7/28/2011

gretchenmist fabric


designing fabric is something that i had been contemplating for a long time. there is a side of my art~making that seems to lend itself to the concept of repetition! a lot of my sketches/doodles are of flowers and plants which seem to drift/float/move across the page, almost without my planning! i have tried painting some of these drawings and digitally colouring them to make prints, but felt that those mediums were not quite right. so the combination of minimalism, repetition and the desire to embrace and continue with this kind of work led me to the medium of fabric.



i invested in a great book: 'digital textile design' by melanie bowles and ceri isaac which has tutorials on making repeats in photoshop and illustrator, and a monitor calibrator. i spent some time educating myself about the technicalities of colour and reproduction. it was really important for me to be able to have my designs made with the actual colours that i worked with on screen. i had heard from other designers that this could be a a challenge with digital printing of fabric. i'm really happy with the results colourwise!


the other part of the process involved following my instincts and experimenting.

now i'm addicted and eager to make more!

you can see the new fabric designs here.

6 comments:

Jennifer Cowgill said...

This is exciting and your fabrics are gorgeous!!

belinda marshall said...

thanks Jen :)

GlitzGlitter said...

I loved hearing about your process! Gorgeous fabrics!

Jen from SewnNatural said...

fantastic - love your new fabrics!!

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

I love what you say about finding the right mediums for your work. This has been a huge thing for me, understanding how I want to put my art out into the world. I also went down the path of print reproductions and it just wasn't quite right. I haven't identified any other pathways yet so am just concentrating on original work until other ideas present themselves.

Really enjoying the AG blog. It's informative and interesting. Thanks.

bluebicicletta said...

so cool! Congrats on your new adventure!