Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling good, and I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Afsel, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very pleased about that, 'cause today, we're looking at textile design, which I think should be really interesting.

Our lesson is called Deepening the Understanding of the Principles of Textile Design.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work, foundation workshops, developing skills.

So if you're ready with some energy, focus and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can develop a textile design from source by using balance, contrast, repetition, and emphasis with different techniques." Hope that sounds interesting to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Source, interpretation and technique.

So what do these keywords mean? Source is the starting point of inspiration, e.

g.

, a flower.

Interpretation, how an artist or designer changes or adapts a source.

Technique, methods such as embroidery, applique or sewing.

These are our keywords, source, interpretation and technique.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Deepening the Understanding of the Principles of Textile Design, and it has two learning cycles, exploring a source using textile principles, and then transforming the source through textile techniques.

Let's begin by exploring a source using textile principles.

Let's start with a question.

How do textile artists develop ideas from a source to a final design? Pause here and share with someone nearby, "What do you think?" Thanks for sharing your ideas.

So let's have a look at how artists developed from source to a final design.

So we begin at the source as we can see on the top left, then we move to a simplified motif.

We might then try out variation and repetition before we get to a cohesive textile design.

And then after that, we have a stage of analysis, drawings, textures and colors.

I wonder if you had ideas like these.

Artists often begin with a theme inspired by the world around them.

This could be the shapes of natural forms, cultural artifacts or personal experiences and emotions.

They can then select their source to connect with this theme.

The source can then be used to develop a simplified motif.

So here we have the source of these beautiful flowers, and then a simplified motif.

Textile artists can then develop simple motifs to explore a source further using principles such as balance, contrast, emphasis, variation, and repetition.

With balance, we have evenly arranged elements.

With contrast, we have differences that stand out.

Repetition, repeated elements or patterns.

Emphasis, a focal point or area.

Here's Jun.

"When I planned my design, I used balance, contrast, repetition, and emphasis to make my motif more interesting and effective." Artists may explore a variety of sources within a theme.

Sources may be captured photographically or gathered physically.

Pause here and share which of these particular flowers as sources of inspiration are you most drawn to and why? Thanks for sharing.

Let's take a look at some artists inspired by the world around them as a source for inspiration.

They include Malgorzata Mirga-Tas makes large applique and quilted collages from recycled fabrics to tell stories of Roma life and culture.

Outi Pieski weaves tassels and shawls that combine traditional craft with contemporary art to highlight Sami identity and land rights.

Josh Faught works with knitting, crochet, and weaving to connect personal stories with ***** history.

Nicholas Hlobo is inspired by Xhosa beadwork, ribbon, and stitching patterns in his textile and sculptural works, exploring themes of identity, sexuality and cultural memory.

So here are just a few of the artists inspired by the world around them as a source for inspiration.

Artists record their sources in sketchbooks, photographs or collages.

They look closely at shape, line, texture and color, identifying what stands out and could be transformed into design elements through careful interpretation and technique.

We can see some examples of artists recording sources in a sketchbook there on the screen.

Pause here and share with someone, "How do you record your sources? Do to use sketchbooks, photographs, collages, or something else?" Thanks for sharing.

From these studies, artists strip back unnecessary detail and create motifs, bold, simplified versions of their sources.

These motifs can then be explored further using repetition, mirroring, rotation or scaling.

By keeping motifs connected to the same source or theme, the final design feels unified.

Even when motifs vary, repetition and shared visual language, line, color, texture help everything work together.

Pause it and share with someone your impressions of this motif.

Thanks for sharing.

Really nice and simple, but also some particular details that make it distinct.

Let's have a check for understanding.

When researching for a final piece, how might an artist use the principles of textile design? Is it A, by copying their source or motif exactly, B, by ignoring principles and only focusing on technique, C, by exploring how balance, contrast, and repetition guide their choices, or D, by using as many techniques as possible, even if they don't connect to the design? Pause here while you decide how an artist might use the principles of textile design when researching for a final piece.

Well done if you selected answer C, indeed, it's by exploring how balance, contrast, and repetition guide their choices.

Here's Jun.

"I will use the principles of textile design to guide my sample.

By choosing my source carefully, I can analyze it, and decide which techniques will best suit my final outcome." Let's have a check for understanding, true or false? It doesn't matter what source I choose, because I can just use any picture for my textiles work.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Choosing your source carefully is important.

A strong source gives you shapes, textures, and colors that you can analyze, helping you apply the principles of textile design, balance, contrast, repetition, and emphasis in thoughtful ways.

And now it's time for your task.

I would like you to choose a source to use in your sample design.

You should look through your project so far to find interesting collected images, objects, or photographs to inspire your design.

Discuss with your partner how the source can be explored and developed through balance, contrast, repetition and emphasis.

So pause here while you have a go at this first part of your task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Choosing a source to use in your sample design.

You may have chosen something like this.

Love this sunflower, so cheery.

Let's hear from Jun.

"I photographed this sunflower in the school garden as my source.

