Friday, January 22, 2010
Textile Artisan - January, 2010
American Theatre Wing: "Textile Artisan Gene Mignola works closely with costume designers, taking patterns and creating fabric that ultimately conveys their vision. He explains how printing fabric has evolved over the years from designs done by hand on paper to computer-aided drawings, and from using single-color silkscreens to digital printers. He also talks about how his interest in fabrics began in childhood, the foundation for his work experience, and why he loves his job."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
When you consider how many different roles go into the production side of costumes, its really amazing to see not only how much work it is but also the advances in such fields that have enabled designers to make better costumes. In the case of textile artistry, I had no idea that textile artists used computer programs to draw out the textiles and digital printing. Furthermore, the silk screening process which out dates the digital printing process and was used before such advancements, sounds arduous especially since every single color requires its own screen. When he describes the robe from "Present Laughter" on Broadway and the Ringling Brother's costume with the painted circus emblems, it really shows how textile can affect the costume in terms of evoking a period and character of the costume and gives me a new appreciation for textile.
I've never before heard of digital fabric printing, but I'm fascinated. I loved watching this video--I'd love to one day learn how to manipulate fabric the way this textile artisan does. The subtle effect his fabric has on a show is really impressive once you know to look for it--in most of the cases. I have to say though, my favorite example of his work was the polyester dresses for Barnum and Bailey circus. The other fabrics maybe could have been found elsewhere, but these dresses were so particular, it was probably more cost-effective to have these digitally printed than hand-painted. Regardless, all of his fabric was beautiful. Screen printing and digital fabric printing would be so interesting to learn, and implement in a show.
This video is really great. It helps to show that you can still have a very artistic and artisan feel to something although it is computer aided and not hand done for the most part. I find it amazing to see the small niche that professionals like Gene thrive in and the companies that exploit that talent and the possibilities that come with it. I've done some textile printing in the past and the technology has grown so much that you can sometimes hardly tell what has been done on a computer or by hand from a rendering. It truly is an amazing craft if you know how to implement it. In terms of design, this is a powerful tool to have in your pocket for something that is very specific that you can't necessarily find or make.
Post a Comment