2nd to the Last Week

We just continued working on our final projects today in both class.

I showed C my completed illustrations and she gave positive feedback in all except 1 - the fur. As expected, it needed to be redone. Since I still had problems rendering fur, I just decided to do a new set of clothes on my template. Instead of fur, I drew a satin - chiffon blouse - Satin for the bodice and billowy chiffon for the sleeves. For the bottom, I drew a simple grey cotton pants. Added more folds to the back of the knees where the leg was bent as instructed by C and my drawings were done. Now I just have to organise my flats, think of a background for them, and my inspirations and colour palette.

For the Life Illustration, I copied - note: not traced - my original drawing of the two models and redrew it using a combination of gouache, marker and coloured pencils. I initially didn't want to draw the faces but when I got home, I just felt that I had to. And I had to do a bit of touching up on the chin of one of the ladies since it seemed to be too pointy. The white ink was too obvious so I had to draw a choker around her neck to camouflage it. All in all, I think I did well. I just need to add in some background stuff and my final project ofr Life Illustration is done - a poster. Next week, I can put them all in my plastic sheets and not worry about them.

Tomorrow, V will accompany me to the city to buy sewing materials for my patternmaking and garment construction class. =)

Final Project

A week and a half to go before before my classes end. Before that, I still need to finish my final project. Two if I include the poster requirement for Life Drawing. Did I mention I got reprimanded last class in LD? Served me right for being too forward and forgetting my manners. But it was cool afterwards.

Anyway, I've finished my fashion poses two week ago but when I started drawing the clothes on the figures, it just felt wrong. So I kept changing and changing and changing and even when the rendering has been completed, I redo it. If I weren't so nitpicky with what I'm doing, I'd probably be done by now. But I'm not doing it just for the sake of handing in something. I want satisfaction in what I do. The fact that I'm waaay older than the others (late 20s is old to late teens)means I have to do much more than the others. Time is a-ticking.

I've already decided on my theme - Renaissance Woman. A strong-willed independent woman who is not only fashionable but who is smart, appreciates art, and curious about the world. Then when I took a step back, I started thinking that maybe Modern Woman is a better theme. Note that I have problems with vague-sounding-ooh-inspiring words. I'm not a wordsmith much to my everlasting dismay. Or I could just title it - Attempts of a Struggling Fashion Design Student at Rendering Fabrics and Drawing Fashion Poses as Required by the Fashion Drawing Class of the Melbourne School of Fashion. Hehehe

I still have to think of a background for my storyboard. And the accessories, too. Aargh.

Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day.

Sewing Class

It wasn't really a sewing class in the sense that the students were working on their sewing machines. It was more of a demonstration class where a representative from Bernina, Debbie, showed how to do things. It was fun watching and listening to the other, older, more experienced students.

For this class, Debbie showed us how to wrap strips of fabric over a cord and how to sew these cords to make a place mat and a bowl. First, the fabric had to be cut on a bias. To do that, get a folded cloth a meter in length (when you buy fabrics, the fabric is already folded), fold it to make a triangle and then cut it diagonally. She used an 8 millimeter cord. She wrapped the end of the cord with a fabric so the cord didn't show and then she started to stitch.

When she asked if anyone wanted to try, part of me wanted to but part of me was afraid I'd touch a wrong button or something and ruin the project.

The second was a bag with an applique. She took a folded a tear-away towel, placed the fabric where she wanted the applique to be on top of the tear-away towel and then placed some cut-outs of daisies she got from some scraps. One thing I learned from the ladies was to use at least 2 layers of tear-away towel to hold the embroidery otherwise the edge of the embroidery would have a bubble effect instead of it being flat. Someone also suggested spraying the fabric first with starch especially with dense embroideries while using tear-away towels. I forgot the other suggestions but I think those two are the important ones.

I also learned that the type of fabric one uses will determine what needle to use. For normal sewing, a number 80 needle should be used. For fine fabrics like velvet, a number 60 needle should be used. For finer fabrics like silk or satin, a number 70 should be used. And for thicker fabrics like denim, a number 80 should be used.

It was just a two-hour class but it was nice. The next class would be in March. Hopefully, by then, I'd be able to do something with my machine. Tomorrow, I'll be going back to the sewing shop to get a free lesson on how to use my sewing machine.

Miffed

That's my reaction when I got the results for the 4th folio. Among all my folio works, I've done far greater work on the 4th one. However, for some reason C kept marking me down. Some of her comments were point on but some just seemed puzzling to me. I don't know whether it's because she's pushing me (that's what she said) or because I don't do things the way she taught them. I thought I was the only one who thought that way until B also gave the same sentiments. C apparently gave all of us high marks in our first folio although it was kinda crappy as we (most of us) were still finding our feet. But as we progressed, she started giving us lower scores.

I don't know whether it was because I wanted to prove something or because my energy level went up but in the afternoon I had good results in the Life Drawing class. We had F as model again and we had to draw her in her streetwear, evening wear and in a coat (this was for the texture portion).

Only 3 more weeks to go until I get my Certificates for these two classes. Next would be the Patternmaking and Garment Construction Class and the Fashion Design Class.

In preparation for my Patternmaking and Garment Construction Class, I bought my very first sewing machine - a Bernette 90e. V and I got went to C Sewing Centre and bought it there. They said it normally retailed for AUD799 but they were selling it for AUD499. It looked so easy when the store assistant was demonstrating it but when I got home and tried to use it, I became clueless. I have to call them up and attend one of their classes to be able to use it.=)

4th Folio Done

Submitted my 4th folio yesterday. I think I did alright. I checked out my classmates's works and there are areas where they did well and some they didn't. It's the way it is. You can be good in one aspect and not in another aspect.

Most of us did agree that the final lesson was a bit confusing. We've already done faces, hair, eyes and lips previously so why did we have to do it again. Also, C couldn't even explain how to do the "shadow" category. So, we interpreted it differently and came up with different results.

Had a chat with D on the tram and we both shared the observation that we didn't learn as much as we wanted to learn. We didn't really learn about how to render fabrics, how to translate what we see in photos or in reality into fashion drawings. I also did not appreciate getting handouts of lessons which were obviously from different books. I had expected the school to have a syllabus of its own and for the teachers to show students how to do things properly, not to rely on these handouts. Not that there's anything wrong with photocopying pages off books but those should only be supplements, an alternative on how other people do it, not the main basis of the lesson.

Anyway, I did what I could and I'm proud of some of my works. I say some since the others could do a little more work.

Here are some of my works. I should've just scanned them but it takes too much time. =)

The first drawing is a render of a dress with sequins. The second is of knit. The third is of fur and tweed.