Finding a theme

For this pattern project, I used repetitive images of socks. My theme is accessories that are easy to be forgotten by people. My motive is very simple – sometimes the details that are easiest to be forgotten can make the most significant difference; for example, each pair of socks has a different pattern, which can make an outfit look in multiple ways: childish, punk, simple, preppy, business-like, etc. Part of my inspiration came from Mrs. Smith’s tights. I noticed that her tights play a significant role in her daily outfits; different colors such as black, brown and purple and various patterns like leopard, floral, and i-don’t-even-know can not only express her mood of the day but also adds personality and attitude into her outfits. The second part of my inspiration came from a drawing of Wayne Thiebaud showed by Mrs. Smith in class prior to this project started; it is a drawing of different patterns of bow ties. I thought about how bow ties play such a big role in the guys dress code at Tabor, and felt bad for those who don’t wear or don’t even know the existence of bow ties (in many Asian countries, men only wear regular ties which can be very boring). This piece uses different-patterned socks to emphasize on the important role small accessories can play in one’s life.

            After I came up with this idea, I started to think about what medium and material would be the best to express it. I knew immediately that in order to make the colorful patterns stand out, I needed black background. So I chose to use black mat. Then, I decided to use markers because of two reasons: first, I have been practicing using markers over the summer for fashion apparel drawings, so I am familiar with it; second, markers provide a lot more color options than other mediums (for example, I won’t be able to get any of the neon colors if using gouache or acrylic) During this process, I did think about using other mediums, but because I chose to draw on a black mat, many options such as gouache and acrylic were limited.

            I actually enjoyed the process of coming up with the idea more than actually making it happen because it required a lot of thoughts. I needed to choose one from all the daily accessories that are easy to be forgotten. Socks was a good idea because they play such a unique part in our daily life and outfits.