Printing T-shirts

This Christmas I wanted to make my family and friend's some gifts. Ive always wanted to print onto t-shirts, but never known how, so I made it my mission to learn.

I reworked an old design, gathered lots of old t-shirts and hunted in charity shops for some more and got going. I was surprised by how simple it actually was. For some reason I had always thought it would be pretty difficult, but its really not that different from paper printing.

Really happy with how they turned out considering it was my first go. Everyone seemed to like them too! Will definitely be doing more when I get a chance. I also really want to try and print onto some jeans. Lots of ideas, just trying to gain experience in all of the fields! Love being able to apply my illustrations wherever possible, and especially when its onto something that's useful! 

Tutorial with Teresa

I was reluctant to have a tutorial, through fear of lack of work, but when I had a look I actually had quite a bit of sketchbook work. It was really good to go over what I was doing with Teresa, because its easy to forget where you're at when the dissertation is looming. 

I also had a mini tutorial with Ben last week which gave me some really good ideas. Im feeling really inspired by the idea of documentary illustration at the moment, and its something I want to push forward in my practice. Ben and I came up with the idea of documenting people around Leeds and then making up their story. I would like to make these into a series of prints, and then potentially exhibit them somewhere in the city. 

After this tutorial with Teresa, and my recent talk with Ben, I felt inspired and went out to take some photos to work from.  

Mural for Leeds train station

Ive been really into drawing these sorts of characters all summer, and thought it could make quite a playful and fun mural design. Ive never attempted anything like this before, for fear of messing up. However, my aim this year is to have more confidence and just go for it. Yes it would be amazing to make a mural, and in such a busy station too, so I had to enter. 

I tried to keep the colour palette as minimal as possible, whilst still being bright and cheerful. I find the station to be a pretty grey place, and people tend to walk through with their heads down, so I wanted something as eye catching as possible. 

Unfortunately I was rushed for time when submitting, which was bad time management on my behalf, so I really hope what I submitted was alright. 

I made this presentation board to show how it would look in the setting, colours and details. I didn't add any text so I hope its self explanatory enough. 

Take away from this -

- Confidence is a good thing. Try to have more self belief

- Photoshop skills are mildly improving, continue to work at this

-Keep working with minimal colour

-Its fun to work on something pretty big.

Refined statement of Intent

 Sorry for the bad quality but it was a pdf and I couldn't change it.

Want and need statements

1. I want to create an A0 lino cut because its a challenge. This means I will be able to collaborate. I need to find somewhere or somehow to print something this big, because the press in college isn't big enough.

2. I want to continue to raise awareness within my work because its what resinates with me. This means I will be able to work with issues that are important to me. I need to continue to explore methods of communication in order to get my messages across effectively and sensitively.

3. I want to achieve better use of colour within my work because its something I struggle with. In order to do this I need to practice lots, experiment and perhaps have a book purely dedicated to colour.

4. I want to complete decks for change, because it gives me the opportunity to express my tone of voice. It means I will be able to highlight issues close to my heart. I need to enter live briefs of this nature in order to gain confidence in my practice.

5. I want to get better at screen printing and other traditional print methods. I need to take full advantage of the facilities available to me this year.

Initial Proposal

Statement of Intent first draft

AOI sounds of the city poster

Thought I would do this to get the ball rolling a little bit. I made all of the textures and marks by hand and then made brushes and patterns out of them on photoshop, considering mark making at a representation of sound. 

It was good to spend a little more time on something than I have been doing over summer. I think I need to invest more time into my work.

OUIL603 PREP- Beatrix Potter?

I thought about studying another author, because I felt as though 504 was one of my strengths last year. It saw a huge turning point in my work, and gave me the confidence I needed to create the work I wanted. I liked exploring the life and works of Leonora Carrington, and creating work around my discoveries.
Beatrix Potter was not only an author, but an artist, a botanist (which I really love about her), a businesswoman and a pioneer. If i was to study her I think I would look into the botany side of things, her intelligence and her scientific illustrations.
I think she would be an incredibly interesting person to study and make work about.
Im doing a sculptural ceramics course starting November too, which could tie nicely into this brief if I was to do it.

