'All the fun of the fair' Evaluation

My Evaluation

My initial ideas for the project ‘All the fun of the fair’ were to demonstrate my own interpretation of fairs, theme parks and circuses. I wanted to base my project mainly on the beauty and intricate detail that goes into the art of carousel horses or the time and talent that you see on a fairground ride, that so many of us would normally overlook. I wanted to research rides, posters, paintings, fashion, food, colours, lights that includes a funfair theme. I would do this by visiting various places such as the seaside or fairs. My ideas were to make funfairs classy and appealing for all the right reason and try to make my own twist on a typical seaside attraction. I documented these ideas by creating a mind map of all the things I wanted to research and then transfer it creatively into a sketchbook. To start the project off, over the holidays I collected images from magazines, theme park leaflets from my travels to the library and Sheffield, printed images of the internet and 1^st hand photography from a funfair held at Doncaster race course in September.

To further my development I sketched and traced some of the images I had collected to produce a wide variety of primary and secondary research. When I was asked to complete a sketchbook all about funfairs, I found it quite challenging at first because it was such a broad subject that I found myself lost in because I was never a fan of theme parks or rides. When starting this project I felt I was a beginner in an alien subject which made the project all that more exciting. I managed my time by researching some areas of a funfair such as food or carousels and then creatively collage or drawing those ideas in my sketchbook, and annotating how I did it. I switched between research and creativity to find a balance that I could cope with which worked out perfectly. However sometimes I struggled with what to research and how to document it, meaning that my sketchbook was half finished when I started back in September.

Whilst in the middle of documenting my research I was asked to look at various designers and repeat pattern artists. One of the designers I looked at was Elsa Schiaparelli; she inspired my work because she includes beautiful embroidered carousel horses on many pieces of her fabrics in the ‘Circus Collection’ 1938. I liked her work because the colours she used were pale pastels giving it a childlike feel, which brought back a certain innocent fun to circuses. Another artist that inspired me was a historic decor celebrity William Morris, also known for his impeccable repeat patterned wallpapers. I loved his work because he captures the beauty in every single flower and bird he draws, he saw it more as a story rather than a simple thing you see in your garden. It inspired me to look at the amazing skill that goes into a simple carousel horse design, and to see the story the artist is trying to tell through a piece of work that brings plenty of joy to children. There are similarities in William Morris’s work and carousel horses because they both include flowers. This took me a step further in my research because I wanted to include little flowers on my design, and his work was perfect because our next step was to produce a repeat pattern tracing. When planning my repeat pattern tracing I found it quite easy because I had already set my mind at the beginning of the project on what I wanted to do. I found inspiration from my mood boards and visual sheets because they were mainly based on carousel horses and circuses. I also took inspiration from a page in my book where I drew numerous carousel horses using fine liner to create tiny intricate detail and pattern. My first idea was to re-draw a carousel horse for my tracing including patterns taken from my visual sheets and mood boards to fill in the horse outline. I then took inspiration from my circus mood board sheet by drawing acrobat wheels around the horse.

All my sheets and sketchbook work relate to my final repeat pattern tracing so that it shows my stages of development. I developed my research by looking more into the detail and patterns of the images I collected and rearranging them to create new images. I used certain methods of development such as the design cycle. The first stage of the design cycle was observation, this required me to draw, sketch, create a mind map full of ideas, and to collect primary research. The next stage was analysis, which I collected primary and secondary research, artist research and research of materials and processes within textiles. The next stage of the design cycle is development where I explored different media, processes by creating samples, then I gave feedback on what went right and what went wrong. The next stage was personal response, I created a final piece and I talked about the outcome of it and what was good and bad about it. Finally the last part is evaluation, I evaluated everything in my project and final piece and discussed my strengths and weaknesses and areas of development. The design cycle helped me because I realized I couldn't do one stage without doing the other so it really helped to keep things in order so that I had better time management.

The way I developed my visual sheets was by having an image in the centre and building pattern and other images around it so that it was all connected. All the imagery and patterns were all taken from my mood boards which were inspired by my sketchbook. This really helped me with my next stage of development when designing a repeat pattern tracing this was done by:

1. Get a perfect square from an A3 size sheet of card.
2. Pencil your design in the middle of the square.
3. Extend your design to the top and bottom of the square.
4. Find the continuous line from the top of the design to the bottom.
5. Cut with scissors or a craft knife at the side of the line making sure it's perfect.
6. Place the straight cut out sides together and secure with masking tape.
7. Complete the design where you have taped it together so that you end up with a continuous pattern. 
8. Once your image is complete photocopy it onto tracing paper so that it's ready to be made into a screen.

