Module 2 Chapter 5

Making patterned papers based upon animal markings - firstly making ink marks using a variety of improvised "brushes".

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Then using bleach on black tissue paper.

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And finally making monoprints.

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This final series of monoprints was made using white paint on black tissue paper.

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Module 2 Chapter 4

The task in this module is to make drawings from the images of animal markings collected earlier in the module. I tried to select different types of markings to give me different opportunities.

I started with an image of a bird's wing - a bird of prey, but I don't know which.

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Then I chose a spotty creature. This is a cheetah, but it could equally have been an ocelot or a leopard as the patterns are not very different.

2.4.4

Then a type of tortoise, which has a very distinct pattern.

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Next, I chose an animal with a scaly and bumpy pattern. Both of these patterns come from the same crocodile.

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And finally, a stripy pattern - could have been a tiger, but I chose a zebra.

2.4.12

Is it black on white? or white on black? I see it as black on white, so I scanned it into my computer, and the white came out as a very pale gray. Using PSP10 I made a negative image, and then made some repeat patterns.

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Module 2 Chapter 3

Tonal Effects in Machine Stitchery.

My machine is a Bernina 1001, which I have had for many years - it must be at least 10. It has the ability to do 16 different stitches, including straight stitch, and to be honest, I have never used most of them. So this was a voyage of discovery.

All these samples are 4" square, rotary cut from either a medium weight calico, or a black cotton. The first four samples are all worked on a single layer and all the remaining samples are worked on a double layer. A number of them have distorted.

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Finally in this chapter, I had to make a few machine stitched strips based on animal patterns. I shall try some more after Chapter 6, when I will have made some printed fabrics. These strips were all cut 2" wide and 16" long.

2.3.11

Module 2 Chapter 2

But first, a bit more of Chapter 1 - a further three tonal columns using techniques suggested by Sian. The first two are white wax crayon on white paper, then painted with black ink - quite a difficult technique to keep control of as you can't really see the marks you are making on the paper. The third column is graphite stick all over, and marks removed using a rubber - interesting!

2.1.8

Now Chapter 2 - sticking with tonal columns but this time using stitch, firstly using a variety of black and white threads on canvas. I did 2 mini samples before tackling the main sample. The left hand sample uses black and white tapestry wool and fairly random crosses. The right hand sample uses tapestry wool, coton a broder and perle, and the crosses are much more organised, which I prefer. I am really pleased with the main sample.

2.2.1

The next challenge is to make a series of tonal columns using blackwork, a technique which I played with a few years ago. This is one of the samples I did then, exploring blackwork patterns using pattern development and change of threads to make the tones.

2.2.2

So, three examples of achieving a tonal column using pattern development. The idea for the design for the third sample came from the back of the other blackwork samples. I love the patterns that appear on the back particularly if you have taken the same journey with the needle in each pattern. Blackwork patterns tend to look Tudor no matter what you do, but this third sample doesn't!

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Now a tonal column that uses changes in the thread thickness to make the tonal changes......

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..... and a column that uses the spaces between the stitches to control the tone.

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These final samples were done a few years ago at the same time as the first blackwork sample above. I wanted to try and break away from traditional blackwork, so I worked on calico rather than an evenweave fabric, which makes the stitches slightly more haphazard than with evenweave. I also added in black bugle beads as the darkest tone.

2.2.9

This final sample was done for a competition at my local EG branch - not a very good image I'm afraid. Once again , the pattern was stitch on calico, and I have used black bugle beads as the darkest "thread". It didn't win!!

2.2.10