I always admire fashion drawings. But often the figures aren’t suitable for the type of work I do..at least I don’t think so. 

Pauline Weston Thomas’s site is a great resource for fashion – today’s and previous eras. I used her fashion drawing templates as a ‘kick off’ for my design here. It really just gave me confidence to go ahead as I changed the body and stance anyway. But the site makes you think about changes in modeling and body shapes. Poses acceptable today would not be appropriate for a model of a 17th century dress – the question is WHY? Today models seem to promote ‘desire’ in their stances.  Strangely, acceptable and common place models today have their legs starting at their waist! I’m sure many PHD’s have been written on the subject and I have my own social theories which I won’t bore you with here. However I’d be very happy to hear anyone else’s theories.

The first drawing is what I did in pencil and the second one has some Photoshop editing on it. In Photoshop you can isolate the scarf and change its colours and textures etc. Briefly the steps I used are:

1. Draw the model with pencil/coloured pencil/ kneaded eraser etc.
2. Scan (or take a photo) of the drawing, save as a jpg and open it into Photoshop.
3. Duplicate the original drawing layer so it stays intact.
4. Create new adjustment layers to modify the look. Layer>New Adjustment Layer.
5. Select the scarf using the lasso Tool making your way around its outline.
6. Use the Quick Mask button to correct any wayward selections.
7. When you think you have it right, save the selection – Select>Save Selection, type in a name.
8. I also then Inverse the selection to capture the background. Select>Inverse, then save this selection as well with another name.
9. Now you have access to the scarf and the background at any time by going to Select>Load Selection. From these selections you can change effects etc. Nifty!

Now I’m going to try it all in Illustrator.

Here is my weaving from my previous entry enjoying a bit of outside activity on the clothes line.I’m reasonably happy with it and it will cheer me up on days when my confidence thermometer goes below zero!

This entry is a bit of blog/web pointing and raving…or as I have just learnt ‘cooling’. I’m new as a volunteer category editor at dmoz directory. Cooling is something I can’t do there but I can here on my own space.:-)

When I go looking at great textile blogs like Sara Lamb and The Keyboard Biologist I realise just how much energy I must lack! Theresa, The Keyboard Biologist has a great archive page which allows you to view all of her topics. Have a look at Scarves – really beautiful….and so productive. Her latest entry has knitting in a stainless steel/wool yarn. Forget about sheep – we will have to own mines instead.

Textilers are the most resourceful people. Have you noticed? And interested in anything inventive, functional and beautiful. By way of a very unexpexted hyperlinking adventure I came across Brenda Paternoster’s lacemaking site. Lacemaking is affiliated with weaving in many ways and she provides a great tutorial on making Paper Bobins. I think these will be useful for braiding/kumihimo perhaps – and perhaps a good project to get young students engaged, ready to start their textiles adventures.

As my favourite dye techniqes always include some type of ikat I was particularly interested in how to tie an ikat warp on a frame. This step-by-step tutorial will ensure a great patterned ikat warp, especially if it is taken directly to a backstrap loom and woven. The idea is leave no excuses for shifting the yarn after ikat dyeing. My simple designs shift a little, as seen in this series I am working on – the Passionflower series. I designed a loom controlled supplementary warp at the edges with a false satin for the body. I needed three separately weighted warps for the job, but it was straightforward beyond that.

I’m always impressed when I come across people who pursue their interests in life with creativity and zest. We are all involved with cooking because we have to eat to live. But Cathy at My Little Kitchen puts much more into her exquisite biscuits. Working through Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies Cathy takes mouthwatering artistic photos of her homebaked creations accompanied by ‘reviews’ from her tasting friends. Really lovely.

Lastly [what a long blog entry today], I’m still drawing or trying to. This is a photo of my current project – a portrait of Dave and I at Penzance in England. When I can’t weave, I can always draw. A pencil is even allowed on a plane and is not considered a tool of violence like knitting needles.

The EDM challenge this week to continue with a self portrait induced me to try again. This time with a pen, straight in, no excess measuring and being content to restate over and over. I’ve also drawn this from a photo which changes the dynamics – but I’m happier about this drawing in some ways. The pen medium has something that the pencil doesn’t. I love pencil but somehow my brain and hands handle the drawing subject in different ways.
To me, all aspects of drawing and sketching are interesting. It makes me feel more relaxed about life…sort of having a secret (like chocolate) to look forward to all the time.

Drawing = chocolate?

Portraits of the self are difficult and I think require a real study – doing lots of experiments. Anyway, I enjoyed drawing it and had a splash with the watercolours as well.
Self portraits also expose us in a very public way, which I think prevents me from seeing the subject in an honest way…of course putting this drawing up on a public blog also asks for exposure! There are paradoxes everywhere.

This is something I never thought I’d have a go at drawing. Most of the door knobs in our house are ‘drop dead’ boring. My studio luckily has a beautiful door with an equally suitable door lever. I love the elegance of this door handle and I think I should put more effort into creating beauty in the everyday ordinary items we use continuously every day. Teri drew this exquisite door knob in Arizona.
Door knobs and levers represent entering or locking. They invite or forbid.

Music is so easy to love. Of course I don’t love my piano more than the humans in my life but it is something which gives me alot of pleasure and interesting challenges.

I learnt to play the piano as a child and went as far as the 5th grade but then left it behind for more social activities. When I picked up the piano again about 6 years ago, I was surprised just how much I still ‘knew’..I didn’t have to start from the beginning. It made me think about how important it is to generally expose children to many skills and arts. Everything makes an impression on them and has the potential to enrich their lives and their opportunities.

I’m now in a drumming group and enjoying the djembe, and grappling with the bodhran (Irish Drum). This is about rhythm rather than the melody of the piano and I’m encouraged to enjoy music making without all those sheets of notation.

This drawing of my piano was a test for me in perspective and I’m not really happy with it. I took it into photoshop and tried to bring out the keys more. Anyway I’m learning.

This is an Every Day Matters Challenge.

Working away with the EveryDayMatters group has inspired me to try more drawings. I did this from a photo – It was Christmas Day and we went down to Manning Point in NSW. It is a magical place and I wanted to capture some of that. I’m new to watercolours, so I’m also a bit ‘frightened’ of them…if that’s possible.

I haven’t approached my looms lately [it seems like the ironing is always taunting me] but I’m inspired by Sara Lamb’s site. She has lots of photos of beautiful textiles being woven. She specialises in woven bags.