Visual/Development Sheets

For my Visual sheets I developed ideas from my sketch book and theme board. I stuck with the colours used throughout my sheets, creating back grounds out of gouache, tissue paper and gum strip and the water colour rainbow effect.

For my first visual sheet I used the tea cups and teapots taken from the children’s tea party, some I painted with water colour and others I left uncoloured as simple outlines. I added bunting detail in and around which was taken from the corrugation research, I furthered my cupcakes keeping them similar colours and continued using the birds changing the colours to add diversity to my sheets. I did use my rose again on this sheets but I don’t feel they are strong enough to further into my designs so I won’t be using them again. To reflect the theme of Alice in wonderland I used the ace of spades playing cards which work really will with the uncoloured parts of this sheet. For a start of development I feel this is a well thought sheet.

For my second sheet I looked mainly at the idea of John Tenniel sketchy drawings. The main drive for this sheet was the knife and fork used on my theme board, I looked at the detailing used and furthered into that to develop my own style of plates which match the knife and fork, I added extra details onto this sheet using cupcakes, teapots, tea cups, playing cards, bunting and cake ect. Keeping with the simple sketch I used red and black pen as it seems to add layers and on the plates help add shaping in different tones. I personally love this sheet as although it’s done in pen it isn’t flat due to the back ground and really reflects the style of John Tenniel.

For my third sheet I mixed both ideas together of the first and the second sheet. From my first sheet I took the idea of candy colours and forwarded everything but the bird and the rose. I also didn’t use as much bunting as I didn’t want it to appear too busy. From my second sheet I took the inspiration taken from John Tenniel and instead of a bold black outline I used the sketchiness, I also used fine sketches to added shape and shadowing into my paintings. I feel this sheet has worked amazingly, when I first had the idea I couldn’t see it working but much to my surprise it looks beautiful as it lifts the paintings and makes them a little less flat.

For my final sheet I wanted to use something purely taken from Alice in wonderland so I used known quotes from the book. I wanted to make this really simple and bold so I used different fonts which would make this look wacky but used plain black for the letters. I feel this sheet is really nice as it does exactly what I wanted which was to reflect the theme of Alice in wonderland. 

Theme Board.

For my theme Board I took inspiration from all areas of research.

For the back ground I used gouache, tissues paper and gum strip to add texture to a flat surface.  This did become difficult when wanting to create a crisp line as the texture distorted the lines.

 I used many different media to create this sheet; I added materials such as lace, cotton, wire. And I feel it adds something more the sheet as it isn’t just a flat painting. I experimented with painting roses on this sheet which was incredibly difficult as I had never before even drawn a rose but I feel I created some really beautiful flowers.

My favourite part of the sheet is defiantly the colours used as the sweet candy colours which reflect the children’s tea parties and the light snacks that were chosen to eat throughout a tea party in many different eras.

I from this sheet I’m going to create different visual sheets which will forward my research and idea of my own tea party. 

Artist Sheets

For my artist sheets I looked at John Tenniel and Sue Walton. I chose these artists as they both inspire me in different ways for the theme of my project.

I looked at john Tenniel as he was the original artist of Alice in wonderland, I loved his used of sketchy lines. For my sheet I used a delicate rainbow background so it didn’t take too much away from the main concept of the sheet. I used print outs of his work and then furthered some of them into my own drawings. I feel the parts I drew I achieved a high standard in reflections of John Tenniel’s work. I used fine liners to create the same effect; it was all crosshatched for details and built up lines for simple outlines. I personally feel this sheet is simple but yet effective and shows the artist that has inspired me.

An artist who has also inspired me is Sue Walton, an artist whose focus is mainly on material such as felt. Recently she had produced an installation piece at an exhibition which was a reflection of Alice in wonderland called “The Jabberwocky.” It was a mixed material/ technique installation piece which was where my main inspiration has come from within this project. Her use of felt really has captured me and it’s made me want to look further into exceeding my skills within felting. She doesn’t use much colour which to me is quite nice as it’s something extremely extravagant but something so stripped back and simple. I would personally like to see more colours within my piece. For this sheet I used to idea of using just two colours, the original colour of the paper with a watercolour dripping of the pink she uses. I experimented on this sheet with paint some of her pieces with gouache and creating small pieces which reflect her work, such as a felt piece with embroidery and added material and the dyed tied fabric. For the felt piece I embroidery with white cotton onto felt adding extra detailing of felt and adding cream muslin to either end of the piece, I feel I have really reflected Sue Walton’s work here, I enjoyed experimenting with the felt in a new way also. For the tied fabric I used cotton, calico and cream muslin dyed with Pink MX5B the slightly stuffed with pieces of felt and tied, I don’t feel I created the same look as Sue Walton but I feel I have come closer to understanding her work and I’m happy with the contextual experimenting achieved. 

Primary images (part 2)

To collect more secondary images I visited Elsecar heritage centre. There is an antique shop there which has many different things from different eras. There I found lots of different tea sets and cutlery. I found some great sets which really support my research, some with intricate detail and others with soft floral designs. I found some tea pots which were completely different to normal tea pots they were made to look like ovens and tins of beer. My favourite sets I saw had a beautiful simple blue rose detailing on them on a white back ground even though it’s really simple it look so elegant and effective. I was really surprised on my visit to find some actual cups from the coronation which is a part of my research. To actually see them and touch them was quite fantastic; I was able to get images of these as well. Visiting Elsecar heritage centre was a brilliant experience which has really helped me when coming to create my tea cups and tea pots; it’s helped me to think about size, shape, colours and detail. I will be using a lot of what I witnessed to help me threw my design process.