OUIL603 PREP- The Bronx NYC ?

Ive recently finished watching a new series called 'The Get down' on Netflix, which was about the music scene in the Bronx in the 1970's-80's. 

I didn't really know anything about the bronx until i watched this, about the poverty and the neglect after the war, and the crime that immersed because of this. I found it really interesting. The disco and hiphop scene around this time is something that really grabbed my attention, and that I thought I could make into one of my briefs. 

Im still on the fence about this one at the moment, but it could definitely work. 

Could do some old school posters, zines could make it into a narrative, could look at the fashion and the costume and the underground scene. I could screen print and experiment with vibrant colours that could contrast the bleakness of the Bronx. Lots of possibilities, and thats definitely what this is for now.

OUIL603 PREP- My own company/brand

POTENTIAL IDEA- 

The idea behind this has come gradually over the summer months. I started working at surf snowdonia, which has sparked and inspired me massively. I see a potential gap in the market for a clothing brand that promotes and encourages outdoor activities, has a positive impact on health in the younger generations.

Ive got a few ideas kicking around. For example, I like the idea of it being a gender neutral company, that potentially sells clothes, longboards skateboards, surfboards etc. That promotes healthy eating and exercise. 

I see a gap in the market for illustrated garments. Ripcurl is one of the most renowned surf brands, yet I feel it lacks authenticity.

This is as illustrative as it gets really. Yes, simple is good and what not, but I feel like more can be achieved. So a gender mutual clothing range focusing on extreme sports and general health. 

This brief combines a bunch of my passions, which is why I think it could be successful. It's also something that could be continued after uni, which gives me more of an incentive to get it done.

Ive gathered a bunch of useful contacts over the summer, that could really make this work. 

This is where I worked- 

There's opportunities for collaborating here, for a potential future business, for growth and development and its something that gets me excited. 

OUIL603 PREP- Lino collaboration

Last year, my house mate Joe and I started discussing the possibilities of a collaboration. As it happens, this is now the brief I am most excited about, as its a complete and utter challenge, and something that we will both have to work incredibly hard at. 

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough!" (Great quote from the lecture yesterday thanks Sharon)

So our aim is to produce an A0 Lino cut. Definitely 2 colours, perhaps a reduction, and a very limited run. We want to make something that represents the diverse culture in Leeds. That celebrates how amazing this city is, its independence and its ever growing creativity. 

Challenges will include

- Scale

- How to print something so big

- What to include 

- Combining our separate styles

- Really aching hands

OUIL603 PREP - Secret 7

WHY SECRET 7-

Last year, Secret 7 turned out to be my favourite responsive brief, and probably the most successful. 

I wasn't expecting to complete them all, however as I completed each one I became more and more interested in creating artwork for the music. 

Secret 7 got me all creative. There were no restrictions. I tried everything. 

Getting one in was a huge confidence boost for me last year, and made me realise what a successful piece of artwork is in the eyes of the viewer. I would like to enhance the skills I put into the piece that got through. Try some more paper cut, experiment some more.

I think I can better myself this year round, and hopefully the songs are amazing too. I think its important to build and learn from the achievements and mistakes of last year and mould them this year. The timing of this one will be good too, as it comes after dissertation hand in, as I don't want to choose competitions that will destroy me because of time management. Managing my time this year will be essential. 

OUIL603 PREP- Fumetto Comix

INFO-

This year I would like to tackle this competition brief, and come up with something original, inventive and informative. I like the idea of telling my own story in picture form. I think its a really good one to get me going for the year, as the deadline is 2nd January, so would need to start thinking about it pretty soon. 

WHY THIS BRIEF-

I really like the theme this year, and think that I could tie some Cop3 work into this story. Not something shocking, but perhaps a comic with the underlying message of global warming, and how this looks. Or perhaps a dystopian world. There's loads of options. I like how open it is.

There are no limitations to media, and the specs are very straight forward, a4 or a3, 1 to 4 pages. This gives lots of space to play around with, formats, interesting looking comics etc. 

