Am printing and can't stop

Am currently taking a course in Illustrator, Photoshop and PadSystems. The course is intended for people working in fashion, so it's all about making technical drawings and patterns for printing fabric. On the school they have this textile printer, and let me say it is fabulous. (something that I don't usually say, but really, it is!) It is only money that keeps me from printing and printing and printing. 
(For those of you who don't realize it, I want to point your attention to the fact that our clothes are usually not printed in this way, but in the old school silk-screen-printing way like Andy Warhol's images. It is not a printer but a person, - just the more reason to be impressed and apprecciate the work.)

I made this print, the first one that I finished, which you see being printed as the picture was taken. 

The inspiration is from water crystals, microscopic constellations in water which shape is decided depending on which thoughts are directed toward the water. You can see on the crystals how positive thoughts create completely different constellations that negative thoughts. (so be good to yourself, you are mostly water)
After a long designproces where I basically dissected pictures of water crystals I finally decided on this print. 


It will soon become a dress - well actually I plan on making two dresses, one in a sharp clean and minimalistic cut with a deep back and one to wear on top, if you feel like more adventure, which will be a much more extravagant, flowing draped dress.

 

Free again

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Done. With my exam. After two weeks of hard work the project was due today and I turned in the result at noon. I don't know if it went well or not. One moment I have a really good feeling about it and the next I think it's shit. We'll see in... hmm June I think.

I lowered my expectations to myself and the 24 hour day; it will never become any longer than 24 hours, not even if I want it to. 

Maybe I should explain a little bit about an assignment like this. (I chose to take my exam in testile printing; finishing this course in stead of embroidery) From a given theme we had to create an idea which should work as decoration on clothing. Then make alot of samples (not a finished product) and in the assignment we argue, with the hypothetical product in mind, why one sample is better than another based on knowledge of materials, colours and techniques and showing the samples next to the text.

So the "sub"-theme is a sea anenome, nothing more nothing less. I've already posted pics of my ornament, so here comes some pics of the process and samples and and..

 The kind of print I thought worked best with my ornament is iris print. Above is a picture of how to put the colours on the silkscreen - It's hard to see, though, because of the colours I've been using (remazol), they're kinda transparent.

Above is an illustration of how I imagine the summerdress the fabric is hypothetically meant for. I wish I had time to actually make it.

 My finished project. I can't take credit for the great accordion-inspired idea of how to put it together, but a friend from my school, Elisabet Flejsborg.
This way you can choose to look through it like a book or open it up if you need to look at four pages at once.

Examinating Sea Life

I am at the moment in the middle of my textile print exam. The course I chose to end and instead get in touch with my inner embroiderress.

The subject of this exam is "life of the sea" - Some find that this is full of inspration other find it kind of unambiguous. I had high expectations and ambitious, extensive ideas, wich I think I'll have shelf. I wanted to print a coralreef with lots of life and then somehow illustrate how trawling destroys these beautiful reefs and killing hundreds of spieces. I still don't know how I can possibly do that, and for the record I have until next Friday to make samples and write an assignment arguing why I choose this sample over that one. Might sound easy, but it take much longer to put together an assignment like that with samples and inspiration.

So far I have made the screen ready for two prints. It will become an print; an anenomone (Nemo-reference) In two layers though. Can't decide if I should go further with the idea from before, or leave it at this.. Though choice. And what about time...

The ornament I'm printing - Imagine it woth two colors.

Inspiration pics will follow and I'll post pictures of the results.

The military jacket

For my exam this summer I wrote about the military jacket and what it represents. After the death of Michael Jackson this summer, the military jacket has been everywhere, but the trend didn't start with Michael Jackson. He was inspired by another great musician; Jimi Hendrix. During the Vietnam War many artists expressed their protest against the war through songs and fashion statements. 

At Woodstock in 1969 Jimi Hendrix played his version of The Star-Spangled Banner and you would often see him wearing a military jacket he had purchased in the vintage boutique I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet in London. A jacket that soon became famous. Among other artists he created a trend, making a fashion statement, using military clothes as a protest - an ironic comment about war and changing what the military jacket originally represents.

Inspired by this I made a jacket with military references using untraditional colors to create a contrast to the original meaning of a military jacket.