Alice Partington FE Foundation Course (Design and Media)

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Fashion (continued)

Life Drawing

Left: 2 minutes portrait done in a sketching pencil. Middle: 2 minutes continuous line drawing done in 3B sketching pencil (the front leg was redone multiple times to improve the proportion; due to the continuous nature of the drawing the previous attempts were not erased as to keep the evidence of the artistic journey taken to reach the final outcome). Right: 5 minutes with my non-dominant hand.

5 minutes blinded

5 minutes use of both hands (dominant black 3B, non-dominant green colour pencil)

15 minutes focus on hands, feet and face. This is the drawing I am most proud of in terms of both composition and proportion, although my first attempt of the foot can still be seen on the left which distracts from the final outcome.

15 minutes or so full body drawing focusing on proportion - I drew the top half before moving on to the bottom half, and without realising I had left too big of a gap for the stomach. It was suggested to me to fold the paper to remove the gap, however I decided to draw over the original top half, in order to leave evidence of both my first and second try. The first and second tries are pictured here.

Life Drawing - Fashion Illustrations

These are my fashion illustrations drawn from life and made using colour pastels and a black ink pen. I found this task quite hard as I struggled to find a definitive drawing style. I wanted the illustrations to be expressive and have a high contrast between the model and the garments. The first drawing is done completely with pastels over a brief pencil sketch, the second is pastel and pen over a pencil sketch, and the last one is purely pen and pastels. The first drawing had definitive outlines and dark strokes which were successful in highlighting the garment against the rough impression of a person, however the face, neck and shoulders are completely out of proportion. While this can be seen as a stylistic feature, this is the part that I would improve significantly if I were to redo this. I would fix this by adding a couple strokes in order to indicate the shoulder blades and neck, as well as having the overall head and neck shape be smaller while still keeping the abstract stylistic effect of the lack of facial detail. The second drawing was less successful as again the head was way too big; the posing of the legs was also not as clear as it could have been due to it being redone several times without redoing the arm to match. I did, however, like the style and smoothness of the profile face, and decided to further explore this in the final illustration. The last drawing has a clearer composition and successfully attempts to replicate the minimalist style of the previous' face, but the folds of the fabric could be better and highlighted with more expressive detailing and by using a mix of more colours.

Further Paper Draping

I cut out six identical shapes to use for the final draping exercises. The shape I chose was the same as the last paper draping - a rough silhouette of a textile rose patch.

My chosen shape

Draping #1 - full body using all 6 shapes

Design #2 - Draping only on the sides

Draping #3 - Draping around the neck

Draping #4 - Draping on the back

Draping #5 - Draping a sleeve

Drapery #6 - Making My Final Textile Outcome

I initially draped the paper flat against the model to create the start of a basic bodice shape, before going back to more three dimensional sculptural compositions. I reused my pinching technique from a previous draping to create flower-like components that I arranged along the back hip of the mannequin. Once finished I removed the components from the mannequin and stapled them together, before stapling them to the sixth paper cut-out to make them into one solid object.

Sketches of my paper drapery arrangements

7: Fashion Promotion

A mind map of what comes to mind when we think of fashion promotion.

Customer Profiling - COS

Group research, creating a customer profile for the COS brand

Individual Customer Profiling

This is an Instagram follower and customer of COS, she follows many other fashion accounts such as SOUTH.ST The Label, Aere Label, and Source Unknown (clothing brand). The customer is a family oriented young adult, who is familiar with fashion and trending styles. Age range 20-30s.

Chanel Fashion Film Notes

Magazine Collage - HYPNOTIC ROYALTY

My final outcome collage for my two word choice of "hypnotising royalty". I used the giant jewelled hand to symbolise the power and manipulation of the "royals". The descending use of gold, silver, and copper represents the hierarchy of which the "royal" is at the top of, with complete power over everyone. The silver dresses reminded me of knights armour and the shine of chain-mail, so I placed them literally in the palm of the royal's hand. The lack of faces and eyes communicates the lack of control the people have under the royal's hypnosis. The statue turning away from the hand depicts an ignorance or secretive nature to the piece's narrative. The chain around the bust again also implies a lack of self control by being under hypnosis. The simplicity of the piece creates a successful and dynamic composition that draws the viewer's eye to the centre of the page.

