The final cut

I thought I would try combining elements of my two favourite prints and see if I can create some sort of final pattern!

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I began by creating a duplicate layer of the top repeat and then started fiddling with the thresholds on one layer until I found a suitable level of contrast.

With the full colour layer on top I then I began using the magic tool to cut out areas of colour to reveal sections of the threshold layer.

I continued to play around with revealing different sections until I was happy with the definition and depth of the print design.

I like the intricacy and detail of the design at this point although I felt that the colours were a bit harsh now with the black and the white showing through. To fix this I went through and recoloured selected colours which were a bit too stark and using the eye dropper tool match colours and tones until they all complemented each other nicely.

With a few last tweaks...

Finally my textile fabric design is complete!

I am pleasantly surprised with how my final print has turned out. Although it is not what I imagined I was going to create when given this assignment task I feel like this design has combined all the positive elements from of my experimentation and practice patterns. 

I am a little bit proud of myself for developing such a detailed end product and learning so many new skills and I am amazed by how much I have learnt through the process of completing this assignment. 

I am excited to see my prints applied to my fashion illustrations later on this semester.

complete image flips

I had done quite a few little experiments and made a few repeats by now but I wasn't convinced any of them were the one so I thought I need to take a completely new approach to my textile print design.So I decided to take another look at the photographs I took of the Bird of Paradise... Whilst flicking through the photos it struck me that some of the close ups were really quite beautiful just as they were so I thought I could utilise the quality of the photographs and create some design repeats using the entire images... 

I took this photo

Flipped it

 and again

created a stripe repeat flipped on the axis

 and put it into repeat.
This is my first attempt at turning it into a repeat and if you look closely there is a fairly obvious track line so I tried again

and succeeded!

This is my favourite print/experiment so far. Despite being a fairly simple repeat I love the shapes and spaces created by the beautiful silhouettes of the Bird of Paradise. I think once developed a bit further these shapes are striking enough to create a really interesting print design. The design when repeated becomes eye catching and almost hypnotising, drawing the viewer in. 

I also like the fact that despite the abstract nature of the design (it is not obviously a Bird of Paradise flower) the colours have remained true to the original flower and I do not feel that they need altering at all.  

Because my fist outcome using this technique on a closeup photograph of the fresh orange/purple of the Bird of Paradise was so successful I thought it could be interesting to try it out with one of the older more wilted flowers...

I used exactly the same techniques and this is what it created! 

I think this print i really interesting too. The same techniques have created a completely different outcome this. I like that it is less busy but still has quite intricate detailing with the leaves, although I think the large plain areas of grey detract from the overall print.

zooming in

Vogue Australia, May, 2008

This print design was one of my initial inspirations and I really liked the subtle colour transition used for the background so I decided to change tact in creating my background designs and try cropping and zooming in on different areas of my photos to try create natural colour gradients...

 I cropped this photo down to a section on the main petal where there is a colour transition from orange to purple to red.

 I then enlarged this section and flipped it on the vertical axis.(I realised afterwards that this selection actually featured an ant sitting there which I loved as it added to the natural authenticity of the print.)

I really like the natural transition of colours created in this image and think it has great possibility to be turned into something more...

I then repeated these effects [crop, enlarge, flip] on another section of the flowers petals to create this darker colour transition. I think this background has more depth and I could really envisage an interesting detailed design on top so I started pieces together some of my original flower motifs...

These are are the 3 flower motifs I started designing with

I started by adding a sketch filter to the images, and then began duplicating, rotating and resizing each flower creating a montage of sorts...

 

 This was then overlayed onto my gradient background

 I then attempted to put the simple montage into a toss repeat. 
I rotated the canvas as I thought vertical lines would be more slimming for a textile garment...

I was quite pleased with this outcome but again I did not love it, I feel it lacks interest and is a bit too boring I decided I wouldnt want to wear a garment made using this print

I thought I may as well see what the toss montage would look like on my original colour gradient and played around with different rotations, mirrors and filters...

 I think number 1 is my favourite and could possibly be further developed into my final design!

background layerin

I thought I would trying to combine and build up my individual motifs and repeats to see if I could get some interesting background possibilities... 

I overlayed my busy 6-point star half drop with my fist symmetrical motif but combining the designs in colour was too much and just looked gross. so before abandoning mission I  playing a bit with adjustments, filters and then thresholds which did two things;

1. had some potential to eventually turn into an interesting background

2. showed how unaligned the two layers were and made me realise I needed to re-do them using guides and rulers...

This time I aligned them and this definitely improved the overall aesthetics of the print.

This time I changed the levels, darkening the the whole design which I think improved it further although it still was not really working for me

This next one was another attempt at trying to create some sort of background print. I put my original flower motif I really liked into a smaller repeat. 

I then made multiple repeats and layered them on top of each other, plaing with the opacity and fill until all repeats were visible. 

I'm not sure if it is just the nature of layering tiny detailed repeats but I don't really think this resulted in a cohesive pattern and it is a little tiring to look at.

attempt 3

I thought it was time to try some different techniques and push myself a little further into the abyss of photoshop...

I chose this image because I thought the silhouette was quite striking and could create some interesting patterns

 I added a cut out filter over the image to help define the the silhouette ease of cutting out

Using the magnetic lasso tool I carefully cut the flower out 

 I cropped and flipped the bird of paradise image 4 times reflecting the image over the axis

I then cropped an interesting section of the above motif and cropped it into a circle because I didn't think the flower petals crossing over was really working and my friend so kindly pointed out the centre section look like female genitalia. :s

 I defined my circles as a pattern and put it into repeat

I then overlayed a duplicate layer and added a sketch filter. Making both layers visible (with the coloured layer on top) and using the magic tool, I selected colours and removed sections allowing the sketch to show through.

Finished product! I think it looks great and I can really imagine it applied to fabric for textile garments. I think that it is still a little simple to be my final print and also it does not really resonate with me as being inspired by a bird of paradise. 

triangles and halfdrops

I thought I'd play around with this photo a bit more, and try be more creative trying out some different types of symmetrical motifs...

This time I decided to try and create a shape out of my flower motif and I thought triangles are quite contemporary and seem to be appearing often in textiles prints at the moment. 

I found using the rulers and guides (with snap turned on) really helpful in creating a perfect triangle.

I love this design! I fiddled with adjustments a bit to make the colours a little more vibrant and I think it is excellent. The design is still highly identifiably as a bird of paradise flower although the centre triangle gives the motif a really modern edge. 

Because I loved the above design so much I thought it would look amazing in repeat... little did I know.

Maybe because I did such a simple repeat and added such an ugly filter (mosaic) I think the beauty of the original motif is lost and it turns into a really boring, uniformed print.

 hmmmm, what to do now?

I duplicated the original layers then played with the layers and filters to create deeper colours. While I was duplicating the layers I thought I would see what it would look like if I then rotated one of the layers.. due to the perfect symmetry of the original centre triangle the rotation created a really sharp 6-point star and added volume to leaves in the design. 

After carefully following numerous tutorials I finally managed to create a half drop!!!! 

Although I am stoked I managed to create a successful half drop I'm not too sure about the 6-point star centre that's going on. At first when it was just a singular motif I thought it looked kind of cool although after seeing it in repeat  and from a distance (as a garment it will not always be viewed from up close) I think it looses the simple clarity of lines and the becomes average looking.

I think overall the intricate detail in the original flower motif is lost when repeated en mass and it all becomes too busy and almost tiring to look at.

Reflection

I think I have decided that I really don't like plain repeats and that I would like my final textile design to have more to it, such as an interesting background or maybe I could create some sort of intricate design out of each of the flower motifs I have created...