Day 2 by CraftCanvas

INTRODUCTION Day 2, Dec 2020 The art of craft: Deciphering the design principles in Indian folk art

CEPT University Winter school 2020 Course faculty: Nisha Vikram, Udit Parekh

Introduction Day 1, Dec 2020

● Drawing is a language of communication where shapes, lines, colours are the elements of its grammar. ● We speak different languages; similarly, crafts are the language of their communities it's not just visual, it's a lifestyle. ● Crafts are the most grounded form of the particular region. ● As a designer our job is to understand their culture and their techniques

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Crafts that are focused on line drawings Crafts focused more about the solid colours and patterns Crafts with line drawing at beginning Lines drawn at the end

● Studying craft- Focus on the techniques used by the maker Here are some series of images in the following slides, think about the technique(s) which you may use to recreate and what tools you may use for it.

PROJECTS - Seasons Chikankari - Pichwai Dinosaur composition

Introduction Day 1, Dec 2020

The art of craft: Deciphering the design principles in Indian folk art

Chikankari

1. Client brief

1. Study craft images 1. Developing narrative 1. Making ideas into reality 1. Adding contemporary details

Chikankari

1. Client brief The brand is Organic India, so the client wanted to showcase the beauty of local Indian craft. Since the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raw materials come from the farm, we decided to showcase the 6 seasons that govern farming. Chikankari, the local craft was an obvious choice.

Chikankari- study of craft images

2. Study of craft images Different type of stitches, patterns and motifs, line thicknesses, fillers.

Chikankari- study of craft images

Chikankari- developing narrative

3. Developing narrative â&#x2014;? â&#x2014;? â&#x2014;?

The craft has very strong language derived from natural elements like flowers India has 6 seasons and all have their own purpose and characteristics, so we decided to use that as an idea for the narrative and developed illustrations accordingly Crucial thing of this artwork was a transition between seasons

Hemant & Shishir

Pre winter & Winter

Vasant & Grishma Spring & Summer

Varsha & Sharad Monsoon & Autumn

Chikankari- making ideas into reality 4. Making Ideas into reality ● ●

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This process requires a lot of back and forth to get the right set of details Working with craftsman is a very sensitive matter, we have to listen to their opinions and ideas even if there aren’t in line with our requirements Once both parties get into sync, work becomes fun Also, as a designer, we have to be middle person between client and the artisan and find the balance

Chikankari- making ideas into reality

Chikankari- contemporary elements 5. Dealing with contemporary elements ●

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Detailing out where to use which stitch and how it will give an overall look is a process similar to choosing colour and hatch in an architectural drawing Once you get the hang of using the stitches, you can work freely Every craft has its own element and style which apart from tool and material, which makes them unique Here in the branches we have used stitches called Tepchi which is not what they do usually as filler and we have tried get this stitch with the direction of the branch.

Chikankari- contemporary elements

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In this particular tree we have used tepchi only but parallel. It doesn’t have any solid boundary which exaggerates the ornamentation, adding richness to the composition

Chikankari- contemporary elements

â&#x2014;? â&#x2014;?

To continue with the design language across panels, we used Tepchi as cloud swirls To differentiate the moon, we added concentric lines of Phanda, the dots

Chikankari- contemporary elements

Pichwai

1. Client brief 1. Study of craft images 1. Developing narrative 1. Making Ideas into reality

1. Dealing with contemporary details

Pichwai- client brief 1. Client brief Developing a compilation of narrative crafts of India. We added our spin to it, where we used our learnings from each craft Here is the example of Pichwai craft from Rajasthan

Pichwai- study of craft images 2. Study of craft images ● ●

Study of the foliage structures and leaves Supporting elements around the trees

Pichwai 3. Developing the narrative â&#x2014;?

â&#x2014;?

Since nature was the key element we chose from, we modelled a different world using our learnings The time of the dinosaurs seemed ideal for this

Pichwai- making ideas into reality 4. Making Ideas into reality

Pichwai- contemporary elements 5. Dealing with contemporary details

Pichwai- contemporary elements 5. Adding contemporary details

DEMONSTRATION

Digitization

Basic 1) Making hand-sketch 2) Tracing the hand-sketch 3) Cleaning up the sketch to use it in digital media 4) Developing line drawing as the base layer and building layers on top of it 5) Applying basic colours at relevant areas using layers 6) Exploring brushes, intensity etc for effective rendering

Advanced 1) Detailing out the composition further 2) Using overlays, blending options, etc.

EXERCISE- DAY 2 Digitize the drawing done on day 1 Practice tracing, colouring and other techniques Output: psd file with each layer named appropriately