Week 1 Inspiration & Research

I began with the idea that maybe I would design textiles, so I started gathering examples of textile designs that I liked.  I am most interested in more historical patterns but would like to add a personal and modern touch to these elements in my designs.  Here are a few examples of designs I looked most closely at while starting my floral elements drawing sheet:

As a reference for tartans, here are some I DO like versus some I DON'T like.  To many people who have not had much exposure to a wide range of tartans and plaids, a lot of them start to look the same or there seem to be little grounds on which to choose a favourite tartan.  I'll start with some I don't like:

(For the record, when a tartan name has the word "Dress" in it, it usually indicates that the tartan has a white base.  I tend to gravitate toward these mostly because of my history as a dancer, but also because of the contrast between light and dark.)

MacFie (Sorry, MacFie's out there)

 

Dress Salvation Army (even though, guys, this looks more like a hunting tartan?):

Eusa French Regional Tartan designed by Serge Cariou (Sorry, Mr. Cariou, it just isn't my style):

 

For comparison, here are some I DO like.  First, I'll tell you why.  Some tartans are very colourful, use a check with a pretty consistent thread count (which means the 'stripes' don't vary much in width), and order the colours in a low contrast way.  I'm not saying all tartans with these qualities are unappealing to me, but for the most part, I prefer tartans with more harmonious colour schemes with a wider range of thread counts per colour.  I especially enjoy tartans that achieve the illusion of a lot of depth by arranging colours in a way that provides contrast.  Usually this means that the outer colour of the check is dark, and the inner colour of the check is light, usually white.  Tartans with the most depth tend to have more complex setts (more individual lines of colour) made up of colours that are similar.  For example, using a dark green for the outer colour of the check and a slightly lighter green next to it produces the illusion of a shadow rather than a flat and distinguishable strip.  Some examples are:

Dress Purple Stewart (a variation on one of the most famous tartans, the red and gold Royal Stewart.  Even you non-tartan people have probably seen that one before):

Dress Green Drummond of Perth (this one actually fits the reverse of what I described, with the darker colour in the middle of the check, but it still has the same illusion of depth):

 

 Dress Earl of St. Andrews (again, this one is the reverse, with the depth in the middle of the check):

And just to show I'm not THAT biased, here's one that's NOT a dress tartan.  Pride of Scotland: