update

I' m feeling guilty for not doing more on the costume side - I spent most of the Spring working on the full sized costumes for the York Mystery Plays and apart from this have had very little time to do anything other than my textile-arty-stuff.  One day .......

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The wedding photo

There are going to be  2 blogs this week. This one is  about completing a commissioned drawing for Janette -famous as  She who Loans Rotary Cutter.  This is the nice one. (The next is about this week's sewing adventure - provisionally titled 'when sewing turned nasty').




Janette asked me to do a pencil drawing of her parents on their wedding day, something a little more personal than a photograph.  She had seen some of the Regency fashion plate drawings I do and asked for something along those lines. (See website-https://sites.google.com/site/franbrammer/galleries/costume-illustration )

 Several photos were emailed; lovely classic church door poses showing off the smiles, bouquet and beautiful dress;  but early trials were not the best - they are squinting into the sun and nearly all detail on the face and dress is lost.

Working from photos of photos can be risky - these were all slightly slanted so the proportions of the figures changed in each - don't believe what a difference this can make? - Try it. Place a photo flat on a table and photograph it from extreme angles - in some you will have a chin to rival Jimmy Hill's and a little pointy head - in others you look more like Benny Hill crossed with a mad science experiment. Fun in the right place but irritating when trying to gauge someone's height and the shape of their face.

J had a less formal photo that we decided would give the best results - especially as I could work first hand from it. We agreed priorities, expectations, size, and no excuses later, work began.

Initial sketch and  beginning to block in the tone. With such strong sunlight very few details such as eye shape are evident,  so the capturing of the individual was down to overall shape and the positioning and depth of the patches of shadow. On Mr J the shadows are too harsh, the smile is too square- making it look forced, and the neck too straight. Mrs J's face is  slanted. leaning forward which is distorting the head shape.





Corrections to Mrs J - thinning and reshaping the far cheek bone, more depth to the hair to the left. Mr J now looks uncertain about the smile so more to tweak there, but the softer shading works well.










More adjustments made - Mr J's neck as a curve running up behind the ear and into the skull shape, he looks more poised and relaxed, The extra shading in the hair is defining him more clearly as well. Decisions still  have to be made about  the background and  how to finish the figures. Janette was clear about wanting the focus to be on the faces and bouquet so I proposed just letting the drawing fade away from these areas. I liked the way her hand tucks over his forearm so included this but without a huge amount of detail.






This was the sketching phase done, all of the bones of the drawing are in place, it was time to flesh them out in more detail and depth. Pencils were sharpened and battle commenced. The changes are probably most evident on his hair and the bouquet, the shapes are crisper, the surfaces have a character, everything is in sharper focus.

And the finished piece - added in the veil and some of the dress pleats very lightly as suggestions to balance the composition. The faces and clothing have been cleaned and tidied up with out letting it get too polished. I always start scruffy and quick as I think my way into a piece and gradually tighten it up as it develops. At times this requires an act of faith but it usually works out. In this the key areas are controlled and sharp but the pencil marks retain their sketchiness in the outer reaches, a bit like a soft focus effect.
  The additional  colour is watercolour washes in the gentlest shell/rosy pink. On the morning this needed to be done a pink rose opened in the garden, so armed with secateurs I waded into the jungle undergrowth to nick a petal to colour match.( If you don't know my garden then this was an act of extreme bravery - I like very growy things that just get on with it by themselves and still try to believe that if you can't see the soil then there will be nowhere for the weeds to grow)

And the client?  Janette picked this up during the week and seems very pleased with it. She had seen it in a couple of stages so it wasn't too much of a surprise. She was still speaking to me on Saturday and planning on getting this framed so I guess she was happy!

Happiness is a contented client and an outcome that even this artist is pretty pleased with. Add onto that the sun is shining and I've just remembered that there is one Magnum left in the freezer ( not for long) and it makes up into a proper Sunday.

A little sewing, alot of pastels.

So this is not the post I was hoping for - that was even drafted and photos done.... and then.... distraction struck with a vengeance. Here are some tasters/teases for the real blog, construction, more smocking, fashion plate......

 but this is the one you are getting.
Let me explain - Started the new idea on Friday, tried a new way of drafting the pattern - worked well. Using up some fabric stash- brilliant. Went together sweetly, even embellished according to plan. Suspicious? So was I. Only things left to do are finishing the lining, applying the fake waistband (cut, pressed and ready) and fastenings ( set out and waiting). This was obviously too much to cope with. It felt like being a real costumer - even had a cat invade and sleep on the spare fabric. So of course got distracted, by a nose.
 It was too long, like a beak,  it was looking at me, and had been looking at me for most of the week. While the kettle boiled it could be sorted - that was breakfast - it is now lunch. Sorted that nose, done another and sorted that too.
So I'm always doing painting and drawing along side the sewing but this was a pastel work. For anyone who hasn't used chalk/soft pastels they are a rare species of demonic life form. Never get the exact colour, or marks in the right place, and  they conspire and giggle in the box just waiting their chance. Not too bad, until you realise the amount of coloured dust they spread happily over everything, the cutting/work table, the floor, me. It isn't just any old dust, this is friendly dust, wanting to get really close and stay with you for life.  Not the place for a plain white anything. I am actually going to have to WASH UP to get it  off my fingers. This is traumatic.
The new garment is on hold until the table is wiped down and dried, everywhere hoovered  and clean.