Then the image was sent to the technician ready to be put on a screen also known as exposing the screen. My next stage of development was creating screen prints and other samples from my original tracing image. I did this on various pieces of fabric and used many processes. So by starting of with an image it developed into many samples which then helped me to create my final piece.

When I first started using the sewing machines I was on a ‘Husqvarna Viking’, although the machine was quite simple to use I still found it tricky doing free machine embroidery. When I had the material ‘Calico’ in the embroidery hoop the needle chipped a bit of the wood away because I got too close to the edge, causing it to splinter. In result of that I snapped the needle as well because there was too much pressure. When I did my layer and burn sample I was on a different machine ‘BERNINA record’ which was recommended for embroidery. I then began to find my love for sewing because it became much easier and I found I could control the speed much better on the older machines. I produced some really good samples using a zigzag stitch because it filled areas of my fabric more than a straight stitch would. I became more confident on the sewing machines and would definitely use them on other future projects. I preferred having the pressure foot down to guide my fabric rather than doing free machining just because I found it a lot neater.

My experience in the print room was really good, I picked up all the processes quite easily, a couple of lessons later I knew how to do everything. I worked quite fast and I used my own initiative to dry my fabric quicker by putting it under the hand dryer rather than waiting for it to dry. However I worked a lot better when there were less people in the print room because there was more space to work and experiment.

I experimented by layering puff binder on top of different screen prints because I found that it looked really effective. I also splattered Procion dyes onto fabric and scrunched it together to create unusual backgrounds. To further my development I learnt how to add different colours to puff binder so when it is heated up it turns a pastel colour rather than just white. I also mixed different coloured puff binder together and screen printed it onto my fabric revealing a rainbow effect. I experimented by printing onto scrap material to see how the print would come out. I layered different colour Brusho inks in between two layers of batik so there were two layers of colour with a pretty batik pattern, this is called immersion. I also printed onto Devore fabric with Devore paste because it burns away the fibres creating a lace pattern look; it also looked really good when dyed because the fabric had a lot of texture to it. Another sample that worked really well was a polystyrene print, I carved a pretty bow relating to my sheet work and then rolled black gouache paint onto it, I then printed it onto brown paper, and this gave it a rustic look.

I enjoyed screen printing, Devore paste and puff binder because it was all the same process and it was easy to follow, however the Devore samples took a long time to dry but were beautiful when finished. I didn't enjoy batik so much because it looked quite messy on your work and the wax dribbled everywhere making it quite difficult to draw with. At first I hated sewing because the machine was impossible to use but when I got a different machine it worked out really well and made my work look really good. All my screen print samples went well because it picked up all the intricate detail of my design, however when I put puff binder onto it I ended up putting too much on and on some of my design there are wide areas of white where the puff binder has spread. Also when I did a Devore print on my Azeta fabric I put too much Devore paste through the screen, when it was dry there was a big clear patch on the fabric where the detail should have been. I was originally going to do a different final piece but when I hand stitched onto it, it looked quite messy and child like. I hand stitched onto it because the puff binder covered most of the detail so I tried to work into it with silk threads because the sewing machine didn't sew through thick puff binder very well. I still didn't like the outcome so I decided to pick a totally different sample to recreate. This worked out for the better because I could easily sew onto it which overall looked extremely better. I feel I managed my time really well even though it was quite stressful and busy at the beginning. I decided to organize my life with college work and one of the ways I worked fast was by speeding up some of the drying processes so that I could get on with printing, I produced a lot of good samples and at the end of the project I had plenty of time to focus on my final piece even though I changed it to a more simpler but effective print. The outcome of my final piece turned out really well because I didn't have to rush it. At first I didn’t really like the project because I couldn't relate to it, but I decided to look at it as fun and make it my own, by doing that I have managed to really enjoy it and produce some good work. Overall it has been a successful project and I am pleased with my outcome.

Techniques used throughout the project:

·         Puff binder (Plain, Coloured)

·         Hand stitch, machine stitch, free machining

·         Polystyrene print

·         Screen printing

·         Pigment ink, Procion dyes

·         Devore

·         Batik

My Final Outcome Repeat Pattern Print

processes used:
Cotton, Screen Print, Prussian Blue Brusho ink to dye fabric, Black SN-G pigment ink, plain Puff Binder, Turquoise metallic thread, red thread (zigzag stitch), heat press.