Life Drawing

There are open evening life drawing classes on this term. I went along last week and had a really good session. I haven't drawn like that for ages, but enjoyed working in charcoal again. I'd like to get along to as many as I can this term..updates as I go!

5 minute warm up poses

20 minute study...not 'bad' but proportion a bit off..

20 minute study...VERY bad proportions

20 minute study...weird resting hand and proportion out!?

20 minute study...best of the session but back leg tooo big!

Sharpen your pencil...

These animals are dotted along the Dec Art/Fashion corridor on the 3rd floor of Bonnington, I just love them!

 

 

Bookbinding with Heather Dewick

I went along to a Bookbinding workshop ran by Heather Dewick at Debbie Bryan's Studio. It was a great day punching, cutting, sewing and making (plus excellent chocolate brownies to keep us going!) We made a soft back medieval-type book with leather wrap around fastening.

Here's my book!

and in detail

Now lets look at the process....

we started by folding our paper...

taking an A1 sheet we folded it with the grain in half, cut it along the fold, then in half again. 

Then we slice down the fold 2/3 of the way

then folding over again we get this

an A1 sheet makes 8 of these sections

Then we're ready for marking out the cover! 

there was lots of leather to choose from...I chose a green goat skin, with complimentary brown fastening.

on the reverse of your chosen cover, place 1 of the paper sections on the front of the book cover and mark out guidelines for where you need to sew

using a ruler mark out 2 outer and 1 inner section

repeat guidelines until you have a grid

following the guides punch holes through the leather with a braddle tool, these will make it much easier to sew!

turn it over and you will have created this!

Next, mark out the equivalent holes in the pages. It can be useful to have a rule guide for this..

make sure you have all the folded 'tops' of the page sections in the same direction.
mark this side of the stack to keep you in check!

Now you're ready to get constructing!

lay your piece of leather out with what will be the front of the book facing you

starting at the guideline furthest away, place the paper section down and sew through following the guideholes

you are looking to create this type of effect on the spine. the larger sections on this example have been woven, you can embelish, or leave plain and simple, it's up to you!

as you are sewing, you may run out of thread! To knot on to the existing thread, loop the new thread around your finger

and pull it through. Pull this tight onto the old thread and carry on sewing

Once all the page sections have been attached it's then deciding how you want your wraparound

I really liked this one of Heather's

we looked at some other examples and I thought this one was great too!

We also talked about other methods and had a go at some Japanese binding 

looking at examples I really likes the simplicity of this one

and the ingenuity of the postcards used here!

I had been collecting envelopes ever since Claire told me about a  book she'd seen once made out of them so I had a go with the Japanese bind on them here! It's a bit crude if I'm honest but to experiment with the process this worked just fine

Heather also showed us a way of folding a single sheet of paper to create a book without the need for a cover!

Heather will be part of the Open Studios event at Persistence Works in Sheffield 18th/19th/20th November. I'll be off to have a look!

The Curious Pancake

This weekend saw the launch of the very lovely website The Curious Pancake. Housing the best in illustrated, creative, design led and quirky items, its your one stop shop for those original and unusual presents you might be after.

The brain-child of my friend, the very talented Claire Senior, I'm excited to learn of her new and exciting products as the months go on.

Printmaking In Context

Kathy gave a lecture today on print making. I wont be starting the project for a few weeks but there were some exciting designers, like Jocelyn Warner

with this sketchy wallpaper design

and more subtle leaf rug

Angie Lewin was VERY exciting

I love this Winter Spey II very 50s in styling

and the repeat pattern on this notebook is also very nice too!

I loved the collage-like designs of Dawn Dupree

 cushion

The 50s designs of Marian Mahler

janefosterblog

and Lucienne Day

Herb, Anthony Yellow

Patrick Caulfield's bold prints

picnic set

and the colour in Howard Hodgkin's work is exciting too

Rouge Geranium

Lighting Design

I have been thinking a lot about lighting design and came across a few interesting websites and designers today. Paul Cocksedge Studio is a very exciting site. Working with the properties of light and light as a concept they have created some really beautiful and engaging pieces.

images and text from http://www.paulcocksedge.co.uk/

Styrene: constructed from heated polystyrene cups. I love the shapes and forms that have been created

Whatt?
The switch to this piece is based on the natural conductive properties of the graphite found in pencils.
Connecting two points with a pencil line completes the circuit and the light is switched on. When the line is rubbed out the light is switched off!

Sapphire Light

Originally commissioned by The Bombay Sapphire Foundation, the design involves pouring gin and tonic into a light bulb-shaped vessel and shining UV light onto the chandelier. Switched on, the clear translucent liquid is transformed into an incredible glowing blue colour. The liquid becomes the light!

A Gust Of Wind: Three hundred curvaceous pieces of Corian® were exhibited for one day only, as part of the V&A’s Friday Late Night Event. The ‘pages’ represented a stack of paper blown into the air by a gust of wind. Each of these limited edition pieces was engraved and then handmade by Paul and were given away at the event. They function as paper trays, becoming a place for wandering paper to gather. 

7Gods are interesting design group. I found them (and these images) on yatzer

Alan table lamp

Alan table lamp (side view)

Jinko ceiling light

Globe Campus brought up this design of a lighting fixture that turns into a fruit bowl, alongwith an interesting article on 3D printing

Metamorphose by Martin Faubert

I was also very taken by the blog urban pasture and a post about Light Bulb Art If only for this image alone!

aqua bulb

Thinking casting I really like this from Zhang Xiaogang

Zhang Xiaogang Lamp No. 2, 2009

and in painting, I like this by Brian Clarke

Lightbulbs, Brian Clarke, 2011

Both were in the exhibition Burning, Bright: A Short History of the Light Bulb at The Pace Gallery, New York


 

These fabric lights by London based designer Henny Van Nistelrooy look great! 

This Light Bulbo by Duda Carvalho is ingenious! Love the shape too

The concept behind this Bundle Lamp is nice

And this design by textile artist Rachel Wingfield is incredible!
The epoitome of art meets science!

This nail cloud is interesting, by Dutch designer Ilias Ernst

I love the work of Pia Westerberg, really interesting ideas. These lights from Processed Paper project are lovely