Finally Finished!

After some long hours my design was finished by Friday, ready for me to start printing next week!

Just all the niggly technical bits to sort out first, lots of photocopying onto acetate, making the screens, registering them all so my design lines up and mixing colours...After that I should be ready to go!

Upping The Scale

I have been working on my final repeating print design and used lots of different stylised animals from my original drawings, and added all my monoprint patterns to them.

I chose one to blow up to a really big scale to see what it would look like.

This is bigger than the scale of my final print but I wish it could be this big!

Print Testing!

During the past week I have been using my test screen to try out different colours, layering colours on top of each other and trying some fabrics.

Being brave with my colour combinations and seeing what works!

The Start Of Printing

At the end of last week I had to choose the fabrics I wanted to test and use in time for printing in just over a weeks time, this meant making a test screen to see how the fabrics would react differently with the inks, especially since I want to layer up see through fabrics.

Heres an image of the start of my testing...

Printing, Printing...More Printing!

After starting to use some colour, I've been churning out the monoprints using my stamps.

Printing using the colours from my earlier experiments.

Will post the end result tomorrow!

Printing Experiments

After churning out lots and lots of mono prints using my polystyrene and lino cut stamps...

I managed to collage together one of the animals I have drawn, using simple geometric shapes.

I think this idea could be quite successful once the patterns have some colour on them!

I have also gone back a step and done some more experimenting to try and introduce some colour into my work. 

Printing on top of some loose painted pattern.

Printing colour on top of painted pattern.

Im not sure these really work yet but I will keep working on it!

Texture Work

Researching into artists, illustrators and designs who use mark making and texture in their work. 

I really like the qualities in the work of Luli Sanchez, whose designs can be seen here -

www.lulisanchez.com

A really clever use of repeat and pattern but restricted to using very basic shapes or marks over and over, inspiring!!

Mark Making And Texture

Here are a few of the results of me trying to get more texture and marks into my work. 

Using the end of a thick piece of card worked well to create lines that aren't too perfect and have a texture to them depending on how much ink is there.