Exercise 1.6 Detail and Definition

 Exercise 1.6 Detail and Definition 

I choose to focus my final detailed work on the beaded bag from my archive collection. Out of all three of my items this item had the most interesting detail to capture I felt. I took my camera lenses that allowed me to zoom in to look at the details at different angles. As seen in the pictures below.

I chose to focus my mark making with found objects. I had found that uncertain and less structured marks intrigued me. I had also found a small piece of Velcro at home and had wondered what marks/texture could be created with it. I wanted to work on a small scale with this selection of pieces as I felt it would help me to focus on the smaller more finer details. I started by tearing an A4 sheet of watercolour paper as I wanted to utilise the texture of the paper and incorporate it into texture within the pieces. I decided to rip the pieces to give a rough finish to the paper, The thought behind this is that it would work well with the rough marks the found objects. I wanted to work with ink as I had found this the easiest material to manipulate with tools in my previous work.

I first focussed my attention on the beaded detail with the gold stitching. One of the tools I had sourced was a hair grip, I always have plenty of those laying around the house. I thought the clip would provide lots of different surfaces to use as a tool. I wanted to capture the details of the thread in the bag, the beads and the gold thread. I used a drag motion to make the crossed thread lines and then flipped it over and used the two-pronged end to scratch marks to resemble the gold thread. To create the dots for the beads I used a cotton bud to dab on the ink. I was hoping the wool on the end would create a more textured finished but unfortunately it left a solid dot. This was not quite the look I was hoping to achieve.

My second attempt to capture the thread and beading, I chose to use a Lego brick swiping the side of the brick across the paper. This produced slashing marks in varying thicknesses. To create the beads this time I chose to use the surface of the brick to make the beads sporadically dotting them on the page. Both of these pieces reminded me of some the earlier mark work I had created and I wanted to push the boundaries further, this led me onto the next image.

My next image began with an accident I had not used the Velcro before and was not sure how it would work. I began by dipping the Velcro into the ink and then dabbing it onto the paper. Unfortunately, this resulted in too much medium being distributed onto the paper. Although this was not what I was hoping to achieve I thought it would work really well for another piece I had in mind. I preserved with the detail of the hinge, using the Velcro marks as a base for the fabric of the lining of the bag. Then to produce the hinge, the Velcro would not work to produce the shiny curves. For this I used a wooden stirrer making a sweeping movement with stick in a curved movement I varying sizes to create the angle of the hinge.

I next wanted to solely focus on the hinge of the bag these stood out as the cold firm metal, the complete opposite to the other parts of the bag. The soft elegant fabric with the small delicate beads. To represent this contrast, I wanted to make heaver lines to make it look solid but give the impression of movement. I chose to use a tool that I could use to create the marks I required. I felt an old credit card would achieve this. Dipping the corner of the card in the ink in a circle movement making the cylinder shape of the hinge. Curving the card to help me manipulate the tool to achieve the curve.

I wanted to try and achieve the effect I had originally set out to create with the Velcro. This time instead of dipping the Velcro in ink I decided I would lightly brush the ink onto the Velcro and lightly dab it onto the paper. This resulted in a much more pleasing result, capturing the small woven threads in the lining. I again utilised the side of the Velcro as a tool to make the gold trim in of the pocket. Making a more solid line out of small strokes.

My final piece I wanted to look at a detail that normally you would pass by, but it is a crucial part of any garment. For this piece I wanted to look at the seam, with the overlocker detail. I again raided the Lego box and retrieved the wheels with interesting treads on. I started with dipping the wheel into the ink but soon realised I needed to over the whole wheel in ink to produce a complete line. This meant I need to paint the wheel with ink, then rolling the wheel across the gave me a base line to work with. I did this with two different tyres in varying sizes and tread. To add to the pattern, I added the additional diagonal lines with the wooden stirrer recreating the individual stitches in the seam. The final line I loaded up a wheel with ink creating a heavier solid line and then with stirrer as the ink began to dry, I scratched into the ink making the stitch marks within the ink.

Throughout this assignment I have enjoyed looking at the items with what has felt like new eyes. And looking at everyday items and wondering what marks they would make on a page. This is what I have tried to portray in this set of work. It been about experimenting and having fun with medium and marks.