Evaluation
I decided to work on this project which combined the skills
of costume design and making and mask making because I had enjoyed the costume
making I had done in my last project and wanted to develop the skills I had
learned there and develop them still further, but I also wanted to have another
go at sculpting and casting a mask as this is where my real skill lies I
believe.
I decided I wanted to base my work on a character from
mythology or legend, it took me a while though to come up with a firm idea and
then to develop my ideas into a final design. This time spent researching and
designing has probably led to my feeling that I haven't quite achieved all I
hoped. However I think I followed a good creative design process, coming up
with ideas, researching to make them authentic, developing my own original
ideas based on these designs and refining them further to reach a finished
design.
There were a lot of elements to this project I tried to
organise my time to have several elements of the project running alongside each
other so that I made best use of my time and the spaces available in the
workshops. On the whole I feel I managed this fairly well although my lack of
confidence still means that I do not push forward to get the space I need and
the resources I need to use all the time.
in terms of the costume elements of the project I have mixed
feeling about the process and more particularly the finished costume. I think I
built well on the skills I had learned with my coat in the last project in
terms of pattern drafting. I managed to use books to inform me of style
features and then drafted my own patterns with minimal support. I feel much
more confident using the dot and cross paper and the pattern master, I
understand it much better now. My tester garments helped me to see that the
pattern pieces would make successful garments of the right size and gave me
practice of aspects of the sewing which prepared me for the final pieces. The
shirt was a simple pattern and apart from some sizing issues with the collar
that I overcame I feel that this has been successful. I like that is
historically accurate in terms of being a garment that would be worn all the
time during the day and at night so it is oversized and long
The waistcoat with a less simple design especially around
the collar was more of a challenge but i am happy with the finished garment.
The fabric works well with it's almost flame like design and although I now
realise having looked at a modern pattern that there is a technique for sewing
the lining in a waistcoat that I didn't know I am pleased with the finish.
The tail coat was an ambitious garment to attempt. The
pattern had many elements. I ordered samples of fabric and decided on a mid
weight charcoal grey as I wanted to avoid black but keep with the sinister
character of Spring- Heeled Jack. When the fabric came and I started to work
with it I realised that I would have been better with a slightly more heavy
weight fabric, however this was hard to tell from the sample. I feel a heavier
fabric might have hung better.
I came across some significant challenges while making the
tail coat but I tried to think them through and come up with solutions. I find
this stressful but I have managed to overcome difficulties and reach a fairly
successful outcome.
When it came to the details of the buttons I was keen to
have something which did not look too modern. I decided to cover buttons with
simple black fabric using another skill I had not tried before.
The trousers were made using a modern pattern for speed and
are really just to finish off the costume for the display. I used to modern
pattern to get the crutch pieces the right shape and made a simple version of
the pantaloon style trouser which was popular at the time.
For my mask I wanted to revisit a technique I had used
before but apply it to resin casting rather than fibre glass gel coat. This is
a process that takes a long time to achieve the end result and you can't really
rush it. I used chavant to make my sculpt. This takes a long time as the
chavant is hard to work at first and takes time to build up a base layer. I
however really enjoy this hand working process and like to see the features and
details take shape gradually. I was very pleased with my sculpt, the finish was
smooth and slick. Building up of the silicon is again time consuming as each
layer needs to dry before another can be added. I tried really hard to do other
tasks while waiting for the drying to occur
I decided to use mod
roc to create the jacket as this is quicker that plaster and this was very
successful and the 3 parts fitted together well and held the silicon firmly
.Casting with resin was something I had only experienced once before and not on
a large scale. It took me a while to get the hang of mixing the right amount to
coat the mask in the time before the resin became lumpy. I also was unsure how
thick the resin would need to be. when it came to the time to remove the jacket
and silicon I was anxious about what I would find, however I was really pleased
with how the mask turned out, all the details from the original cast were
present there were no blemishes. I used paint techniques to give the finished
mask a metallic look which I think I have successfully achieved.
So my original intention was to further develop my costume
skills and to showcase something I really enjoy which is sculpting and casting.
How have I done. There is no doubt that the costume has been a challenge and I
am slightly disappointed with the finish, it is not as perfect as I would have
liked, I do feel pleased that I managed to create a whole outfit and the mask
has gone some way to lessening my disappointment. I have learned from this
project that it is much easier to do things that you already feel confident at
but I have also attempted lots of new things without help and have managed
largely to succeed at them. I think I could now tackle waistcoats with relative
ease and would happily make many more resin masks using my silicon mould.
Working on a whole project on your own with very different elements needing
very different skills sets is a big challenge, I think I have overcome the
challenge and definitely learned a lot from doing it. Would specialising in one
small element be better, it would be easier and possibly the end result would
be more perfect but as a learning opportunity this project has been demanding
and rewarding.
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