Zoetrope

This is my first zoetrope. It's pretty crude but I just used things around the house, including a plant pot!

Pretty easy to do, I watched a tutorial of how to do it but it said I needed a coffee lid?!? didn't have that so I used the plant pot, it's circular so I hoped it would work.

And it does work!!

I tried to film it but it wasn't picking up the image. It's another one to physically have a go at.

The one problem with this is the handle (which is an argos pen) it wobbles around, I tried to make it more secure with blue tack but it's not completely wobble-free. 

Some experiments

All of these videos are filmed on my iPhone - a little wobbly as I was using my other hand to work the record player, spin the phenakistoscope and draw. However, I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the iPhone video (should be for the price I pay a month!)

The issue with this test was that although it is still a phenakistoscope when spun on the record player, it does not work in the same way as when spun and viewed in a mirror. The slots are useless here as they're for directing your view when looking from behind the phenakistoscope into a mirror.

I think if I try what these guy's tried (below) with the cut out triangle it would work much better as the eye is fixed on one section which will chance through the sequence. Although the video below is not of a zoopraxiscope, it's a phenakistoscope. A zoopraxiscope is an actual projection, much like a phenakistoscope and a magic lantern put together.

Ooooo, that may mean I've learnt something.

Also my record player doesn't go fast enough to give the illusion of motion. I'll try again with a triangle cover anyways.

This was done simply but putting a piece of paper with a hole in the middle (not too tight or it won't spin with the record) onto the record player. When the record player is spinning I moved coloured pens around - a bit like a spirograph (well that was my idea).

I'm not sure whether this would be considered animation. I just got a a bit experimental with the record player. Although it does look like the lines are moving up and down? It does give the slight illusion of movement - surely that's what animation is?

Phenakistoscope plain

phenakistoscope improvement

  

I made improvements to the handheld phenakistoscope. Firstly I made the hole in the middle bigger so that it spins more freely. Secondly, I made a sequence that is easier for the eye to focus on. I did this by colouring in the stills. I think this was the problem with the first phenakistoscope I made.

It's hard to see in the video (above) but it does work!! yippee! It is better if you try it out yourself in a mirror.

I've noticed that the faster you spin it, the bigger the slots need to be. Otherwise the eye isn't fast enough to see the image.

These stop-motions were all edited in iMovie. The one above went a bit wrong as the tripod wasn't tightened and started to move as I was taking shots. note to self - check tripod.



post-it notes are quick and simple to use for animation - cheap too. The camera seems to auto-focus, although here it is set to auto.



It's much better here on manual but still not great. Why does it do that???



I tried again on manual and now also with manual focus (after a little google troubleshooting). It still does it!!!

Zoetrope

Alice in Wonderland

I think the installation would look even better if the pieces were on a large scale (like in Alice in Wonderland). Just need to work out if I could fit it in the budget.

Also, considering the idea of getting dancers in the woods be live flowers. I have a friend at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance so I'm waiting on his reply. I'll speak to Jane when I see the site and have a chat about the prospect.

I went to the first year's installation performance at Northern School of Contemporary Dance on Wednesday - this is where my ideas have 'stemmed' (geddit?)

I Love West Leeds Festival

I had a chat with Jane Earnshaw, the director of I Love West Leeds Festival. Brilliant news - I'm going to be using my new found skills in knitting/crochet in a knitted trail for the festival. My piece will be in Bramley Woods and I'm going to see the site next week with Jane to get an idea of scale and positions of each piece. I thought I'd have a little look for pictures or a video to get an idea now (note below video) and it looks pretty nice!

I'm really excited about this project - I'm considering the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Maybe West Leeds in Wonderland? 'Ar' Alice in Wonderland? Alice in West Leeds Wonderland? Alice in West Leeds?



I have a budget of £150 which is brilliant. I went to have a look at the price of supplies today. I need bright colours! Found a few places with cheap and bright wool.

Wilkinsons - £1.70 for a large ball of double knit
Poundstretcher - £2.49 for 2 medium size balls of double knit
Amazon - £6.99 for 10 medium size balls of double knit (not all very bright)

Poundstretcher

Poundstretcher

Unsure of the quality and colours on Amazon. Gonna check out hobbycraft soon too.

Saw some unspun wool in Poundstretcher which could be good for felting flowers. Haven't done felting in a while but it's pretty easy.

Also, I've put an advert on Freecycle Leeds to get free wool if possible.

