Talking Colour/ TalkingPattern-Zhininger Hu
Reflecting on my own recent projects, I realize that I am now well aware of both weaknesses and strengths in them. One thing that needs improvement in them is the discontinuity in working with creative thoughts. In fact, after developing some initial inspirational thoughts related to a project or design, rather than developing them to completion or a point of completion, I tend to just drop them. In other words, considering that an inspirational design or project has been formed, rather than developing those concepts more in terms of experimenting with fabric patterns or shapes using repetitive creation or deformation or implementing them into real fabric prototypes for practical testing, these concepts are actually left to just hit a standstill. Rather than simply developing these concepts into more refined projects or pieces, another thing that needs improvement in them is that there are not sufficient extensions in terms of related research. In other words, related images or experimental data need to be added to provide a more sufficient basis for these pieces.
On the other hand, my own works show evident strengths. Firstly, there are plenty and well-considered responses to the elements. These demonstrate a comprehensive analysis into composition, color schemes, and expressive methods. Indeed, there are well-considered uses of a variety of materials that incorporate fabric, mixed media, and unconventional materials to achieve texture. Experimentation with various materials not only enhances the visual elements but shows a strive to go beyond conventional methods. In terms of future development, there will be efforts to rectify the issue of discontinuity in response to elements. Meanwhile, there will continue to be development based on strengths in painting and experimenting with various materials.
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6th November 2025 @ 11:27 pm
Overall, through all of your drawings and paintings, I can tell that you have not restricted your work to only using the same style or medium; you have utilised a range of skills and it is evident you have put lots of time and effort into your outcomes.
I appreciate how you have used accessible forms of visual inspiration such as nature to influence your art. You have demonstrated how versatile nature is when using it for ideas; drawing 5 has a very different aesthetic quality to 7, for example.
The focus on lines and details would translate well to embroidery. I believe that drawing 6 would particularly suit stitchwork as it works well as an abstract pattern.
Your use of a harmonious colour palette within each piece makes each one aesthetically pleasing, whilst your accent colours create a striking focal point that add more visual interest to your work. For example, in drawing 9 the magenta berries break apart the green of the surrounding leaves. This balances the composition and visual interest to your work.
Your work on a coloured background (drawing 11) is also particularly successful as a strong contrast is created between the green leaves in the foreground and the yellow background. The attention to detail is also evident through the subtle “scribble” style mustard yellow leaf outlines, which add further depth to the work and make it more striking.
In your last piece, the contrast between the delicate lines and the dabbed green paint on top of the circles has shown you have experimented with texture; I find that the green dabbed technique emulates the look of moss or green bushes. You have built layers in your piece which adds visual dimension.
To add more variety to your work, you could look at visual references aside from nature to explore different colours and textures. Alternative sources of inspiration could include art or installation pieces at a museum, architecture from around the city, or mundane products found in shops. I found that using these sources helped me to incorporate a mixture of shapes, textures, and colour palettes in my work when I feel as though I have lacked inspiration in the past.
You could potentially experiment with using coloured or collaged backgrounds using coloured paper, wallpaper, or newspaper as a base for your work, as this will help you apply your sense of colour, shape, and texture to different fabrics we use for practical sampling.
9th November 2025 @ 10:13 pm
For talking colour and pattern you have used a wide variety and range of mediums to create the pieces. I like that in some of the talking colour pieces for example the drawing of the cat, you have used bright colours to illustrate something that came from a more plain coloured reference. I think this shows a good understanding of shading and use of colour. I like how abstract a lot of the pieces are too and I find it effective how you have portrayed graffiti in your pieces that came from the initial research around London. I think you have successfully created pieces that are based on street art without just drawing a picture of some graffiti you saw.
I also enjoy the talking pattern pieces and I can imagine these translating well into textiles pieces. I would say some of the themes of pattern are fairly similar which next time could be something to change slightly. I also like how you have shown your reference for one of the pieces because I think it effectively shows how you took the pattern from the photo. I also like the choice of colours in the pattern pieces, I think combining contrasting colours could be effective as well in future. I think it brings together the patterns well and the colours are well chosen meaning you’re not too distracted by them and it’s the pattern that stands out most.
Overall you have responded well to the brief and submitted the correct amounts of drawings with a range of different mediums and some different styles too which I think responds well to the project brief.