Chapter 5: Make Patterned Papers

All the patterned papers in this chapter were based upon the sketches from the previous chapters work, including those which deviated along their own lines! Each page of patterns measures approximately A4 size. I had a lot of fun playing with squiggles, splashes, dots and lines while creating these papers. Working with black and white is very freeing when devising patterns since the question of colour is completely removed. While I had played previously with ink and bleach, this was my first attempt at monoprinting. While I enjoyed the process, the speed at which you have to work to get your print before the paint dries is a little bit stressful! :)

INK MARKS: The following patterned papers were created using black Quink ink and a variety of tools as 'paint brushes' to make marks, including cotton buds to make dots and lines, scrunched up kitchen paper, edge of credit card, bottle top, end of kitchen roll tube, half the end of a cardboard tube, bubble wrap, corrogated card board, tip of credit card, and edge of corrogated cardboard. Marks were made by dragging, dabbing, dotting, swivelling and drawing.

BLEACH MARKS:

Quink inked cartridge paper, cotton bud dipped in household bleach, then dabbed and dragged over paper.

Edge of credit card dipped in household bleach and dragged across black tissue paper.

'Painted' lines with cotton bud dipped in bleach, followed by dragging tip of bleach dipped credit card across inked cartridge paper. Really like the effect of this paper.

Edge of credit card dipped in household bleach and dragged across black tissue paper.

Bottom of kitchen roll dipped in bleach and stamped on black tissue paper.

Empty medicine pill blister dipped in saucer of bleach and stamped on to inked cartridge paper, with some dragging of bleached credit card tip across page.

MONOPRINTS: To create the following set of monoprints I used black Windsor and Newton Designers Gouache, spreading it on to a glass pane (a shelf from an old fridge!). I 'drew' the patterns using a variety of 'tools', including cotton buds, bubble wrap stamped down as well as scrunched up and dragged, edge of palette knife, corrogated cardboard, and edge of kitchen roll tube.

Chapter 4: Drawing Patterns from Animal Markings

Linear Pen Drawings: The following set of pen and black marker drawings were created from enlarged images of various kinds of animal skins and markings. After sketching the drawings were placed as near as possible to the source of the design. The markings were approached in two ways - copied as close to the original as possible for someone with limited drawing skills, and stylized versions. All the drawing was worked free hand. I used a technical drawing pen for the first time, and enjoyed working with this drawing tool, especially for its delicate strokes and excellence in sketching tones.

Chapter 3: Machined Stitched Bands

The following machine stitched bands each measure approximately 12" x 4", and may be cut into narrower bands later in the module. They were all stitched on a single layer of cotton calico. I referred to my photos and drawings of animal markings for inspiration, using what I had learned in creating the smaller machine stitched samples as reference guides. My intention was to attempt to create a series of patterns based upon animal markings.

Sample #1: This machine stitched sample used a few different embroidery stitches set into my Bernina machine, including #19, #20, and #72. I also used zig zag extensively. The width and length of the machine stitching was altered constantly along each line, moving from very close stitching to wide and far apart. All the stitches were curved, and overlapped. Finally I cable stitched stranded white cotton by winding the stranded cotton on to the bobbin, removing completely the tensioning device on the bobbin holder and leaving the top tension at normal setting. I really like the rich layers, variety of stitching, and patterning on this sample.

Sample #2: This machine stitched sample used a variety of machine stitches, including feather stitch, stretch stitch and zig zag. The lines of stitching were adjusted for length and width as they were sewn, as well as been overlapped. I whip stitched #19 on my Bernina machine, loosening the bobbin tension completely by removing the tensioner, and also increased the top tension - white thread on top and black on the bottom.

Sampler #3: Lines of overlapping curved whipped zig zag, altering the stitch length and width. Black thread on the bobbing, and white on top.

Sampler #4: A single stitch used throughout to see the variety of tones possible with one machine stitch. The stitch was #19 on my Bernina, and for the most part was worked with black sewing thread in the bobbin and white on the top. The bobbin tension was removed completely and the top tension was tightened. 3 rows of cable stitch worked - 1 with stranded white cotton in the bobbin, and 2 with black pearl cotton #8. The most interesting aspect of this piece was the adjusting of width when cable stitching. Not all the cable stitches worked out as planned. There were a few hiccups, evidence of which lies on the sampler here and there!

All in all I really enjoyed stitching these bands. It was a lot of fun simply stitching what one wanted as one went along! Since the overall planning takes place before the stitching begins, it is possible to just let it all flow!