Practice makes perfect

Awesome wool!!

George crocheting

My little flower yarn bomb in the cafe

Trying to improve my technique

Cross stitch Alphabets

Remade Leeds - Banner Making Workshop

On 4th May I attended the banner workshop at Remade Leeds.

"We are running a really exciting campaign in April - 'ReMade's Water Month' which aims to highlight some of the issues around water and sustainability through a fun and hands on banner workshop. Participating groups will have the chance to find out a bit more about water, fill in our quick interactive online survey and then make their very own water inspired banner using craft techniques with our team of experienced designers."

I've been to Remade a few times and I love how there are so many aspects to the space. As well as it being a shop for remade clothing, there are pop-up shops, clothing alterations, skills workshops and creative space. I think this is what will make Remade Leeds last longer than most indie shops as it's multiple uses give it longevity.

I chose to do more knitting for my part of the banner but with some big 12mm needles and "t shirt wool" which is basically using an old t shirt and cutting it in a strip so that it can be knitted like yarn. Cutting the t shirt in a spiral means that the majority of the material is used without having to tie pieces together.

This was pretty easy and with such big needles I could knit a larger piece in less time. I was really happy with the results and also found a new way to use up old clothing and fabric. It would make a funky rug. I was going to have a go at "ragging" but I had a bit of a headache and so left early. I can remember doing ragging when I was younger on a school trip to Thwaite Mill. It's a quick way to make rosette brooches with a few nice buttons and a clasp.

All above photos by Lana Johnston via Active Arts.

I decided to go for a pollution scene. There were no real set rules for what we had to do and although the medium of crafty banners is very "nice" it was a good way for me to use craftivism to depict an important message of what's wrong in the world.

I used my knitted t shirt as a background; the sea. I then weaved through some sparkly netting for waves and the fish are made of felt and move when the piece is moved. The fish a re dead, I tried to show this by the cartoon 'x' for eyes. If I'd of had time I'd of put some text on there reflecting on water pollution.

I had a good time and would definitely go down to Remade Leeds again for similar workshops.

Estonia - Singing Revolution

Wrap 1

Wrap 2, front

Wrap 2, back

Geting ideas for giant cross stitch - pixels are not solely for digital mediums.

Light Night 2011

The deadline for Light Night 2011 proposals is today. I started to fill in my expression of interest form........

........then stopped.

Yarnbombing?

It just didn't seem right. Something so subversive shouldn't be listed in a catalogue.

That's not to say that we won't be yarnbombing on the night, it will just be not be listed.

I'm thinking of some more specific ideas, here comes the research!

Message to space?

"The knit and crochet squares were sewn together and placed on the Gemini-Titan missile in Rocket Park, appearing from a distance as if they were flames from the jets. Robyn was inviting passers-by to attach a “message to the universe” onto the squares which would metaphorically blast off and carry the messages into the beyond."


via Verena Knitting

Yarnbombing by My Fair Isle

Must do this! If even only for my own bike :)

Definitely spending my summer doing this!

SlutWalk

http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/

Slutwalk Toronto is a response to a careless and harmful comment by a police officer saying that "women wouldn't get raped if they didn't dress like sluts". This is obvious victim blaming.

Should we not be saying "Don't rape" rather than saying "Don't get raped"?

Regardless of what the victim is wearing, if they're drunk, if they walk home alone, is that an indication of them being partly to blame for being sexually assaulted? NO, it does not.

I decided I want to hold a SlutWalk in Leeds so I contacted the organisers of SlutWalk Toronto.

Email response from SlutWalk

When I came to set up the social networking I found there was already a facebook group for SlutWalk Leeds. Although the two girls that set it up had not got in contact with the founders like I had. So we're joining forces.

I have a feeling that this project will come up against a lot of negative comments, especially those who misunderstand the concept and reason for the event.

Dock Street Market

Angie and Donna of The Marvellous Tea Dance Company have asked me if I would like to run the Marvellous Afternoons at the Dock Street Market whist they are away at the festivals this summer. There may also be a birthday party that I'll run too.

I was shocked!

I've only worked with them 3 times!

It's paid and a lot of fun, so I think I'll accept their offer. Just need to check that it doesn't clash with anything else.

http://www.dockstreetmarket.com/

Craftivist Collective Train Bunting

My train bunting

More photos from the Craftivist Collective here.

