In the 1970s, selling commercial textile designs was a matter of presenting hand painted croquis to a buyer. An artist’s agent finalised a portfolio of work with the designer. Then there would be a wait to see if anyone would select a design from the portfolio for purchase. It was important for the designer’s work to be eye-catching, so that the agent would be willing to represent them. The textile design buyers looked for commercially viable designs. If a design had several different colourways, this helped to make it more attractive to the buyer.
An Unusual Design
‘Wings‘, one of the Goldcrest Gallery greeting cards, is an original textile design created in the 1970s. As well as being an unusual design of faceted shapes, it was also produced in a way that made it stand out from the crowd. The inspiration for ‘Wings’ came from the shape of butterfly wings. This was then developed into a design with many clear cut facets like those of a diamond.
The designer first drew and painted the idea for ‘Wings’, and then subsequently produced it as a silk screen print. But only one of the colours in ‘Wings’ was actually silk screen printed . The darker purple outlines and shaded areas were printed onto dove grey textured paper. The other colours in ‘Wings’ have been added using soft blended crayons. This was a quick, simple way of colouring the pattern. The subtle shades of pastel pinks and yellow work beautifully on the dove grey textured paper. To print all the colours in the design would have been very time consuming, as each colour needed a separate silk screen.
Croquis for Commercial Textile Designs
Most croquis for commercial textile designs were hand painted in gouache. However, printing just one colour on an interesting background, and then adding the other colours with the novel use of crayons, was different and original. This made a distinctive selling point by showing how the design could look when silk screen printed. The designer hoped to catch a buyer’s eye with something a bit out of the ordinary.
‘Wings’ is available as a 5×7″ handmade greeting card and an A4 fine art print. Visit our collection and discover many more unique vintage and contemporary designs!