My darkness design

My design: Las Vegas city skyline
Outcomes: 1 white cushion, 1 black cushion
Print processes: Screen print and foil print.

I originally wanted to go with an Art Deco themed design but I was stumped for ideas and didn't feel it really defined the theme of darkness well enough.
Because I know I'm not very good at screen printing (or I don't enjoy it as much as other print processes) I decided to use it to create my cushion covers so I could improve.

My idea was a city skyline at night where the lights have all come on in the darkness.
This idea was inspired by Javier Mariscal's mural of a city skyline in a Toronto hotel, where there are predominately simple white lines against a black background with minimal detail.




My design developed from a simply line drawing to a fully detailed drawing of part of the Las Vegas strip. The strip includes a monument of the statue of Liberty and I incorporated this into my design but unfortunately is just makes it look like New York at night.
I decided to follow the Las Vegas idea because of its nickname 'Sin City' for all the dark doings that occur there, particularly at night, for example, prostitution and gambling. (Las Vegas)

I imported this into Adobe Illustrator and live traced it to neaten the edges and get a better result when printed onto acetate for my screen.
I wanted two cushions: a white one with this design in black to depict daytime and a black one with this design in multi-coloured foils depict the lights of Las Vegas at night!



Experimentation and testing

My first test print on calico material.
I was impressed and pleased because usually my screen prints are terrible and smudge or don't come out very well.
The ink I used was of perfect consistency and ran really smoothly across my screen.
This looks as if I had drawn straight onto the material with a felt-tip pen.

I did two other test prints on calico.




Test print on cartridge paper.
My screen was white mesh (if I remember correctly) so I don't think it's specifically for priting on paper. I decided to test it anyway to see the outcome and I noticed the ink hadn't come out properly on some of the design.
The image was blurred slightly as well.







Printing on a vest top.
I printed onto this purely to see the effect on a different material. This is 90% cotton and 10% viscose and it created a great outcome. The ink didn't bleed whatsoever, although I did accidentally get some at the top near the straps.
My friends wanted to buy this from me!
I may print a few more while I have the design on my screen.

























Printing onto the cushion
This is a test piece because the ink wasn't thin enough to run smoothly across the screen. Consequently there are parts of the design that aren't filled in, as you can see in the second picture. It's very pale as well.
I was so disappointed with this because this cushion costed me £7! I suppose I could have made one and saved money but I know I'm hopeless at making things by hand.

I cut out strips of foil and placed them randomly across the glue. This is to resemble the lights and the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.
I think I will leave the glue to dry for longer next time because the foil didn't stick very well in particular areas, such as the Statue of Liberty monument.
Also, I'm going to change the colours on my actual final piece because the green clashed with the other colours. I could use more combinations but the foils are pretty expensive!