What I will share with you is the cause of all the trouble-  a study by Adolph van Menzel.

von Menzel

Watteau

 It has the same informal charm as the Watteau studies and is an unusual, beautifully lit  pose. I can't decide if she is being coy or looking for goldfish.
After a couple of pencil tries out came the evil pastels and battle commenced. They are actually quite fun to work with  and working on a coloured ground was a change - the colours are bolder, the paler tones are more vibrant, but they mix in unexpected ways, sometimes clear layers, sometimes muddy, chalky and opaque.

initial working

Having got this to a reasonable place it was pinned to wall (gently shedding dust) for a few days so that I could evaluate it and plan the next stages. It really was the nose, and elbow, and claw hand, and skirt detail.
It was going to be a quick amendment, no fuss, no mess, no trauma. It was. And then the 'should I do a background to balance the composition?' decision. And then came the 'while the pastels are out....' moment.

The Yellow Dress.

  The dress is the yellow gingham made and posted about last week. I haven't tried to  be pedantic about the gingham pattern, focussing more on the shapes and fall of the skirt. This is a very different outcome to the 1824 fashion plate pose done to previously. I  like the idea of presenting my Regency creations in as Regency a way as I can but I do like the  substance of this- is does make the fashion plate look over precious (but in an entirely charming way. Of course).





The second image is  based on the Scarf/shawl dress from the week before and is the development from the "Regency Wedgie" pose as discussed on facebook and pinterest. It was too good a thing to pass up so I had added a quick sketch to the mix and this grew out of that.. After so many still poses this was meant to be dancing ( just about turned into the 1960s/70s flamenco pose) and she is holding her  over dress rather than adjusting the underwear!

shawl dress with initial illustrations

 

They have turned out better than I expected, the shawl dress needs more attention, but pastels allow for a combination of approaches - the directness of pencil mark making and line, and then the more painterly handling of surface and colour. They have made me work larger, more quickly and to be bold in the use of  the limited choice of colours that I had, forcing me to be more experimental with  mixing and contrasts. The coloured paper puts more emphasis on working with light,  which I have probably enjoyed just a little too much. The water colours are still the choice medium, there is so much still to develop there. ( They look better in the flesh - more subtle, and softer) but these have been fun! And messy! And now to clean up....... or should I have a go at the dancer first...to save cleaning up twice...... how about the far shoulder of the yellow dress- should be puffier.....
It will be tea time soon.

watercolour inches and apologies

sorry folks - again no sewing to share this week -
the trouble with making Christmas presents is the time  it all takes - oh, I'll just add this or that little detail, 'just' adds an hour or two each time. Or three. And I can't share the trials, tribulations and triumphs here because I want the pressies to be as much of a surprise as possible!  Definitely not winning this week.

I am stacking up a couple of sewing tasks to do  over the holiday while the rest of the family is snoozing or on mobiles or watching Dr Who, so should have some work done to show soon. Item one  already cut out and ready to sew is a petticoat to go with the 18th Century pet en l'air and caraco. They look MOST odd with the skirts flaring out over the bum rolls on Gwen or even odder when sadly drooping without them (see the caraco post). The  skirt I photographed the pet with was a confection of pins and recreational violence (apologies to Gwen )  so it is time to make one properly. It won't be fancy - not quilted or flounced,  just knife pleats at the waist and fastened with the tapes used to finish the top edge.



I've even taken a bit of a break from the portraits. Shock, horror! Been totally immersed in doing inches - literally. These are tiny paintings measuring about an inch square. It began with wanting to practice different fabric surfaces and sewing details but is threatening to expand drastically, The fabric details are so good to do, lots of texture, delicate tone and colours, and the different shines and patterns are a great challenge. The watercolours are difficult at this scale - I want to let them run and enjoy themselves but it becomes a soggy blob too quickly, so restraint and precision (within reason) is required. Oddly the worst trap is trying to be too precise -  the most controlled ones I don't like at all - they are too hard edged and photographic. The painting techniques are shifting all the time as well, some inches are built up with layer on layer of transparent colour while others are more like gouache, opaque mixed colours, and others are just bullied until they give in and begin to look something like.  Having worked through one scrap fabric bag do I start on the next? should I do inches to chart the journey up the stairs to fetch it? I'm already starting on a journey across the work table- tape measure, binding offcuts, pencil sharpenings, paint box, papers, lunch......  the trouble with this is that nothing stays still long enough.......

Gwen's indecent muslin part 1

It is ages since the last post! So lots to catch up on.