Illustrator Skills

I would like to enter a few competitions, however I've had a though and I'm at a major disadvantage because I have never used Adobe Illustrator and it seems that the majority of illustrators use this software (the kind of illustrations I like anyways). 

So I'm teaching myself Illustrator. I have a graphics tablet (which I got not this Christmas but the year before and gave up trying to use as I have no patience), but I thought I'd start with the basics.

I thought I would  draw something by hand and scan it in to have a mess around with it. However, my scanner had other ideas so until I go back to college I'll be using images I found on the internet that aren't my own.

I really like the idea of having a design and being able to change it and make it different just by changing the colours. So that's what I've been doing here using 'Live trace".  

original

The first try used live trace but there were gaps in the solidness of the lines so I couldn't colour fill some letters (meaning I don't know how to draw in the gaps yet!). It seemed pretty simple and I only used live trace, colour fill bucket and the pipette options.

Very basic but it really does make a simple line drawing look so much more vibrant and professional. Plus, it took me literally 2 minutes to do. Time is a big thing to me, especially seeing as I will never be a full time illustrator and hopefully I'll be doing events management mainly. I think that illustration to me is more for fun and leisure as I don't want to ever be told what to draw.

first try

On the second try I decided to make the lines more solid by posterising the lines and making them fuller. I did this layer before going to live trace so that there would be no gaps as in the first try. This worked! I then simply filled in the colour, however this time I decided to see what the design would look like without the outline and coloured that in too in the same colour as the type. I guess the difference would depend on the colours used and the purpose of the design but it's only a mess around at the mo.

second try

So......

Now I can change the colours in a design. I now want to learn how to:

1. draw in illustrator with graphics tablet
2. work with vectors (not much idea about this, however I think it;s about scale and re-sizing without losing the image quality)
3. repeat pattern
4. learn what to do it what program i.e. illustrator to photoshop (I had to drag the Ai files into photoshop to make them into Jpegs just to put them on this blog, but maybe there are other things to do from an illustrator file in photoshop)

Press Release

Craftivists hold protest stitch-in at Leeds railway station.

At 2pm on Sunday 10th April, Leeds craftivists, will join a nationwide protest to demand a halt to rail fare increases. Currently the coalition Government plans to hike fares by 31% over the next 4 years.

Hundreds of craftivists (activists who protest using scissors, thread and fabric) will converge on railway stations across the UK for a protest picnic and stitch-in. They will be creating 4inch deep x 7inches wide fabric train coaches covered with statistics, facts, quotes and consumer views on our Government’s carbon-friendly transport policy.

The various panels will be collated into a petition-train which will be taken on a Fair Fare Railway Adventure on Saturday 16th April. It will be delivered to Philip Hammond MP (Minister for Transport) by direct action group: Climate Rush.

In Leeds railway station, Leeds craftivists group will hang bunting and lay picnic blankets. Awareness-raising leaflets will be given to customers along with jam sandwiches and cups of tea.

The previous day, Saturday 9th April will be spent making the bunting at the Papergirl Leeds exhibition space, Unit 2, Melbourne Street, Leeds.

Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport, said:

Whether we like it or not, the ability to travel point-to-point on an individually-tailored timetable [i.e. in a car] is one of the great quality-of-life gains of the second half of the 20th century.

Laura Jordan, 25, Visual Communication student at Leeds College of Art, said:

“As the Craftivist Collective we are passionate about showing our love for local and global neighbours. These unfair fare increases will stop people using trains when we need help keeping our carbon footprints down. The increases will hit people living in poverty the most and stop them getting to their jobs and alienate them even more from society.

“Short-haul flights and cars shouldn’t be the cheapest most convenient option. Philip Hammond MP wants to hike fairs a massive 31% over the term of this Government. We’re here to demand fair fares and a sustainable alternative.”

On Saturday 16th April Craftivists with join Climate Rush on a Railway Adventure. For more information please visit: www.railwayadventure.wordpress.com

For more information and interviews please call: Laura Jordan 07912057533

New blog

I think I need a new blog/online portfolio for my work. A kind of public facing blog with my work and less personal comments. Something I can link to for information on what I do......

I think I'm going to make this blog not public - since Papergirl Leeds I've had a few people checking out this blog and I'd rather not have people viewing my fretting and workings out.

So that means yet another blog to update.....

phew!

Drawing with a sewing machine

via Janet Clare

On my list of things to do.........

personal project

yarnbombing