My Print Development

Having been inspired by the the combination of hands on and CAD developed prints by Hardinge on similarly light fabrics which i also intend to use for this project i decided to try these techniques for my own designs for print from this project. As both the CAD and hands on technique would challenge my skills and develop the knowledge of other techniques and how to develop them  for my future reference.

I had already created a few ideas for prints such as the spotted detailing on some of the fish from my primary research and wanted to develop them using these techniques. I began by experimenting with the hands on technique taking inks and paints, placing them on a piece of card in a pattern and then folding the card in half and squashing it together similarly to Hardinge which when opened gave a new repeated pattern. this technique proved intersting and i quite liked it which i created a few testers to exhaust the technique and results fully from, eventually deciding on two particular dotted samples that i could refine and develop through CAD. Below are a few images of these designs.

I feel these designs have an almost edgy look and add that element of danger from my theme which i have chosen to create within the print and some of the colour palette, yet they are also delicate and feminine enough to reflect the femininity in the final piece.

i liked the final result of this experiment but as mentioned above wanted to take it further and possibly combine another print to go with these dots. so i began to do some further research into how i could develop a print using this technique of ink and paint squashing further, and came across some artists designs inspired by the physcological tests of ink blots on paper called Rorschach.

below are a few of the design from my secondary research.

Above are two designs by Artists without names to them but i was drawn to the almost anatomical elements all most reflecting the shape and movement of the fins or the fishes patterns or spine detailing created UN purposefully from the simple technique of ink blots squashed then opened to reveal the design, again the technique is similar to Hardinge but using only black instead of colour which for this project i feel would be most effective to my own pieces as it gives the contrast and edgy feel to the design, may be to contrasting if i where to use to many colours within the design.

inspired by the more detailed ink blot designs above i began to create my own in a similar manner, which i created several different designs from to fully exhaust the technique and because i quite enjoyed the unknown result that would be achieved and the hands on technique to create a unique and individual print design that i could further develop. i had created quite a few possible designs and had to narrow it down to the most effective and also my favourites that most reflected my theme. below  and the very top image of this post are a few of these designs.

I liked all these design in particularly as they looked like different anatomical features of the fish, for example the fins, skeleton, the outer shape of the fish viewed from above in an abstract way, but each was unique.

I really like this method of developing prints as it is quite easy and not expensive but gives very different results and different colour can be used, but is not suitable if a defined design is to be created and reproduced using the same method many times as it is quite unpredictable, also it can take quite a few tests to create a piece that you are really happy with and really detailed design are not really possible, but it is a technique i will definitely use in the future.

After looking through my designs i decided on one particularly print as shown below and at the top of the post which i felt reflected the edgy  look and interpreted the fins and anatomy of the fish in a unique way and would compliment my dotted print design well.

i really like this result and feel it has enough detailing to give a more modern and advanced look to my finished piece as well as compliment a modern yet beautiful and edgy design. however like i mentioned above i will develop both this and the dotted print design above further using the CAD method Particularly Photo shop.