Petri Dish Contamination

It was decided that  trying to grow fungus and bacteria within a Petri dish would be too difficult, so we went for the DIY approach. As a group today we sat in the studio using a range of materials such as oil, water, water colours and acrylics and started to paint and create shapes and forms within the dish. The most successful images we took were ones that were almost accidental and messy. Projecting the dishes onto the wall was interesting , the light box created a range of colour we hadn't  discovered within the Petri dishes. The projection highlighted various shapes and forms within the dishes.

Foil Printing

I have been experimenting with foil prints, using my motifs on screen and then ironing the foil on top. This creates a metallic effect which I really like. Some prints worked better than others, this was mainly due to the fabric resisting and certain motifs not being bold enough. But after a series of trial and errors I created some prints that I was happy with. I am going to use some of them as backgrounds for pigment printing on top, this meaning I can bring more colours from my colour palette in. I have also scanned these in and I am going to work on top in photoshop. I also kept the foil after I had ironed and peeled them, I like the sheer effect, I am going to try and incorporate these into my digital work. I am also going to layer them on top of coloured fabric to create samples. I have been finding it difficult to combine the idea of texture into my 2D digital prints and illustrations and so I think I have come up with the perfect solution to resolve this.

Experimental Print Samples

Today I was working in the print room, using pigment painting on a range of textured contrasting fabrics. I liked the effect it had on the leather and the jersey material and I could see some of the subtle prints working on jumpers or a skirt. I found it quite frustrating as a lot of my colours didn't work on certain fabrics. I do like the pearl pigment paint I used on the wet look mack material , it gives an metallic reflective effect. I am trying to step out of my comfort zone and use new materials and techniques. I'm not that keen on how the colours have worked out , I feel I have used too much purple and grey so I am going to continue and try to shift the colour balance when I next go in the print room.