"The Art of Paper" 2 Day Workshop with Felicity Brown

Whilst waiting for my results from our first brief, I took part in a 2 day workshop run by Felicity Brown, an artist who focuses on printing textile and paper forms. Honestly I was not looking forward to it, the lazy side of me would have much rather stayed in bed all day than paint, but I'm so glad I did it.

Day 1: We started day 1 by using our 4 photo stories to create a colour palette and then look at mark making and print ideas. I found myself straying from these stories and playing around with different colour combinations instead.

We were then told to create small illustrations from out mark making and colours. I really dislikes mine to begin with, I thought they had no real point and didn't look good. However later I realised their importance in the whole design process as they had guided me towards my final idea.

I did not find the stories particularly useful in this challenge. I found this first section incredible rushed which stressed me out. I learned I need to improve at creating fast paced ideas instead of waiting for some drastic idea to happen.

From here we were given 4m of brown paper to paint our final illustrations onto, I decided to crumple up my paper to give my designs more texture and use the lines to guide where I painted. this technique I picked up from my first illustrations. though I did not like my small designs at first, I took an idea that came out of them and made it better.

Day 2: Felicity told us to take our designs and cut them up to create a form on a mannequin. I really enjoyed this part. Again I used the idea of scrunching up the paper to produce a moulded look. I knew I needed to let the material do the work and therefore didn't try to alter it too much.

I loved that I even used the face of my fashion illustration in the dress. I thought this added a new perspective to the garment, the idea that we are trapped in the artwork ourselves when we wear it. We are a part of the fashion.

I feel as thought I lost interest towards the end, I spent so much time in the front but left out the back, once I ran out of paper I wanted to stop and go home, bored with it. However I feel I could have improved this idea greatly if I had stayed. I would have given the dress I huge train that came out and down really wide. I need to learn to persist and come back to my ideas instead of leaving them half finished. I also feel I should have further advanced the idea of being in the artwork, maybe drawing other abstract body parts into it.

Overall I am happy with the progression of this design and how much I improved over the two days, however there is definitely more to be done so I will be posting an update on this concept soon. I also hope to use this crumpled technique in my next project as I look more at textual designs and print.