PROTOTYPESHasita Kamlesh | Senior Thesis 1 | Paul Carlos | Fall 2012

I decided to work on the Ajrak inspired woodcuts first as I am taking a Woodcut class this semester. After I finished the tests for the woodcut I proceeded to test the patterns for the Batik Print.

I first worked on a two color image that was inspired by the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, which is a theme I was researching for my thesis. In this woodcut I tested out carving patterns to see if I could achieve the desired detail.

This is a page of my sketchbook of these swirls that I constantly doodle. I decided to make this my first pattern for my thesis.

Above is a test woodcut I did with these swirls, Here I was trying to see if I could manage the curves of the pattern, On the right is a print of the woodcut

Satisfied with the test I proceeded to create the pattern. I worked on the module that would repeat and create a seamless pattern. I first used Photoshop to offset the print, which is the image on the right, I then drew on the image to fill the gaps.

After a dozen iterations I finally decided on a module whose repetition I liked. The other modules I created when repeated created patterns within the patterns, which distracted the idea of a seamless pattern.

The carved module

The Repeat Pattern

Another page from my sketchbook where I’ve doodled this pattern that reminds me of growth. I want to work on this for my batik inspired pattern.

It was suggested that I tried working with shapes to see how they overlapped, so I drew these on acetate to transfer onto a silk screen.

The outcome of my silk screen trials.