Digital Prints

While spending three days in the print room i also printed off some digital prints too work into with devore, i used a velvet fabric which i loved the texture and weight of the fabric, i thought it would look great as scarves. So with this idea and samples i changed my mind from making wallpaper to making scarves and fashion pieces and fabrics for my final show.

Devore paste on back of sample because it has quite a thick pile so we print on the back.

I Love these samples and the texture and colours.  I think with the design and the colours the velvet really works well with them to create a great sample of even a final scarf design. Some i have worked into with devore and some i've left plain. I would like to try printing some on silk viscose to see and compare the different effects.

Oh It's been a while

Hi, sorry its been a long time since i last blogged i haven't forgot about you just been really busy :) and also productive woohoo!

After spending three whole days in the print room i ended up with alot of samples and ideas for fabrics. I used different techniques like foil and flock and devore. Heres a few images of some samples i have been working on

Here on my background screen i used a few different colours of pigments to get the effect of different colours showing which i thought worked really well along with the bright yellow flock on top :)

Experimenting on leathers with pigment and foil using a simple half drop repeat. although as you can see the leather did not like the heat press so all the foil stuck in its square but it still creates a different effect

Creating different textures and marks with pigment and flock

Working on different sheer fabrics to see what outcome i achieve.

Doing the same with PVC

Creating textures overlapping with pigment and foil

Experimenting with a different leather but as you can see it didnt like the heat press to so the flock has also stuck to the background pigment but it still creates a nice effect.

These are three of my favourite most successful samples, i have used pigments and flock onto leather and sheer fabrics and then cut into the detail which i think works really well so i will be experimenting more with this next week.

Evaluating my problems and successes of my samples and showing my ideas and how i plan to develop them in my sketchbook

Screen Printing

I Spent today in the print room with Suzan our technician to learn how to screen print properly. I was very excited to get my image on screen and experiment with different fabrics and techniques like devore, foil and flock, aqua span and simply pigment colour design through screen.

First of all we printed off my image onto acetate, we made sure each line was thick enough otherwise it wouldn't come through properly onto the screen.

We then turned on the machine as it takes 20minutes to warm up to expose our screens.

We then went to the printing room where Suzan explained all the different typed of meshes for the screens, for example one may have 42 threads per inch and others 61, or 71 threads per inch. This is so when you are doing specific techniques you can produce the right screen for that technique. For example the 42 tread screen would be used for thicker heavier dyes or substances, in my case texiflock and aqua span which are thick heavy glues and the less threads there are in the screen allows for the glue to pass through easily where a 71 thread screen would be more suitable for pigment and devore as these are alot thinner substances so the more tighter threads prevents it from spreading.

Suzan also showed us how to correctly mix pigment colours and gave us a sheet with the correct recipes on to follow and showed us an example of how to weigh the Magnaprint FF binder with the inks.

We then went into the dark room where the screens get coated with light sensitive emulsion called Dirasol, when there dry the screen goes into a Nat Graph Self Contained Exposure Unit along with the acetate underneath. 

once the machine is on you clamp down the lid and put a vacuum on to hold the screen in place. The acetate is in position under the screen face up so the design isn't backwards. It then gets exposed to the UV light for 20 light units which is about 1.5 seconds a light unit. Once the timer stops you remove your screen and take it to the washing area keeping it in controlled lighting all the time so it doesnt expose anything on the emulsion.

Then we washed the screen using a hose and sponge, because when the black design on the acetate blocks the light from exposing through to the screen, the emulsion stays soft and doesn't dry so when you wash it the emulsion comes away from the screen leaving your design exposed onto the screen as you can see on the image below :)

Tomorrow i will be experimenting with screen printing on different types of fabrics with different techniques which i am very excited about :) Hopefully also have my digital printed fabrics printed so i can see how the finishes are on those and maybe devore into a couple. I also want to produce another screen which is all textured moth wings and pattern so this could be a background before i print the bugs and insects on top. Hopefully i will have a very productive day!! I shall update my blog tomorrow to let you know how i get on :) 

