include lined drawings of animals and birds and these will be drawn using colours from my colour palette.  My intentions are to groups of the same animal or bird in the same design as well as grouping different animals and birds together and I need to think carefully about composition.  One of the collections will have the natural background of white paint on brown paper and plants and animals like the one at the top with the drawings of parrots in different positions and colours.  The other collection will have the drawn animals and/or birds in it but on a black and magenta background.