For this project we were asked to choose a couple of designs from our previous sketchbooks as a starting point. I selected two designs from last year. I used the flower bit of the first one but my main inspiration was the second one.
During this trend forecasting project in last year I was looking at aged by time surfaces and rough textures. I've tried to combine the colours of the two pieces to set up my colour charts for the new project.
I had a look at the current trends and worn, blurred, and stressed fabrics still in fashion. In fact they forecasted to be best sellers in the future so I decided to start experimenting with texture. The photo below shows my wall above my desk where I taped all the inspiration I found.
My first experiments with texture...in terms of colour they are a disaster but they provided me a starting point to move on. I quite liked the creased pattern that I achieved by printing with crushed up tracing paper.
I kept experimenting with colour, drawings, and composition until I got an idea where to move on.
I painted a couple of textured pages in my sketchbook where I used masking fluid to make them more interesting. I repainted the flowers from my first inspirational piece and I also further developed the design with the holes (above) which I quite liked. Then I scanned everything in and started to play around in Photoshop.
I created more textured surfaces to get a good variety. I used mono-printing with/on different papers. I scanned these in as well and started to layer them up, colour them in on the computer.
I had several trials because I found it very difficult to sort out the right colours in Photoshop. They were all very bold, and strong. They also turned out to be totally different once I printed them out. So I just kept experimenting...
Finally I decided to steal the colours from my favourite design and use them in my supporting samples. I ended up with a nice collection of digitally printed samples.
I thought my main sample would look nice in old interiors so i went to the library to find the perfect book:
The Well-Worn Interior by Robin Foster and Tim Whittaker.