Work From Yesterday

My Productive day wasn't so productive, i managed to finish one worksheet but the time and effort that went into that worksheet i think was well worth it. I Love the colourful insects and the different lines and textures of the wings that i had drew and i will be producing a few more to go along with these as a collection. I think they will look great on printed fabrics for fashion with the vibrant colour and texture. I took some close up shots so you can see the detail and texture. Hope you like them :)

Visual Research

From all my research i have collected i started to draw more unusual organic forms and flowers on these few sheets i have used a mixture of water colour pencils and gouache paint. i really love experimenting with scale and colour and i think the colours in these images all work well as a collection for a colour palette. 

I started with drawing unusual organic flowers and forms and also insects. I had decided to make it different and develop it further to draw bugs and flowers mixed together its quiet difficult to match a bug to a flower but i will be experimenting more with this to produce a collection of different bug flowers.

Today i have to day off work which is very unusual :) so i plan to spend it well and spend the whole day drawing :) Here is a sneak preview of what i'm working on today...

I LOVE the colours in this moth i have drawn, i love how bright it is and how i have created different textures with different marks hopefully by the end of the day i will have produced a few more :) if my day goes as productive as planned haha! fingers crossed.

Work Placement

After applying for work placement at Graham and Brown i have just received news that they would be happy for me to go on a two week work placement in the design studio along with Becky so we can car share!! Brilliant News!!!!! So Excited :)

Yet Another Study Visit..

This Morning i have been to citrus rain, a digital print company for fabric and textile based products. When i got there i was really amazed at the size of the unit they worked in on an industrial business park, it was tiny! I thought from hearing about them and reading on their website they would be quite a big company but they are actually relatively small but can produce quick turn arounds even on big orders with the maximum staff being 10 people - so you can imagine how small it was. As we have used them in the past for one of our modules i expected a big huge factory that produces all these different products but it was totally opposite.

We first of all spoke to the general manager who shown us fabric samples, and talked about how their company works, and explained alot about digital printing and why it isn't around in the area any more. Most of it is produced in Turkey and China, however they do not have the quick turn around like they do for shipping reasons etc, so citrus rain when working with the fashion industry are really helpful as they have a quick turn around for hundreds of meters of fabric, with shops like Primark creating designs and finished garments in just a couple of weeks, these facilities of on the door fabric printing is really ideal for the quick production.

In their unit they have five printers and two heat presses. They produce their fabrics on synthetic fabrics using transfer print, this enables them to print high quality designs onto fabric and then using the heat press to fix the dye. As a synthetic fabric reaches high temperatures the fibres expand and open in order for the inks to sink right in to give a better quality print and prevents it from ware and tear They do this through a heat press and also a heat roller for larger fabric lengths, because it is being pressed this stops the inks from moving anywhere else and keeps the line sharp. We were able to use a print printed onto transfer paper and then send it through the heat roller press to see and get a better understanding of how it works which was great. They use this technique as they find it suitable and easy for them and their customers as it gives the fastest turn around.

Then he explained to us about printing onto silk, and the extra care and processes it needs and how its more difficult than printing onto synthetics as the fabric needs to be chemically coated before the inks can be printed onto the fabric. It then also needs steaming and washing before it is ready to use to fix and set the dyes. Citrus rain do provide this service but as their space was so small they out source their coated fabrics, print them and then send them away to be washed and made ready for the customer.

We then spoke to the man in charge of the machines, who separates designs and gets them ready to print, weather it be putting into repeat, or reproducing someones art work or fabric, he showed us his software he uses and how he sends them to print. He was also working on the pad and pen matts to draw from which i have seen a lot throughout my study visits so it might me worth wile me investing in one myself :) although they are very expensive!

Our visit was very short but it was great to see how they worked and produce their designs and fabrics, after visiting these huge factories it was totally different to see a small little unit which could still produce mass amounts of fabrics for customers. It was great to see the difference and see how they both work :)