Inspiration From 'The Deep' Submarium in Hull

I took a trip out to Hull this week to get some primary research and photos for my 'Coral and Fish' collection, one of the three collections within my final brief based on Tropical Scenes at University.
The Deep Submarium was a brilliant place to gather my research, especially their jellyfish collection, as they had quite a few specialised tanks for the different breeds. It was busy there though, so I'd go in term time as to avoid the crowds!

I was especially drawn in by the coral tanks they have there, as they have such a wide variety of plants, each with their own unique look.

This trip was so inspiring for my drawing work,and I'm very pleased with my new camera, as it captures the depth and colour of the corals more.

My trip to the 'Street Life Museum' in Hull

I found the Street Life Museum out of pure chance whilst I was on a trip to Hull looking at research for my 'Coral and Fish' collection. 
The Street Life Museum has a good collection of railway memorabilia, which has inspired me in my design work, along with the National Railway Museum in York, just down the road.

The Street Life Museum has a really good collection of railway lanterns which I'm drawing at the moment, as the shapes of them are really striking and quirky. Here are some on the photos from my trip.

I love the shape of this lantern, and would looks good as a silhouette in my work, or cut-work, which would be really interesting.

Here's some of my design work I've done in the meantime before my study visits.

This Museum was a great find and I'm happy I took the trip out, I'd totally go again, maybe stopping off in Leeds as on the drive back i spotted a sign for 'Tropical World' which sounds right up my street!

My Trip to The National Railway Museum

I wanted to get some primary research for my 'Trains and Cranes' Interior collection. I found that there were lots of transport Museums in and around Manchester so I've been to a few of them over the last few days.

The Museums I am interested in are:

The National Railway Museum

Museum of Transport Greater Manchester

Heaton Park Tramway Manchester

The British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland
The Street Life Museum in Hull

I took a trip to the National Railway Museum in York on Tuesday which was a very long drive! But the trains that were there made up for the distance.

I got some great research whilst I was there, venturing into the railway archives, which were huge! And looking at 'The Works', where they were repairing the Flying Scotsman!!

Here are some of my photos:

It was very busy there because it was the school holidays, but I still managed to gain a good amount of research.

The Flying Scotsman with his face open!

The colours of the trains are bold and vibrant, unlike the public trains today. As I'm designing this collection towards a boys bedroom interior I want to use a limited colour pallet of 2 to 3 colours, but keep it light and airy on some, and more industrial and greyscale on others.

I love the trellis effect the train tracks create where the lines join on the rail lines. This has inspired me in my painting, I'll upload a photo of my painting developments soon!

Train Name Plaques

The Mallard

Whilst I was at the museum I purchased 2 really interesting books  published by Shire. They were: 

'Tri-and Toys- The story of Lines Brothers' by Kennesth D Brown

'British Railway Tickets' by Jan Dobrzynski

They had interesting illustrations and old designs for train tickets, which were really inspiring, especially with the typography. 

Anyone who is interested in transport,design, trains, and history must go and visit the National Railway Museum!

Developments of Paradise brief

My Developments so far

Since my last post, I have started to develop my work further in my sketch books, on Chinese paper, and on A3 sheets. At the moment I'm focusing on gaining more contextual research for all three collections, especially my 'Cranes and Trains'research.

I'll be taking a trip tomorrow to the National Rail Museum in York. Ive heared lots of great things about this Museum and im very excited to go! 

I have created an on-going moodboard for my studio space at the University of Bolton to keep me inspired and motivated. Here it is!

Today, I have been developing my sgraffito work, which turned out quite well, and i can now develop it further, using bird and fish silhouettes as the main shapes instead of the box shaped development above.
I'm really happy with the texture that the technique produces, and it's quicker than the previous ways i have done it in the past. Here are the early stages of my sgraffito development.

 

I'm really happy with this technique for sgrafftio but I think it's a bit faint with the white background, and you lose the texture and detail.I will try using different papers and background colours over the next few days to see if it creates a bolder design and I'll keep you posted.

Planning for my Final Designs- Ideas

Over the past few weeks i have been developing my drawn work for the final stages of my brief. I've been collecting my inspiration from Chester Zoo, Tatton park, Manchester Museum, Blue Planet Aquarium and other places around my area. This was great fun and very inspirational for my work. I have now split my brief into 3 collections for surface design.Here are a few of my ideas.

1. tropical birds and flowers - living rooms, accent walls

2.coral and fish - kitchen/bathroom, living spaces.

3.trains and cranes- bedrooms (maybe a boys interior collection)

My designs are going to be aimed for interior design, focusing on wallpapers and furnishing fabrics. I also would like to create a scarf collection to run along side my themes.

I also used some of my existing work to enter a competition at sofa.com. the brief was to design a contemporary upholstery fabric for a sofa design =)Here it is below.

Over the next few weeks I will be taking to trips to Martin Mere Blackpool Zoo,Sea life Blackpool, the National Rail Museum, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I'm hoping this will give me the research I need, but I'm in no doubt I will probably be heading out to a few more places before the month is through =)

Thanks For reading guys!!!