Daisy Mountford-White

250 Word Self- Reflection- Talking Pattern

For the second half of this task, I looked more closely at the patterns within my images, zooming into the references to pull out recurring textures and shapes. I used a combination of traditional and digital media to create these images, which subtly use repetition, colour and mark making. I found that this task enabled me to build on the thoughts and inspirations behind my drawings for the first task- taking a subject which is often overlooked and seen as ugly or unattractive, and turning it into something interesting and almost beautiful. I feel that my drawings could translate well into textiles, particularly knit, with certain textures that could be recreated using yarn and various stitches. I found that taking my original drawings a step further by translating them into patterns allowed me to refine my ideas, and think about more unconventional ways to turn an initial idea into a conceptual, wearable design.

Within these drawings, I attempted to broaden my style by looking at each reference in a different way. For some, I cut up the original piece and arranged the fragments randomly, and for others I created a more coherent, repeated design. I also created entirely new patterns, by zooming into my reference images to pick out tiny details, such as cracks, tiles or reflections of light. I attempted to use colour more freely within these drawings, using small sections of brighter colours to create contrast against my mainly muted palette, which highlighted key sections of my drawings.

Reflection:

When observing my surroundings, I felt drawn to the London Underground. A maze of tunnels that thousands travel through daily, yet is often overlooked. People are often rushing through, failing to observe the array of colours and textures surrounding them, so I decided to take the time to look closer. I noticed a lot of wear around the tunnels, such as cracked paint revealing unexpected colours, intense textures carved into the walls, as well as objects such as elaborate doors. I also looked at the way light bounces off the screens, and the rain on overground platforms. 

Using a variety of media, such as oil pastel, acrylic, ink, watercolour & collage, I captured these textures, exaggerating them and highlighting the muted, but varied colour palettes within.

In some pieces, I thought carefully about the way I applied the media- using small, delicate brush strokes to portray the texture of tiles, or collaging torn paper to recreate the rips and cracks in the paintwork. I also created some observational drawings, such as the blue door, which were more realistic and allowed me to focus on the object itself.  In other pieces, I worked more loosely, as I found being free with the media led to more interesting outcomes that I may not otherwise have found. This included mark making, where I used a butter knife to apply the ink, resulting in a new texture that could be translated into patterns.

Overall, this task allowed me to explore a variety of media and look at subjects in an new way, giving outcomes that I may not have reached otherwise.