I learned a lot about the history of textiles in my Textile Design class. One of the topics was paisley. Paisley is a term for a design that uses a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian original. Such designs became very popular in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries with the increase of international textile exchange. The western name derives from the town of Paisley, in West Scotland, a centre for textiles where paisley designs were produced.
It is a lot of fun to study the history of textile design and then put the knowledge from research into practice. For my summer class assignment, I tested several techniques in generating ideas and paisley patterns. My favorite? Silk screening. I created modern-looking shapes in blue that I printed on cotton. I scanned the finished pattern and manipulated it in PhotoShop creating a repeat of it. The options are endless.
It is a lot of fun to study the history of textile design and then put the knowledge from research into practice. For my summer class assignment, I tested several techniques in generating ideas and paisley patterns. My favorite? Silk screening. I created modern-looking shapes in blue that I printed on cotton. I scanned the finished pattern and manipulated it in PhotoShop creating a repeat of it. The options are endless.
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I also sketched other ideas in my sketchbook. Paisley, as defined above, starts with a droplet-shaped form. One can then leave it simple or fill it in with other geometric shapes. Color schemes, while there are some traditional ones recorded throughout history, depend on the textile designer. I quite enjoyed combining the droplet shape with other shapes and combining various colors into fresh and modern looking patterns.
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Paisley, like flowers, remains one of the most popular textile design patterns. Do you like paisley? Do you own anything with this pattern? Let me know!