Drawing For Textiles 2 : Textile Artefact Making

Description

BLENDED ONLINE COURSE WITH OPTION TO JOIN LIVE SESSIONS

Series 2:   Textile Artefact Making as Resource & Drawing.

FEES:  FULL COURSE £85

NB   This course is available to anyone at any time. If you want to join in the live sessions you can, but not obligatory. They are however fun and you get to ask questions to Nicola and connect with other like minded attendees. The LIVE sessions are all recorded and uploaded to use as reference or to watch back, so don't worry if you can't make any of them. 

Join Nicola Perren of Perren Studios for a new set of classes in the Drawing for Textiles series. The 2^nd of the series will see us explore and expand our resources in a fun, creative drive to engage with drawing for textiles as part of the design process. 

You do not need to have completed the 1^st in the series to join in. You will select a subject matter of your own choosing and we will move off the flat surface of the page to create our own 3d artefacts. These can be used as elements to explore later on paper but more often emerge as observational drawings in themselves.

COURSE OVERVIEW:

We often find ourselves drawn to familiar subject matters and as a result, outcomes can start to become predictable. This course will see us not only making our own resources but also consider the act of making 3d resources as a drawing and observational process in itself. We will explore the abstraction of self-selected subject matters in a way that is mindful of a textile practice in order that we can promote outcomes that are unexpected, engaging and playful.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR:

This course is suitable for anyone, from those new to textiles, through to experienced makers who want to explore or refresh ways of thinking. You may be a teacher or lecturer looking to recharge your creative batteries, a student who wants to further your current knowledge, or maybe outside of formal education and fancy trying something outside of your usual remit.

You may have already completed series one, if so, it is great to have you back on board but equally, this course can be completed without having done the previous one.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

The focus of this course will be on the creation of 3d artefacts that will be inspired by our own visual references i.e., drawings, photographs, objects. With a playful and experimental approach, we will consider form, scale, texture and line in the development of artefacts made from both soft and hard materials.

Making textiles, is so often about working ‘in space’, whether it is crochet, loom weaving, machine embroidery, tufting or even print making. When we draw on paper in more traditional ways, we can often cut straight to final designs and avoid the expressive, fun and trials that can emerge through drawing. By exploring drawing as a 3d mode, can engage with the more unusual and allow us to explore material properties, movement and the special qualities so often linked to textiles themselves.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

This course does make use of a wide range of materials and tools, as with all my teaching, I offer alternatives to what I am doing in the class. You can do this course often with items you may already have around the house / in the garage but equally, you can by items specifically for the course. 

Below is a list of key items that I will use [in bold] and alternatives you may consider, it is all optional [detailed list will be supplied once you sign up].

General drawing materials: 

• Pencils 
• Pens
• Inks
• Tapes 
• Glue

Tools: 

• Scissors
• Brushes
• Sewing needles [various sizes]
• Scalpel / craft knife
• Cutting Mat
• Ruler

Grounds: 

• Loose papers – various from scraps to cartridge paper
• Sketchbook for recording / documenting work in

Textiles: 

• Fabric scraps and a few pieces about a4 size.
• Felt [craft squares]
• Various yarns and other yarn type materials such as cloth strips
• Sewing threads – general haberdashery items.
• Sequins / beads etc
• Stuffing [can be old fabrics, old stuffing from a cushion, even paper]

Wire:

• Various wires [can just have one type] suggest between 0.5 – 3mm, can be modelling wire, garden wire, floristry wire, recycled from cables, pipe cleaners etc
• Wire cutter
• Wire pliers

Soft materials:

• Plasticine
• Air dough [ https://www.livemoor.co.uk/products/air-dough-200g-pots?variant=41847215030459 ] You can buy this in various colours, but I tend to stick to the white as you can draw / paint onto it…
• Play dough
• Blue / white tac
• Air dry clay
• Fimo
• Moulding icing
• Tools to help mould items i.e., sticks, knives, knitting needles etc.

Hard materials:

• Balsa wood [I use flat panels as well as the other formats]
• Cardboard [upcycled]
• Mount board
• Glue suitable for material type [above] that you are using
• And / or tape

PROGRAMME:

Once you have signed up to the full course, you will have access to a full materials list and a video to help you prepare before you join a session, this will include an approach to starting the project i.e., gathering visual references, creating some initial observational drawings [you may already have a project in the past you want to revisit or, want to start with something new]. In Series One, we worked with a particular colour story, for this series of classes, it is up to you if you want to use a colour story I provide, create your own or, like me keep colour simple and work with a monotone approach.

PRE-COURSE MATERIALS:

A]  Pre-session planning. This video should be watched before you start the course to help you prepare and gather the things you will need. 

SERIES PROGRAMME:

Session 1]      Drawing to Build.

Starting out drawing as form, we will then move on to lift the line off the page and into 3d. Twisting, binding, wrapping, folding and adapting will be key.

Session 2]      Organic and Pliable.

Working with malleable materials, we will explore textural qualities and consider the potential of multiples.

Session 3]      Geometric Structures.

Being mindful of edges, negative space and construction, we will explore our source subject with relatively hard materials.

Session 4]      Soft Form Stitch.

Working with textiles as a material, we will explore the potential of stuffed forms stitch as a drawn observation.

Session 5]      Drawing our Artefacts.

Observation and dramatic approaches are used to view, understand and explore our new library of visual resources.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Each session will have a core focus that can be explored in isolation or as part of an overall series of activities.   

• Understand a creative, action-based approach to research and ideas suitable for further development [for a design or, arts-based direction].
• Develop confidence and enhance your skills in drawing, in its widest sense, as a tool for textiles.
• Explore the pairing of both traditional and experimental approaches in a creative textile orientated practice.