So...it has finally come to this. A serious effort in looking for a sewing machine. Since my sewing experience is rudimentary at best, a result of having had someone else do my sewing projects back in grade school, no home ec in high school, and minimal sewing done (mostly darning) over the years, my knowledge of a sewing machine is zilch. Not exactly zilch; I do know how one looks, as well as the new permutations. I just don't know how to use it. My mom used a Singer manual sewing machine eons ago but she never taught me how. (She said I was never interested in anything domestic, thus she had to make do with my brother who was.)
Enough reminiscing, I've been scouring forums and reviews in the hopes that it might help me decide on which brand and model to buy. I initially wanted a Bernette 65 as it was what a dealer recommended for a beginner like me. I watched her demonstrate and it was like a whole new world opened before my eyes. I was so impressed with the way she picked what seam she was going to use, how she adjusted the tension and even how she managed to make a buttonhole in seconds. I wanted to buy that machine there and then but V was reluctant to do so as we haven't done research yet.
Which explains my current dilemma. I have already read dozens of reviews and now I'm torn. Some say since Janome makes the Bernette series to get Janome instead. Then, I also discovered that Janome also makes some of Kenmore machines which makes me wonder if there was this conspiracy among these brands. The upside to this is that the parts are easier to find, I think.
Well...I'll just have to keep looking.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Dynamic Catwalk Pose and Rendering Fabric
Last Friday, we had Brenda again for our instructor which was good. While she was more lenient than C, she was less critical than M. I managed to produce some good drawings. Not perfect, but not bad either.
For the morning class, she brought in a model so we could draw a dynamic catwalk pose. Although the model was on the thin side, she wasn't exactly a model and needed a bit of coaching on how to strike a pose. Her second pose wasn't a catwalk pose though as she did a reclining pose. We had to draw her and render the clothes she was wearing. I was glad that she wore one one of those fitted bodice dress on top and triangular-handkerchief type below (sorry, I haven't learned the language of clothes so I can't really give an accurate description). The dress was red and had swirling white patterns so it really gave a great visual effect. The tricky part was drawing it in ink. I didn't want to use the red ink (I did have red ochre gouache but I didn't want to use gouache)that Brenda provided since I didn't want the red color to overwhelm the drawing. Instead, I used purple. Purple for the dress and black for the outline of the figure.
As usual, using black to outline the figure was tricky. The line tended to become think. I did manage to control a bit of the thickness with the sable bristled brush I just bought that day before I went to class. I must say the brush was much, much better than the brush the school asked us to buy. It was a tad bit more expensive but worked better.
In the afternoon, we had Jfry to model for us. We were supposed to render heavy clothing on the body but since it was 31 degrees outside, he didn't come in wearing thick clothing. He wore a black netting type of shirt which clung to his upper torso. I didn't mind that he had a nice bod. What I didn't like was that it was hell to draw. We were given the option of using charcoal, gouache, ink, and pastel. I chose coloured pencil to give me more control. The outcome was good but I still had to work on how to show the folds and the lines.
I really appreciated the way Brenda allowed us longer periods to draw. I was able to really focus and correct my drawings. While she did make comments occasionally, it was never intrusive and she did apologize. Sure will miss her.
For the morning class, she brought in a model so we could draw a dynamic catwalk pose. Although the model was on the thin side, she wasn't exactly a model and needed a bit of coaching on how to strike a pose. Her second pose wasn't a catwalk pose though as she did a reclining pose. We had to draw her and render the clothes she was wearing. I was glad that she wore one one of those fitted bodice dress on top and triangular-handkerchief type below (sorry, I haven't learned the language of clothes so I can't really give an accurate description). The dress was red and had swirling white patterns so it really gave a great visual effect. The tricky part was drawing it in ink. I didn't want to use the red ink (I did have red ochre gouache but I didn't want to use gouache)that Brenda provided since I didn't want the red color to overwhelm the drawing. Instead, I used purple. Purple for the dress and black for the outline of the figure.