It will work well as it allows me to create a simple motif.

I could develop this into either a basic repeat or a more complex silkscreen pattern.

The sunflower source would also work effectively in embroidery or applique techniques." And now we're onto our next learning cycle, transforming the source through textile techniques.

Artists often start with a single source motif like a flower or leaf, and use different textile techniques to transform it.

Embroidery can add fine detail while applique highlights bold shapes and color.

"Using a system or an order in which to work really helps me decide how my sample and final outcomes will look." So remember, we start with the source, which then we turn into a simplified motif.

We can then apply variation and repetition to give ourselves a cohesive textile design.

And then we can analyze drawings, textures, colors.

Textile techniques can transform a design.

A motif can be transformed just through stitch.

Using different colors, thicknesses, or types of stitch can make it bold, delicate, textured or patterned.

Pause here and share with someone, "Which of these three designs are you most drawn to and why?" Thanks for sharing.

How have the choices in technique altered the outcome of these textile samples? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

The technique of applique can make the same design look very different depending on the fabrics chosen and whether you use many stitching methods or just a few.

Printing, like block or screen printing, repeats a motif in bold flat shapes.

By changing color, size or placement, artists create balance, contrast, repetition, and emphasis from one source.

Pause here and share which of these designs are you most drawn to and why? Thanks for sharing.

The same repeated pattern can look very different depending on the interpretation.

A design may appear bold and flat when printed, but more textured and detailed when remade with stitching.

Artists that use repeated motifs in their textile work include Jordan Nassar, uses repeated motifs drawn from Palestinian embroidery traditions, particularly geometric cross-stitch patterns.

In his Curtain series, Felipe Mujica repeats bold geometric patterns across textile panels in collaboration with communities.

Robine Akhter Ullah incorporates repeated motifs, often drawing on traditional Bangladeshi patterns and embroidery to explore cultural heritage, storytelling and personal identity.

Constance Howard was often inspired by natural forms like leaves and plants, which she transformed into recurring motifs within her experimental embroidery.

So we can see a number of artists using repeated motifs in their textile work.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false? If I use the same motif, my work will always look the same.

Pause here and decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Using a specific type of technique can completely change the look of a motif.

For example, the same flower motif printed onto fabric creates a bold flat pattern.

But when stitched in embroidery, it becomes textured and detailed.

While in applique, it looks bold and layered.

Let's take a look at what Jun has created and his reflections.

"I've decided to produce an applique design using a variety of stitching and applique techniques.

I'm aiming to work systematically and consider the principles of textile design throughout the process of designing and making my sample." Textile cultures worldwide use design principles in unique ways, including Kente weaving in West Africa shows balance and contrast.

Japanese Shibori uses repetition and symmetry.

Indian Kantha adds texture with repeated stitches.

And Andean weaving shows balance and with mirrored patterns.

The process of transforming a source into a textile sample can look like this.

Simplify your source image by making a simple line drawing from it.

Choose the textile techniques you would like to use to create the sample.

Choice of color, stitch, pattern, and texture can all transform a source.

In this sample, applique was used by cutting fabric pieces, placing them on plain cotton, and stitching them with embroidery thread in different stitches to add depth and texture.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of the final creation.

Thanks for sharing.

I think it's really quite stunning all the depth and detail that's been added through the stitching.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How should the principles of textile design be used when making a piece? Is it A, they don't matter, you can just add random techniques, B, they should be used to guide design choices and make the piece effective, C, they only apply to fine art, not textiles, D, you only need to think about one principle? Pause here while you decide how the principles of textile design should be used when making a piece.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, they should be used to guide design choices and make the piece effective.

And now it's time for your next task.

I'd like you to transform your source into a sample design using textile techniques.

You should observe your source and interpret it into a simplified linear drawing.

No shading.

Consider the textile principles of balance, contrast, repetition and emphasis, and decide how you're going to use them to make your sample.

Choose your textile technique and create your sample.

Pause here while you have a go at your task of transforming your source into a sample design using textile techniques.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of transforming your source into a sample design using textile techniques? You may have created something wonderful like this.

Let's hear from Jun.

"Using the principles of textiles helped me with the interpretation of a clear motif for my applique sample.

I used stitch and color to create emphasis effectively.

I can now develop this motif into different compositions and styles." Pause here and share with someone your sample design and take them through the whole journey of where you started and how you ended up with this particular wonderful creation.

Thanks for sharing your journey of transforming from your source to this wonderful sample design using a variety of textile techniques.

In our lesson, Deepening the Understanding of the Principles of Textile Design, we've covered the following.

Artists use source interpretation to turn shapes, colors, and textures from their sources into new designs.

By applying specialist techniques and the principles of textiles, such as balance, contrast, repetition and emphasis, artists create work that is both cohesive and expressive.

Reinterpreting a source deepens ideas and leads to innovative textile outcomes.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to go on this journey together, starting with our source, selecting that source, turning it into a simple motif, and then using all of the principles of textile designs to come up with this final sample.

I think you've done a great job today.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I've certainly enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.