Today I went to the photography studio and photographed some of my work on a mannequin. This was a real eye opener for me as I had to adjust and manipulate my fabrics to fit the figure. Some of my designs work better then others, take a look for yourself!
I’ve been working on a few very large paintings recently, sticking to block colour. I’m not sure if I’ll be using these in my final collection but they tie in better with my graphic imagery.
I’ve been using Illustrator and Photoshop to develop some of my paintings of bits of rubbish and recycled items used in slums. They are now much more graphic and iconic. I’m excited to see what these prints will look like once they have been enlarged to A0 size or larger.
I’ve decided on a new direction with my paintings. The idea is to place them into shapes contained within my cans and other bits of rubbish featured on my prints. It will be a much more graphic approach to tie both ideas together as currently it feels as if I have two projects on the go. Prints will feature large simple abstract shapes that will contain my paintings.
Image source: My designs have been placed on a model used in a collection by Marni
It has been a bit of a struggle trying to get my paintings onto silk, particularly because the reactive dye printer keeps packing up. However, today I’ve managed to get a few samples done (A3 size) to get an idea of scale. I’m really looking forward to getting these blown up to A1 or bigger. Stay tuned!
A sample of one of my paintings onto Silk Satin
I’ve got a new obsession: cross dyeing devore. I’ve been trying so many different colour combinations with silk/viscose fabric. It’s been a bit of a challenge as some dyes don’t work, but some have worked amazingly! I’ll be making my favourites into samples next week so stay tuned!
Some samples of cross dyeing devore
I took some photographs today of bits of rubbish to inspire my current project ‘Favela’. I’ll be using these to create some conversational prints soon. Watch this space!
Using elements from the Lino prints I did last week, I’ve been able to create some abstract designs. The bright and colourful aspects to these prints mimic recent conversational prints.
I’ve recently been making conversational prints from objects used in slums. Looking in particular at slums in Nairobi. Prints feature tins used as money boxes, trolley’s selling sausages and eggs and insect killer cans used as lanterns.
Paige Critchley Designs 