I want to use this idea as a basis for a sort of postcard/business card type thing that I can hand out to people and which will hopefully stand out from the general information overload and not get lost in anyone's wallet.

So initially I listed all the objects that I use often or are important to my work in some way:

- loom (hugely important)
- spindle
- sewing machine/ serger
- crochet hooks and knitting needles
- pencils and paintbrushes (I also do illustration work)
- computer

Here is a sketch of the ones I drew:

Textile artist's tools - image 1 - student project

The loom looks a little bit confusing so I might use a shuttle (top right corner) instead. I realised as I drew these that the only tools that everyone will recognise are pen and pencil, but I guess it's ok. They still look quite interesting. I wanted to add a computer into the mix, just to show that I'm not living in the past, but laptops look pretty soulless so I abandoned the idea.

So here is the base illustration:

Textile artist's tools - image 2 - student project

I decided to use turquoise and purple because they are my favourite colours and the orange is there to keep it from being too gloomy. This was probably the first time I've managed to use the pen tool without becoming very angry with it.

My ink stains made with a size 0 brush, some wool and yarn. I was in a hurry with the scanning so some sketches from the other side of the paper showed through but I'll make do:

Textile artist's tools - image 3 - student project

And here is the final illustration. Lots of turquoise, love it. I just hope it prints out ok and not too dark:

Textile artist's tools - image 4 - student project

I had to go through lesson 6 like five times because I had so much trouble figuring out the alpha channels. As much as I love Photoshop, I have a huge issue with the fact that everything has to be 'just so' for certain things to work. That means that one has to really know how to use this program and it can be very frustrating at first.

Overall I'm very pleased with the end result and feel like I learned a lot. This was a really great class!

Mirva Kuvaja

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