REFLECTIVE JOURNAL: Fashion and Textiles Pathway: Washing Line and Illustrations

We began the day by learning about how to tell what era clothes are from and if they’re actual vintage or reproductions or whether they’re mass produced. We then had practice in putting together an installation to work from, putting certain pieces together, giving them a backdrop and putting other items with them.

I really enjoyed the warm up task of creating a continuous line drawing using my left hand, even though it did hurt my arm. It allowed me to focus more on representing what was actually in front of me in terms of space and shapes rather than spending time trying to make the drawing perfect.

The first installation I focused on was the handmade embellished top and the 50s sparkly jacket. I wanted to recreate the sparkle of these garments in a drawing which I felt I did well with the top as I used white paint splatters. I wish I had drawn my second composition from a slightly different angle, as the head one approach made it look rather flat. I also wish I hadn’t used colour for the mannequin as I feel this detracts from the garment which should be the main focus, however this is something I can learn from.

I also really enjoyed my final piece from the day where I moved around the room to focus on a different set of garments. I chose to look at the blue 80s gown and the late 60s synthetic fur coat as I felt the set up worked well with the added record player and shoes.

On the second day of this task we had to create an A2 worksheet of 12 drawings created from the various installations around our area using various different media. I enjoyed this task as I got to explore all the different types of garment and the various textures. I tried to use a variety of media in my drawings and I enjoyed the different effects different media created. The task was very playful and let me discover what works well for me and what doesn't.