I am the Chameleon and the Sun is my Art

For College essay, I decided to create a metaphor. Here is an excerpt from it.

 "There once was a chameleon. This chameleon was shy and would blend into every surface that came about. Every time there was anything intimidating around, it would change color and be suddenly invisible. The only time the chameleon was not afraid to show its extraordinary hues, was when the sun shined on its body. The chameleon absolutely adored having the warm glow circulate through its skin. The chameleon felt completely free and let go of all its worries. The suns luminosity was what made the chameleon's day exceptional. Instead of the chameleon hiding in its background like always, it would stand out and be seen by everyone. The chameleon searched for the sun whenever feasible, and hoped it would stay forever...I am the chameleon and the sun is my art."

..."The chameleon who is shy and timid is also the chameleon who shines bright when the sun hits it plan on going into college, ready to learn and leave loving what I am doing. Art is my sun, and I won't go one day without it. "

Chameleon created after writing my college essay.

A Library Without any Books

After sitting in on Richard's meeting, he invited me to see the Design Library.

I went in early January for an entire work day, and I realized how much work happens in an industry all about inspiration!

Richard and I arrived, and he showed me the entire library. Every textile is organized into four categories: geometrics, ethnic, floral and conversational. With all of the textiles there, organization is a huge foundation to their industry. If they weren't organized they would not make half as many sales, because they wouldn't be able to find the textiles they want to show to clients.

I saw thousands of patterns that day and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved seeing people's ideas through their patterns and seeing how many different ones there were.

Richard actually gave me an assignment, and that was to pick out patterns for a client of theres. At first I was picking very few I thought would work and then I was reminded, that they are going to pick only a few from hundreds. That's when I started getting a little crazy with my choosings,and  when I finished picking ones I thought would work, Richard came over and looked at everything I chose, He told me that they would definitely buy a bunch of what I had picked, and I felt fantastic. Knowing that his clients collections would have patterns in ti because of the ones I had chosen made me feek ecstatic. I loved being apart of the big picture.
 
My second shadowing adventure with Richard was just as fulfilling as the first, and I plan on returning to the Design Library very soon.

A Look into the Industry

My neighbor Richard Weissman has been apart of the fashion industry for a while now. His family brought him in and it started out not being his favorite thing. But through the years, he ended up back in the buissness.

He is the president of  The Design Library that holds over a million textiles from early 1700's to the present day. He has many famous clients such as Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Micheal Kors, Calvin Klein and many more. These clients ask Richard for textiles that inspire them. For example, if Banana Republic Mens is planning their Spring Collection for 2013 and they need inspiration for patterns and fabric, they call Richard or one od his colleagues and ask for him to bring big and small plaids, white on white patterns, checkered textiles and such. And Richard will show up at the meeting with hundreds of textiles he picked out that he thinks Banana Republic will like, and buy.

What I got to do in late December was go to one of his client's meetings, and sit in on the process. That day Richard was seeing Calvin Klein and had brought many textiles for them to look at. I got to observe what they liked and didn't like, and all the comments that came along with it. They ended up purchasing 12 textiles out of 400 or so. What Richard always says is "they are only going to like 1 out 10 patterns you pick", which is why Richard had to be so prepared.

I really enjoyed seeing the process occur and I loved seeing all the different patterns. Some patterns I thought were more fitting than others for what they had wanted, but obviously my opinion didn't matter to them. Richard has to be very openminded when picking patterns for that exact reason. The client may say they want only big plaids,but if you show up with medium and small plaids they might buy them too.

The Design Library is all about inspiration and individuality. Richard picks fabrics that HE thinks will make a sale, his colleagues pick fabrics that THEY think will sell, and the clients picks fabrics that THEY think will work.

The entire process was a great experience overall.

A Return to the Fashion Institute of Technology

After my wonderful experience at the Fashion Institute of Technology over the summer, I decided to sign up for another class. I tried once again for a Introduction to Textiles class, but it was sadly canceled. I still wanted to take a class, and chose to take a Portfolio Developmet class. Since I was going tro apply to FIT as an art/fashion major and had to show a portfolio, I thought why not create it at the school I was handing it into. So I started the class that was every Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm, for 12 weeks.


 My teacher guided us all through still lifes,

nude models (a lot of nude models),

 and portraiture.

My favorite was the portraiture because I really enjoyed studying a person's face and making it look as real as possible. I did a few portraits, and many many many nude paintings.

I loved the experience of it all not only because I got to do things that I would have never gotten a chance to do at my highschool, but also because three quarters of my final portfolio was made in the porfolio class. I got a lot out of the class, and would love to take another.

