Final Major Project - Design - Stand Work

Stand Work:

After weeks of research and development working only on paper I started my design process by experimenting on the stand, thinking of possible shapes and structures that could translate the ideas and themes of optical toys and movement into a garment. As a group we were set a workshop to select one shape out of all our research and project so far and cut it out multiple times in varying sizes. These we then linked all together and arranged on the stand. I chose the shape of a phenakistoscope due to its lack of resemblance to any conventional garment. I then worked on the stand, mainly creating structures that worked away from the body:

Working this way was difficult at times because of the scale of what I was working with; however, I am grateful to be working out of my sketchbook and doing something practical. Once I had finished working on the stand I used what I had created as a basis to start design work in my sketchbook:

I liked the fact that none of the creations really resemble typical garments as it gives me more freedom in my design process. For the next step I set myself my own task working on the stands. Using only outlines of the shapes of various optical toys I created pieces on the stand to use as a starting point for designs. Outlines used include a zoetrope stand, a thaumatrope, a phenakistoscope, the handle of a stereoscope, the outline of stereocards and layers like a flip book:

As with the first task I then used this stand work to start designs:

I am pleased with this work as throughout the project I have found it difficult to visualise and communicate to others how exactly pre-cinema animation devices can be turned into a fashion project. Now, with the start of my design process, I can really see it all coming together. It was also enjoyable to add a new method of working  to diversify my project. The stand outlines effectively show the interesting shapes and structures of pre-cinematic devices. Furthermore, I feel several of these designs are strong and by combining them with the themes I have picked out, perhaps by adding surface designs, I can now develop them into a final idea. I have been focusing on dress design so far, mainly as the shapes I am working with lend themselves to this most easily, but also because it is the garment that enables freest movement, and as I am still thinking about including themes of movement in my project it was something to consider.

Movement Studies

Now that I have finished with the research section of my project I am moving into the development of a theme and focused idea. As I had quite a lot of research and themes going on I decided to trim them down and focus on the ideas of movement, and how this can communicate a narrative in itself. I've done some development of my own motion studies and will focus on this before linking back to my starting point and the idea of movement within animation devices. With these movement studies I feel I have improved my technical drawing as well as my observational skills, all of which come in handy not just when trying to produce a high quality project but also in life.

I started my development simply, just using an artists mannequin and moving it around to study its movements and I have also decided to begin attending life drawing classes to help me explore the ideas of human movement. They are now every Thursday after college in a studio round the corner from me. Varying models every week there will be a mix of clothed and life modelling. I will update this post with additions from my classes as the weeks go on:

Pencil Drawings

Ink and Pencil Drawings- 2 mins

Pencil Drawings - 5 mins

Pencil Drawings- 5 mins 

Oil Pastel - 10 mins

Charcoal- 15 mins

Charcoal - 15mins

Pencil - 15 mins

Pencil - 40 min

Pencil - 15 mins

Pencil - 15 mins

Charcoal - 15 mins

Pencil - 20 mins

Ink and Pencil - 2 mins per pose

 I really enjoy life drawing and feel the work I have done in classes so far is very useful. Whether we are drawing several poses quickly next to each other to get a sense of movement, or stationary poses, it is helpful in learning about the human body and how we interact with it and our surroundings.

With these new skills and understanding I am now thinking about methods of representing movement in a single image, and so have experimented with layering drawings:

Pencil

Pen- Blinking eye

Pen - Dancer

I am pleased with my work so far, though now need to link it back to my original ideas and start to think more about the final product and fashion influences. I also think it would be helpful to start working more outside of my sketchbook. I could start experimenting with stand work in order to break up my research and development work with something a bit different. Now that another week has gone I feel a bit more on track with my project. Also, now that we are three weeks in, I feel as though my project is gaining momentum  as I have been able to immerse myself further into the idea.

Also as part of my motion studies I experimented with some photography, trying to capture a waving hand. I liked the idea of focusing more specifically on one part of the body in order to have more detail to the study. Also, by adding photography to my research and not just working from drawings and am meeting the criteria I set myself at the beginning of the year. Subject of the photographs is Nicolette Jones (i.e. my Mum):

Waving Hand Study - Author's Own

I feel that although my work is still lacking in work that can be seen to link easily into a fashion garment, I am pleased with this area of my research and development as it picks out a key theme from my original premise. It has also widened the range of media that I work with, using several skills and has given me a lot of raw material and themes to further explore.