Like Lizzy Stewarts playful frames. Varied sizes, layouts etc.

Colour palettes will be important, and I think I should keep it to a minimum. I tend to over do colour, and I lack skill in colour palettes massively, so this should be a good chance for me to improve on this and challenge myself.

End of module Evaluation OUIL505

Tilly butters

End of Module Evaluation OUIL505

This module has been challenging. I didn’t get my time management right at all, and I really struggled because of this. My initial ideas were all over the place. I think, for me, there was too much free reign, and instead of having one great idea, I had hundreds of not so bad ones that just didn’t seem to work out.

I had every intention of incorporating ceramics into my practice during this module, but after giving this a go, and realising that it takes weeks and weeks for things to be done in the workshop, I realised that this wasn’t practical, and wouldn’t have been a good idea to be so reliant on someone else’s schedule.

This set me back a little, because ceramics was the only thing I was certain about. I thought that if the ceramics worked, everything else would fall into place.

Choosing my own topic to illustrate was really difficult for me, because at the start of this module, I wasn’t sure what I was passionate about, or what interested me enough to work on for a long period of time. If I was given the module now, after completing responsive and context of practice, I think my subject would have been completely different.

I tried to add my values in wherever possible, but the subject as a whole wasn’t something that interested me.

Over time, I started to enjoy what I was doing, but I spent a large chunk of this module kicking myself for being so stupid. I panic when given the option to take a project anywhere, that’s why I wanted to do illustration, its brief led and direct.

However, I’ve learnt so much about myself in the last few months, and I don’t think it would scare me quite as much anymore.

It took me a very long time to finalise what I was doing, but once I had, it was a lot easier to seek help and advice from my peers and tutors. Towards the end of the module, this was something that I valued greatly, and that pushed my work in the right direction.

I had avoided seeking help for so long that I became very lost and angry about my work. But after talking to the tutors, I felt so much better, and it gave me the inspiration I had needed the whole time. I shan’t wait in the future, I will ask for help as soon as its needed.

When it came to applying my illustrations to packaging and various other products, it all started to make sense to me. I was so lost in ideas prior to this, that the whole point of the module seemed to escape my brain. 

When I finally had some work that I was happy with, I started to make tea boxes, and started to think about how and where they would fit in the market, and what else could accompany them etc.  

Mocking these up was really enjoyable and quite exciting, as you envision it in the real world. I effectively created my own potential business, as I was creating packaging for loose leaf tea, which there’s a huge gap in the market for. I tried to use my skills from Life’s a Pitch to think about how I would promote the business, how it could grow, where it would work best and what the customers would want. These were all things that factored into my decision making, which was really refreshing and quite interesting to me.

Although I struggled greatly at the start of this module, I feel like I’ve come a long way, and I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes and my struggles.

Understanding myself and what I’m capable of is something that I’m slowly learning. I’m starting to have opinions and views on things as well as becoming passionate about things, and I think this will naturally feed into my practice in the future. The prospect of an open brief isn’t as daunting to me now as it was at the start, and I’m becoming far more confident within my work.

Project Report

Presentation Boards

Documentation of Final products

Tea cards

I decided to apply the illustrations to little tea cards as well as the the hot dog book. The purpose of the cards would be to give the customer something tangible to hold onto. each tea box will contain a card for that particular tea, and a 'why not try' card, recommending the customer to try another tea. 

Im pleased with how these came out, and its a little different to anything else which is a good start.  

The final hot dog book

The purpose of the hot dog book is to inform people in a little more detail of what they're drinking, where its come from and what tastes to expect. This could be used as little catalogue that can be looked through before purchasing, like a tea menu.

After the crit with the third years and editing the book a little, I am much much happier with it. It looks much more professional and clean. One mistake i made was printing it onto a fairly good stock, which made it difficult to fold it into a hot dog book. 

If the business were to expand, so would the range of teas, which would mean more tea menus. If this were the case I think I would go for a saddle stitch or something.

I would also categorise the teas and have separate menus for each type of tea available.