Day 2: Working with colors, textures and patterns

By Sulagna Biswas & Manupriya Singh (NID, Bengaluru)

A chat with the artisans and them showcasing their work is how day two started. Along with which they gave some very useful insights about their craft. The artisans gave valuable pointers such as:

• Blue and black are not considered appropriate for gifting purposes. Specially for kids.
• The old fabric/sarees being used for the layering of the quilts must not have any embellishments.
• Usually a traditional quilt has 4-5 layers.
• Different fabrics are mixed and matched into the color palette, and print is used as part of the palette itself. This also helps in optimal usage of the fabric.
• Traditionally the measurement for the patches of the quilt is taken with the help of fingers.
• The various patterns abstracted and integrated into the design of the quilts, such as tube light, toffee wrapper, fish, star, peacock, aeroplane, kites [and hence the name :-)]

The artisans showing and explaining their previous works (above & below)

After the discussion, what followed was out first assignment with color. Wherein we were asked pick as many colors from a wide variety of pre-cut 1"x1"paper  squares and place them on A4 sheet in which ever way we wished to.What this led to was  an understanding of how to place various colors in accordance with each other  and create effects such as depth,movement and pattern.

The second assignment, which was given to us post lunch, required us to play with the shapes and forms, and come up with different patterns. This time, form instead of color took precedence. Both activities by being juxtaposed, aimed at making us understand how to implement and make use of colors and forms, with a clear differentiation between the kind of effects both of them can bring about.

Colored paper-cuts; Textured paper (below)

With an understanding of both these vital elements to be used in making a product, we were assigned the third task. We were to recreate the forms we had made on day 1, but with colored paper. This activity too was in pairs of two, along with the artisans. Both of us students and the artisans had to make one object of the pair of objects we had chosen on day 1.

Student and artisan pairs working on the final assignment

Overall, the outcome and learnings of day 2 centered around understanding the play of colors and forms, and how to integrate the two in a seamless manner, so as to capture the essence of the object or concept. And yet at the same time how to represent in an abstract form. While we did do a lot of work the entire day, the outcome was a burst of colors on all the soft boards, with all works pinned up by the end of the day. Each assignment was also to be explained by every student, in terms of talking about the concept they had thought of while making each sheet. The day culminated, not surprisingly, with another round of photos selfies ;-) :-)