Fashion Photography

Artist Inspiration - Ib Kamara

use of bold colours to set narrative tone
exploration of heritage shown through colours, patterns, composition
creative use of camera angles to make dynamic outcomes
use of props and garments in a way that is different from their original intention to explore the potential for new fashion perspectives and narratives

Photos from (Show Studio, 2022)

Photos from (Dazed, 2017)

Photography Items

For photography we had to bring in 10 items, 3 related to our brand and 7 random objects. The objects I linked my three words to were a brown sanding sponge (industrial), a hairband (comfort), and a black pen (modern). These were my ten items:

small plastic container
cotton ear buds
tweezers
sanding sponge
hairband
mcdonald's monopoly tickets
screw
black biro pen
alan key
plastic eraser/sharpener

Initial photography plan

Photography Process

My photography process. I wanted to use the contrasting tones of white and black to create a narrative of dystopian/futuristic royalty. Covering half of the model's face creates a mysterious and deceitful tone and creates intrigue from the viewer. The small hints of gold jewellery link to the high-class power of royalty. Using the container as a hat links back to Ib Kamara's untraditional use of common objects. The clear plastic relates to imagery of truthfulness and literal transparency.

Final Photography Outcome - Portrait

The mirroring of the black colour at the top and the bottom, and the vertical symmetry of the blues creates a harmonious compositional effect. To improve, I would experiment with using the glove in an unconventional fashion in order to explore the more abstract possibilities that can come from accessories. I subtly communicated the idea of "royalty" with the gold jewellery and the silky black garment, while still creating a more dystopian feel with the contrasting black and white against the bright blues. I edited this photo by cropping it, enhancing the contrast and warmth of the image, as well as increasing the highlights and shadows, and finally changing the black and white point levels.

Making A Reference Board For My Zine

I made a reference board in preparation for my "Hypnotic Royalty" photo shoot, where I would be taking photos to make a two page zine spread. After trying out different images with different layouts, I settled on a finished reference board. This first final attempt had the right idea, however the photo I used for the location did not fit well with the other images. From this feedback, I replaced the photo with one that expressed poses, camera angles, and a more regal background location. It also kept the black and white colour imagery that was conveyed in the original photo. I changed the layout to encompass this new image better into the flow of the final outcome. Below are the different experimental versions, my first final attempt, and my final successful version.

Experimenting with Imagery and Layout

The top two slides contain images from websites that I collected but didn't end up using. The two bottom images experiment with layout. I decided to swap out the image of the blonde woman with the crown because I had focused a lot on royalty but not so much on the hypnotic part of my theme. I then found an image that felt both hypnotic and regal, as well as used a preferable camera angle. The images on the top left page are from (E, 2012). The top right images are from (WallpaperAccess, 2022). The photo of the crowned woman with smoke is from (Mitchell, 2016); the interior wallpaper image is from (Hovia, 2022); the photo of the woman in the blue gown at the window is from (Goldberg and Oth, 2016). Finally, the image of flowing white and blue texture is from (PxHere, n.d.).

First Attempt

Middle portrait image from (Dreamstime, 2022).

Successful Finished Outcome

Top middle photo from (Feature Shoot, 2020).

Photo Shoot For My Zine

In preparation for the photo shoot, I had brought in a variety of royal blue and navy fabrics and a black cloak, in order to use them to make regal outfits, as well as potential backdrops. I had also brought in some object props and ribbons, however I ended up creating my narrative through the paper garment and blue fabric rather than these items. The ribbons were useful, however, in tying the fabric together and styling the model's hair. We worked in groups of three - one person modelling, one person assisting, and each person photographing and directing their own shoot (we found it was a lot easier for us to get the outcome we wanted by taking our own photos, rather than have another group member be our photographer).

