This week I have been working on toiles.
I returned to my sketchbook and came up with some more designs and collages, branching out further to found items and brochures from my visits to museums and Amsterdam. Collaging in my sketchbook helped spark some fresh inspiration; I enjoy the process of collaging by hand because I like the challenge of being limited to the found items I have gathered, and I also enjoy the simple processes of cutting, sticking and mark-making.
I feel my use of colour is coming together the more designs I create. I am challenging myself by avoiding white and plain backgrounds for the most part, whilst trying to ensure that the repeated motifs aren’t lost against a background too heavy with texture. Working out each new individual motif also continues to be an enjoyable and challenging part of the process; I’ve been trying to challenge myself further by using new shapes and colours each time.
I am pleased that I have learned how to do repeats. I find the challenge of linking motifs together very engaging, and ultimately very satisfying; it forces me to come up with creative solutions, use the Photoshop tools (e.g. layers, Clone Stamp) in new and innovative ways and engages the problem-solving area of my brain nicely.
This module, I feel I have learned a lot about composition and how I approach design. I am unsure whether the use of Photoshop helps my design and compositional ideas come more easily, as opposed to hand drawing/crafting, or whether I have just improved from the last module. More likely it is a bit of both, and when I return to hand crafting techniques in the next module I would like to apply what I have learned in this module with just as much creativity and enthusiasm.
A Critical Journal. 