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Something handsewn.

 

Inspiration

 

One that I can tick off of my 50 things to make! Woohoo! I've started many more, but this is the first I have finished.

 

It's a hand stitched felt decoration, of an octave on a piano, for my friend Robyn, who is incredibly good at Music. Practically everything I make her is music orientated.

I found the inspiration on Hellocotton a while back, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

 

I used wool for all of my stitching in order to emphasise that this piece is hand stitched, not machined. It gives the piece more character, more of a rustic look, with all of the stitches uneven. It makes me feel a bit disappointed sometimes, but then I think; isn't that the charm of handmade?



Craft Review: Week 17: Sunday 15th April- Saturday 21st April

I.e. Practically non existent.

I did art.

All week.

My exam is on Wednesday.

I'm freaking out.

I still have annotation to do.

Oh God.

I do apologise. I hate to be boring, but I'm afraid this is necessary. Come this time next week, I won't be able to touch it, or see it again, until the exhibition, or even, until I take it home.

However, I do offer you some music.

I find this very comforting, strangely.

Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - Safe and Sound

I hope you all had a better week than I did.



Printing

In our Art Induction, we experimented with 3 types of printing:
Monoprinting
Polystyrene Printing
Cardboard Printing.

This is what I came out with.


















I had to start off by drawing a still life in tonal colours. I, being vaguely musical, decided to draw my cello. It's called Marvin. I then had to do several print experiments inspired by this still life.

The first one that I did was the Polystyrene Printing. Here, we had a sheet of polystyrene and etched into it, etching away sections with different layers. It is the school version of Lino cut printing, as it is cheaper, and more school-friendly, as it can be etched using a Biro or a sharp pencil, instead of requiring a lino cutter.

This is the double page spread that I produces, including the printer, my plans, and several examples of the prints I produced. It is always best to produce more prints than is necessary, just in case one goes wrong

I quite like this method. It's a bit messy, but then all printing is. It's more precise than any of the other methods.

I then did a page on Cardboard Printing. This is where you have a sheet of box card board, and, using a Stanley knife, you peel off the top layer to reveal the corrugated area beneath.

This type of printing leaves a printer that is nearly disintegrating by the time you are finished with it, but I do like the textured look achieved with it.

For these prints, I switched my inspiration from the cello directly, to the sheet music, and more specifically, the bass clef in which a cello plays.

This theme of inspiration continued through into my Monoprinting page.

I think out of all of the printing method, this is my least favourite due to its inaccuracies.

Monoprinting, is where you ink up a board, lay a piece of paper n top, and draw on the paper. this can lead to a variety of unpredictable results, and that lack of control is what bugs me. A lot.

So those are the printing experiments that we did... not too exciting for most, but to Marvin and his depressing music, it was the highlight of his year.

Happy Birthday Robyn!!!!

I would firstly like to say to Robyn: Have a very Happy Birthday!!!!

And secondly, I would like to show you what I had the pleasure of Making for her...

This is a canvas that I painted a few weeks back (it was mentioned in one of the Craft Reviews). I can now show it, without the worry of spoiling her surprise.

Robyn is my musical friend. This therefore warranted a musical inspired birthday gift.

The idea came to me while listening to some classical music... the way that the music floats; rises and falls... And it irritates me that the stave is always straight. Very Boring.

This painting is a combination of media - a watercolour background, and an acrylic foreground. I like it, and I hope she will too!

This is the Card I made for her. It's quite simple, and yes, the painting on the front is of her (mildly, it's only a vague likeness, but one can tell)

I chose the colours to co-ordinate with the painting, and because purple is her favourite colour. It may be simple but I think it is effective. I will make a tutorial for it later.

The picture itself on the card was primarily drawn from a photo (using my laptop as a light box) and then filled in with watercolours. I outlined it in black pen.

I like using watercolours. They're so quick and easy to use, and they give a delicate finish. And the colours can be quite vibrant as well...

Happy Birthday Robyn!