Photographic Process

These are the better photos I took. There were many more as I took multiple photos for each different angle, however these were the higher quality batch. A part of my paper structure broke off so I used that to my advantage, as seen in the last images, by having the model hold the flower-like component over her face as a prop.

Top 5 Photos

My top 5 photos, subtly edited to be brighter, warmer, and stand out more with increased highlights and shadows.

Making My Zine Spread - Version 1

Experimenting/Progress

The four versions of development for my first final version. I struggled with laying out the photos over two pages, so I added more in to fill the space and try to balance the composition. However, the final image became too crowded with too many focal points taking attention away from the prime images. I was pleased with the left hand page but felt there was something off about the second page. The feedback I received explained what was unsuccessful about my composition: there were too many photos creating distractions, and the whole right side was unnecessary due to them not flowing with the page and taking away from the successful left side.

Outcome #1

Making My Zine Spread - Version 2

Outcome #2

My second version of my final outcome. I followed the feedback to remove the unnecessary photos that were too distracting. To further improve this version I needed to change the layout in order to have them fit correctly on two pages, rather than just putting one page in the middle of a landscape background, as this wouldn't fit on a printed zine page.

Making My Zine Page - Version #3

Process of Finalising my Zine Spread

This is a contact sheet of the different versions I made when experimenting with layout, in order of how I made them to show my continuous process. I started by changing the page size to A4, as the previous versions had been landscape but weren't A4. I made sure the two photos had enough "breathing" space to elevate each photo. I made the portrait the largest to highlighting the hypnotising effect of eye contact. I played around with the logo positioning and shadow as well before placing it below the smaller photo to reflect the minimalism of COS.

Final Outcome #3

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Bibliography - Fashion Promotion

Dazed (2017). Ib Kamara & Kristin-Lee Moolman reimagine 16th-century art. [online] Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/36992/1/ibrahim-kamara-kristin-lee-moolman-16th-century-art-royalty-coachie [Accessed 27 Oct. 2022].

Dreamstime (2022). Woman with hypnotic eyes stock image. Image of halloween - 54851069. [online] www.dreamstime.com. Available at: https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-woman-hypnotic-eyes-beautiful-creative-makeup-image54851069 [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

E, J. (2012). Olympic Damsel Displays. [online] TrendHunter.com. Available at: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/shinsegae-style-summer-2012 [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Feature Shoot (2020). Best model poses that make inexperienced friends look great. [online] 500px. Available at: https://iso.500px.com/best-model-poses/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Goldberg, C. and Oth, C. (2016). Queen of Como: Regal Wedding Gowns for the Modern Bride. [online] Harper’s BAZAAR. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/wedding/bridal-fashion/a17892/fairytale-wedding-dresses-gowns/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Hovia (2022). Black & Beige Wavy Line Wallpaper Mural. [online] Hovia UK. Available at: http://shorturl.at/aivCS [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Mitchell, K. (2016). Kirsty Mitchell. [online] Partridge Events. Available at: https://www.partridgeevents.co.uk/we-love-this/2016/8/25/kirsty-mitchell [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

PxHere (n.d.). Free Images : abstract, acrylic, art, artistic, black background, blend, blue, bright, burst, cloud, color in water, colorful, contrast, creative, decoration, design, dissolve, dissolving, drip, drop, dye, dynamic, explosion, flowing, ink, liquid, macro, mix, mixed, motion, movement, paint, pattern, shape, watercolor, white, organism, petal, smoke, computer wallpaper 2814x3000 - rawpixel.com - 1433455 - Free stock photos - PxHere. [online] pxhere.com. Available at: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1433455 [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Show Studio (2022). ib-kamara | SHOWstudio. [online] www.showstudio.com. Available at: https://www.showstudio.com/tags/ib-kamara?page=1&types [Accessed 27 Oct. 2022].

WallpaperAccess (2022). Awesome Black and Blue Abstract Wallpapers. [online] WallpaperAccess. Available at: https://wallpaperaccess.com/black-and-blue-abstract [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Media Production Developmental Stage 2

Appreciate

Credits:

Created with an image by tortoon - "Close up grunge orange metal background and texture"