Thursday 12 March 2009

Form: 3D

Yesterday I showed an example of Low Relief. Here is a 3D example of Form.

It was inspired by Elizabethan clothing...the wheeled or French farthingale in particular. I folded down corners of an old book, and then spray painted it with copper paint. When it is fanned out, it has a simliar form to that of the French farthingale. The lesson today went very well. The students are keen to get to grips with the Design Principles and how to apply them to the garments they are designing. Because we were doing Form, we did the folded boxes. I wanted them to see how 2D could be transformed to 3D. One of the students already started using some of the painted papers she had made previously to make a box.

We also did a bit of playing with playdough to create soft sculptured items. Many of the experiments were more in the Low Relief category, but some ventured further to 3D.

And finally, we looked at structure, as in wire or stick structures, which could then be covered with fabric...or the struts could be wrapped with thread, etc. We also made large paper spills
which we Sellotaped together to create larger structures. The difference between sticks and the paper spills is that the paper can be bent. One lady was well on her way to making a spidery looking structure inspired by fan vaulted chapel ceilings! Sort of like this.

Anyway, I am looking forward to working with the group again. They were great! What fun to talk about design and artistic things to a group and have them "get it". It will be fun to do Texture with them in a few week.

Too bad it is only for 2 sessions!

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