Experiments were done, the Marie sleeve shown on the Gloucester wedding dress was rather fiddly but effective, why the sleeve top is done in two sections I can't see, having two raw edges gathered onto a narrow band did get a bit much, but perhaps the scale just made things worse! I wanted something easy to calculate so just measured off the pattern in centimetres and drew out inches, perhaps more pain at this stage would mean less pain later. The sleeve head is huge against the bodice, there is no stiffener in mine but still stands out quite rigidly, but the real thing can't have been easy to wear, but then contemporary wedding dresses tend to be exaggerations, so was this the same?

I sent a speculative email to Gloucester museum service and had such an open, enthusiastic response – I can go down to work from the original garment! Just short of 400 mile round trip to see a dress, why am I so excited by the thought! Hope to arrange to visit by the end of the month!

The main reason for the delay in posting was another good idea. I don't really like Gwendoline's party frock so have begun another, an ambitious project – a low cut crossover bodice of muslin mounted onto a lining with a round skirt. I wanted something a little more sexy and fitted like the Lawrence portrait shows to see if this will show of Gwen's shape better. Of course it couldn't be done simply so I wanted the lining to hold the form and the top layer to be gathered on the front to give a more romantic wispy effect. The bulk of the bodice is done and the skirt is tacked in place, gathered at the back with some gathering at the front under the bust darts.

This does help the skirt to hang well in the round but looks boxy at the waist line so it will be untacked and eased around the front.   It will definitely need an underskirt, even this quite coarse muslin is indecent. This didn't take long to do, so confession time. I had a go at some embroidery on the hem – giving a bit of visual weight, following ideas from the 1805 muslin dress and stealing elements from the designs published in the period journals. My design is a simple Greek lyre shape, full motif at the front and halves repeated along the hem and onto the back seam. This took for ever, please note – embroidery on flimsy muslin is a pain of the highest order, lines along the grain are simple but curves and satin stitch! It will look fine but the tension changes as soon as the fabric is realigned in a hoop or just handled. Out came the modern threads and I have redone it all in fine silk. It does look better than I thought now the skirt is on but this was nearly sob into the cornflakes status. How they did this on delicate muslin and so densely as on the dress to the right I dread to think.

The sleeves I want to be extravagant – probably based on the Marie experiment rather than the tight ones with high sleeve caps as above. They should be dramatic, to frame the bodice.  In the painting I've gone for puffy, almost bouffant sleeves but need to work from life to get it right, so I guess I'm committed.

 

  I've just thought that the sleeves should go on before the skirt! Aaaaagh! Am I really doing this for fun?

And just for more fun I've found some generous and trusting people who will let me work from their photos of costumes being worn! But I want to complete this dress and images for next week's update
 and start my drawing classes, and crochet hearts, stars and snowflakes and..... and....
How was there ever time to work?

 

pink and dotty distractions... but lots of excuses.

My life is definitely not my own at the moment.

Scrabbling around, trying to keep up with work demands, weeds and hedge growing at triffid speed, making things for the yarn bombing, painting. Hamsters in wheels have it so easy.

Not upto date yet with anything!!

Pink and dotty pelisse has the lining cut and partially assembled though the collar is being stubborn. I tried with the main fabric top and bottom and it just would not sit right, now trying with a lining underneath to reduce the bulk. Still not quite right – will try it on the cross and look at the centre back lie, maybe make a slight angle in the centre back fold rather than have it perpendicular. Good job it's small!

 

This is with collar 4 pinned on, it is sitting better but imagine the 4mm seam allowance at the neck and the points pressed out properly. Have a matching thin satin ribbon to edge it with- another decision to waver at. The back point almost looks too long... ummm

Found a light weight lining in the stash – described as “synthetic silk : vile berry.” So now officially I'm making a miniature 1823 pelisse to scale in inbetweeny-pinky-browny-slightly-purpley-maybe-with-a- hint-of-grey-kind-of-dusky-pink and dotty, with vile berry lining and tinkerbell pointy bits.

Inspite of this I still really like it. Can't believe I did the couching work – I think it looks so much better than the rouleau work on the purple spencer. - wearing the glasses is an excellent idea!

Apart from these minor advances I learnt how to crochet (more) properly on Tuesday- thank you Youtube! We needed squares for the yarnbombing in July – knitting was just knotting my hands up so crochet was advised. I've dabbled over the years but this time sat down with different tutorials running on the computers and now it's making sense. 8 granny squares later I now have 2 large flowers and a half starved snake ready to go.

The craft group has been blogged about on http://hippystitch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/craft-group-at-explore-acomb-york.html.......

We are getting quite excited about this now – still making lots of squares and plans. What's the betting that it will rain? - there is a very nice cafe in the park so all won't be lost.

 

And nearly forgot - it seems so long ago - on Monday had a guest tutor Rachel McNaughton at the watercolour group -  very effective techniques and pretty straightforward. Seems daft - the painting was about an hour of effort, each granny square about the same, the pelisse -lots. No wonder full time work seems to get in the way !