As usual, using black to outline the figure was tricky. The line tended to become think. I did manage to control a bit of the thickness with the sable bristled brush I just bought that day before I went to class. I must say the brush was much, much better than the brush the school asked us to buy. It was a tad bit more expensive but worked better.
In the afternoon, we had Jfry to model for us. We were supposed to render heavy clothing on the body but since it was 31 degrees outside, he didn't come in wearing thick clothing. He wore a black netting type of shirt which clung to his upper torso. I didn't mind that he had a nice bod. What I didn't like was that it was hell to draw. We were given the option of using charcoal, gouache, ink, and pastel. I chose coloured pencil to give me more control. The outcome was good but I still had to work on how to show the folds and the lines.
I really appreciated the way Brenda allowed us longer periods to draw. I was able to really focus and correct my drawings. While she did make comments occasionally, it was never intrusive and she did apologize. Sure will miss her.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Drapes and Folds
On Friday, Brenda was our substitute lecturer since our Fashion Drawing and Life Drawing lecturers were on holiday. At first, I wasn't that happy to have her back as our substitute lecturer since she didn't help me much the last time she substituted. But last Friday, I learned a great deal from her. Since there were only a few students who turned up, she was able to give attention to each student.
She was especially helpful during the Life Drawing class although, probably judging from the seeming lethargic atmosphere inside the room, proposed to cancel the class should the model not show up. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the model turned up albeit late. Before the model's arrival, Brenda asked everyone to do an exercise. She called it "Imagining the ant's journey". First we drew a letter of an alphabet, in this case, a "W" and made it 3-dimensional. Second, we imagined an ant walking up the alphabet. At each turn of the plane, we had to differentiate the shade or colour of the planes. The front plane would be lighter if the light is shining on it, the top would have to be darker than the front, the side would be darker than the top, and the lines at the back or where the planes couldn't be seen would be darkest. The object of the exercise was to make it easier for us to draw the drapes and folds of a fabric since a fold in a fabric would have different shades.
I, and I suppose the rest of the class, thought it was great. I wondered why we weren't taught this exercise beforehand. It would have made the Rendering the Fabric" relatively easier, for me at least since I had a problem looking at light, medium, and dark shades on a fabric. At the end of the session, we were able to achieve a better output, that's my opinion anyway. I was able to make 3 illustrations but I didn't like the first 2. I did feel proud of my number 3 illustration.
My classmate, Summer, didn't have any problem rendering or drawing for that matter. Her folio work was just awesome. She could already be doing professional illustration if she wanted to. I suppose that's the reason why she doesn't really pay attention to the lectures at times. She wouldn't be staying long at MSF though since she'd be going back to Korea by the end of the Feb then possibly going on to Europe.
She was especially helpful during the Life Drawing class although, probably judging from the seeming lethargic atmosphere inside the room, proposed to cancel the class should the model not show up. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the model turned up albeit late. Before the model's arrival, Brenda asked everyone to do an exercise. She called it "Imagining the ant's journey". First we drew a letter of an alphabet, in this case, a "W" and made it 3-dimensional. Second, we imagined an ant walking up the alphabet. At each turn of the plane, we had to differentiate the shade or colour of the planes. The front plane would be lighter if the light is shining on it, the top would have to be darker than the front, the side would be darker than the top, and the lines at the back or where the planes couldn't be seen would be darkest. The object of the exercise was to make it easier for us to draw the drapes and folds of a fabric since a fold in a fabric would have different shades.
I, and I suppose the rest of the class, thought it was great. I wondered why we weren't taught this exercise beforehand. It would have made the Rendering the Fabric" relatively easier, for me at least since I had a problem looking at light, medium, and dark shades on a fabric. At the end of the session, we were able to achieve a better output, that's my opinion anyway. I was able to make 3 illustrations but I didn't like the first 2. I did feel proud of my number 3 illustration.
My classmate, Summer, didn't have any problem rendering or drawing for that matter. Her folio work was just awesome. She could already be doing professional illustration if she wanted to. I suppose that's the reason why she doesn't really pay attention to the lectures at times. She wouldn't be staying long at MSF though since she'd be going back to Korea by the end of the Feb then possibly going on to Europe.
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