Major doodle

Continuing the minnows and mussels design from the previous post, I created a half-drop repeat from my favorite variation (item C). This means the 2 units on the right side are offset on the vertical dimension by 50%. I doodled with my black marker to define the positive and negative parts of the basic unit. Next, to see how the shapes play out on a larger field before fixing the details, I arranged a series of 4-unit half-drop repeat blocks in a new image. At scale, the pattern below would cover a piece of fabric 24″ wide by 36″ long, requiring me to paste (print) my stencil 6 times. The black areas will become the colors I choose. The white areas represent the ground of the fabric — they will be protected by the rice paste resist during the dyeing process.

The shapes, lights and darks have a pleasing flow, so I’ll continue to refine this design. The vertical and horizontal lines that are so apparent now will disappear when I fix the areas where the forms are cut off by edges.

Minnows and mussels … alive, alive-O

Several moons ago I began to re-design my minnow stencil. I got back to the task last week with a lot of wheel spinning and not much progress. Over the weekend I perused some of my favorite design books (especially Principles of Pattern Design by Richard M. Proctor.)  I want the final stencil to be 12×16″, which will make it useful as a 4-way repeat for the widths of fabric I plan to use. Within that, I want the individual repeated units to be 6×8″, so that the final stencil will encompass 4 of these units. Playing with minnows, mussels and water swirls, here’s a sketch of the basic unit.

I scanned this into my computer and played with variations using Photoshop. Here are some results. C and D appeal to me most. I’ll be working with these as drop-repeats in the next post.