My experiences at FIT have always been positive, which is one of the many reasons why I feel it is perfect for me. I love the location, the people and having the ability to fufill my dreams. The Fashion Institute of Technology is where I want to learn how to create and design textiles, and graduate from.

A Second Try

Once I figured out what exactly I was doing wrong I decided to immediately take another shot at it. So I started sketching out some new ideas and was planning on doing an aztec inspired pattern.

I created it on the paper I was using, painted it, and it came out a lot better than my first. I figured out how to spread the paint better by holding the brush differently and being more patient. There were still mistakes throughout it, but I was still proud in knowing I did a lot better.

An Unofficial Independent Study

When I knew I was taking W.I.S.E I new I should get a mentor as soon as possible. I knew that Mrs. Brooks was a very popular mentor, so at the end of summer 2011 I emailed her and told her what I had planned on doing for my project. I also asked her if she was willing to guide me into the world of textiles by teaching me things that she was taught at FIT, and helping me create my own patterns. She agreed and decided before the school year started that we would meet everyday 3rd period and have our own unofficial independent study in textile design.

I learned many things from her and have actually made a couple of patterns. We started out looking at pattern books and getting inspiration for my first pattern. The inspiration for my first pattern was actually an octupus, I love the tentacles and how they look. So I started sketching out ideas and how I would make my pattern look. I decided on making the tentacles look like flowers, and having blocks of color in the back.

Sketches for pattern 

The background color ideas in colored pencil.

The hardest part of creating my first pattern for me was painting it. When a pattern has to be painted it is painted with a special medium called gauche and for me it was very hard to work with. Gauche when added to water can be more like watercolor paint and when it has less water it is more like acrylic. When painting with it, the painter is not supposed to go over what has been already painted. So, my paint came out to be clumpy and uneven.

I am glad that it came out the way it did because I learned what to do to make it better. I also learned what not to do which was a great experience.

The final product of my first pattern

An Introduction to the Fashion Institute of Technology

Once Brooks had told me about how she did very well at FIT and thought I would too, I decided to take a look. I went on their website and was just looking around. When I saw that they offered summer classes, I was immediately eager to take one. Since I had been introduced to the textile business and everything that came along with it, I looked if they offered a textile class. They had one called "Introduction to Textiles" which was perfect for me since I wanted to learn more and see what I would be getting myself into if I went to college for textile design.

However, the textile/surface design major is very small and it turns out that if a class doesn’t get a set number of students willing to take it, it is canceled.So, intead I decided that I still wanted to take an art class at FIT because of my passion for art and also because I wanted to see what commuting to the city and going to school every day would be like.

So I looked at the other classes offered and found one I knew would be particularly fun, and that was "Experimental Media". The class was from 9am-12pm, Monday through Thursday for 3 weeks. My dad took me on my first day and showed me everything about going to and from the city. Every day I would get on the 7:48am train out of Golden's Bridge to Grand Central, take the shuttle from Grand Central to Times Square and then take the 1 subway from Times Square to 28th street.

My class was extraordinarily fun not only because of the art projects that were assigned, but the people and teachers there were outgoing, uplifting, optimistic and straightforward. I loved taking that class because I loved making my own pieces of art every day and getting feedback. Everyday our teacher would give us a project, maybe give us materials for it (we had to bring a lot of materials on our own) and then get to work. When there was half an hour left we would put all our end products on one side of the room and we would go through each one critiquing it. I love knowing what people think of my art, which is why have the critique everyday was so fantastic. 

Taking that first class at FIT was a great experience and led me to fall in love with the school and want to attend the 2012 fall semester.

One of my Experimental Media projects, we had to draw an object that meant something to us (mine was a nesting doll) and then make is huge. I decided to cut it up on my own,

 Another project we were assigned was to piece together wood blocks and create anything we wanted. I chose to create a face wth many options.

The Beginning of my Passion

Last year, in my junior year of highschool, I took a fashion fundametals class with Mrs. Brooks. I started the year off with simple sketchbook work and sewing projects just like anyone else. What I didn't know was that Mrs. Brooks saw my talent and chose to challenge it. One day while I was sketching one of my homeworks, she came up to me, gave me  a couple textiles with flowers on them and told me to render the entire them. I had no idea what she was doing so I just did what she had said and rendered it as good as possible. I showed her what I had done and she said that I had talent and would do extraordinary in the major she pursued. Which indeed was Textile and Surface Design. Mrs. Brooks attended FIT so she knew exactly what they were looking for, and she knew that one day they would be looking for me. Mrs. Brooks is the reason why I know what I want to do for the rest of my life. Some people never figure it out, and I was lucky enough to be guided by her and find my passion in highschool. I am very grateful for Mrs. Brooks and plan on pursuing my passion for art and design at The Fashion Institute of Technology.

Rendering #1

Rendering #2