Preparing to Design – Part 2

The second of three blog posts about Design. (Link to Part 1 - or scroll down).

In this blog post I want to give you ideas of what to collect in readiness for the design process and
help you decide what you might want to bring if you'd like to join us in 2015 for the Design for the Terrified course.

The list is by no means a definitive one, it will give you ideas and hopefully will
get you thinking about other things you can add to your own collection:

• I collect a range of papers for drawing on, they don't have to be expensive, but different paper gives different effects to your art material; wallpaper lining paper, cartridge paper, sketchbooks, watercolour paper, layout paper, tracing paper, brown parcel paper, cheap sugar paper in a range of colours from discount book shops, smooth, rough, textured wallpapers; A4, A3. Think “blank sheet”!
• My art materials give colour or can be monotone, cheap or expensive; coloured pencils, acrylics, watercolour pencils, watercolour paints, soft pastels, oil pastels, felt tip pens, inks, drawing pencils, charcoal, school paint, biro. Borrow from an “arty” friend to try a new medium. Think what could give colour to paper?
• How do I put marks onto paper? Fingers; art brushes, small or medium decorators paint brushes; sponges, synthetic or natural; potatoes, carrots, etc.; rubbers to remove pencil or charcoal from the paper to give negative spaces; sticks, cocktail, bamboo, twigs, dowel to apply medium or to scratch marks into larger areas of colour. Be open to new ways to apply or remove marks.
• I love to collect miscellaneous papers; sweet wrappers, foil, cellophane; magazines, colour supplements; wrapping paper, hand made papers, tissue paper; cards, birthday cards, christmas cards, post cards; newspapers, comics; wallpaper, glossy, matt, textured. Think colour and texture here and get your family and friends to collect and donate to your collection.
• All the other things! Glue, flour paste, sellotape, double sided tape; scissors, cutting knives and mats; rulers, straight edges; jam jars, plastic bottles; artist palettes, saucers, plates; yarn, fabric, tapes, bandages, ribbon, rubber bands, string; sand, soil, peat, stones, pebbles, shells.

Think outside the box, as they say. Collect things that give you inspiration in themselves or provide texture, colour, shape and form and remember what you bring should be in relation to your chosen inspiration.

This seems a huge list of things, but I keep them in two crates, papers in one, everything else in the other, plus a bag of miscellaneous bits and pieces!