Abstraction no.1.

I was looking through my old art books (as I was procrastinating) and found some marbled paper I made a few years ago in art class. Inspired by the delicate organic textures, I decided to try my hand at creating some abstract Photoshop compositions.

Tany J

A Sketch.

This is a sketch I made some time ago based on a photograph by Ramon Haindl (shown on the right). It was just a quick study drawing in graphite from the holidays.

I have been model making this past week so I did not have much time to continue on the dress so progress will be slow…but it will be finished…one day in the future…

Tany J

Progress of the Drafted Dress

Here is the progress so far on my curvy blob dress. I used a wool cashmere blend in a burgundy colour, which provides a soft texture and sufficient volume to the skirt of the garment.

 As you can see, I hand basted the skirt to the bodice then machine stitched over it to firmly secure the two parts together. I then painstakingly incorporated a hand overcast stitch to the perimeter of the curvilinear edge in order to prevent fraying (not that the fabric frays that much). Even though I marked out which edge corresponded to which in the bodice and skirt, it took multiple attempts of small adjustments to get the perfect drape on the front skirt. The back of the dress is still in its basted stage, hence it will be a while before I get that perfect drape for the back as well.

On another note, I am back at uni and work is piling up…fast…but I am managing so far.

Tany J  

Draft of the Drafted Dress

This is the muslin for the dress I drew previously. Because the book from which I based this dress on did not give any sewing instructions, I had to guesstimate how Tomoko Nakamichi – the author and pattern making genius – went about sewing those extreme curvilinear shapes. From the images provided, I could not determine if the bodice and skirt was sewn the conventional way (attaching right sides together) or if she broke the rules like me by sewing the two with one wrong side facing a right side (as seen in the lower picture). If I look closely at the photographs in the book, there seems to be a series of overcast stitches surrounding the edge of the curvy part of the bodice. If that is so, it means she would have chosen the unconventional way. After multiple attempts at trying to sew the bodice and skirt the conventional way via both machine and hand sewing, I decided to choose the alternative option as that gave a better overall drape to the skirt and was ten times easier to sew (or maybe I am just not skilled enough yet to do it the right way).

Furthermore, after finishing the dress, I realised that I sewed the back backwards. The pictures do not depict this very well but when the dress is at rest the lower blobs protrude outwards when they are supposed to sit behind the fullness of the skirt. The good thing is that this is just a draft so hopefully I don’t get distracted and repeat the same mistake in the actual dress. Other than that, I should be good to go on the actual fabric (after I draw a few facings, and maybe the lining but I can do that after I get the main part done J .)

Edit: Actually after re-examining the pattern pieces, the back was not backwards, it was just my not so perfect sewing that made it appear backwards...I guess I will have to continue working on my sewing skills.

Tany J

As You See the Light Surrounding Me

As you can see, I went a bit crazy in my experimentation with long exposure photography. For these shots, I used a large torch to help me focus (I did not use one last time and had to painstakingly adjust the focus manually until I got it right) then jumped around with a smartphone to create the coloured wavy patterns.

In addition, I also took some pictures of the moon but they were a bit mediocre – NASA has better images – so I decided to leave them out.

My photography skills are still in its beginner stages but it has been fun playing around with the different settings and temporarily shifting from acrylic to light as my medium. As such, you will likely see more of my attempts at photography later in time so be prepared. :D

Tany J

Starry Starry Night

I got a new tripod! The last one I had was not very good and I have not seen it in 6 years. So I decided to test it by taking it out (just outside my house since I couldn’t be bothered going further into the cold) and attempting to take some nice long exposure photographs. Even though this is Australia, I still lost quite a lot of my body heat to the cold air outside but it was worth it.

Tany J

Oh So Curvy - Drafting a New Dress

This is the dress that I am going to work on for the next week or so before I begin uni again (hopefully it won’t take too long). The dress is based on “a pinafore with kakurenbo design” in Tomoko Nakamichi’s book, Pattern Magic, but with added sleeves and a continuation of the curvy feature at the back. I will use a basic bodice pattern which I made some time ago as the starting point and a nice wool and cashmere blend for the dress fabric J

Additionally, in the meantime I will be working on the cherry blossom painting.

Tany J