A Finish to the Sampler Project.

Just a quick post to clear up the answers to a few leftover questions set by the folder I don't feel I've answered so far.
I feel I could have spent a little more time deciding on elements to take from my drawings. I feel I could have spent more time drawing overall. I think the reason that I didn't do so is because knowing that the end of section project meant a lot of printing (and I had never attempted printing before), I was perhaps a little more interested and eager to get on with the part of this section that taught me new technical skills than I should have been! I think that of the design elements I chose - and I know I focused almost exclusively on my favourite piece, the bamboo - the one I took up in a serious way, dedicating most time to carving from the lino blocks, was the most successful because I spent the most time on developing it. Adding extra layers and further design elements/techniques was a little redundant, as I'd taken what I wanted to print straight from the paper and onto the block, leaving no room for improvement! When I am working on future projects, perhaps the personal project at the end of this course, I will have to spend more time in working out how to combine different ideas, and not rush quite so much! I think that the best prints, accordingly, were those that were of a more streamlined character. The combinations of fern block, bamboo stencil, and vine stamp - they took away from each other without enhancing any features. It's been rather a learning curve for me!

I think that I could perhaps have reduced the scale of the prints very slightly - they are quite bold, and my taste always tends towards the fussy! I've spoken before about trying to create depth in the prints by reducing the size of the leaves in those areas that contain the most negative space - I think that has been moderately successful, and so the overall design, when repeated, I've been quite happy with. I think it has fore-, mid-, and back-ground sections that flow well, and is as realistic as you could want in a fabric print. In the future, some ideas I would like to try out that relate to printing include: some very fine lino or perhaps wood blocks. Some prints that create the illusion of stitched features, such as printed pockets, badges and buttons, complete with printed shadows. Prints the create the illusion of sheer fabric. Lace-style prints.