Vibrant pieces of clothing, dancing figures and intricately patterned paper prints line senior Casey Dye’s portfolio. As she prepares for her senior showcase in Kansas City, Dye, an illustration major, chooses a few of her favorite pieces.
“I think my favorite is the line of clothes I’ve created. They’re little images of a piece of clothing that I’ve done,” Dye said.
One of Dye’s latest projects has been to put together a blog where she adds a new sketch each day. She hopes to use it as both a source of ideas and a portfolio of sorts, an alternative way to share her work with others.
“I started it to force myself to draw every day so I wouldn’t stop. I might also get lucky and get an idea. It’s totally a great way to do it,” said Dye. “One drawing I did I actually turned into a whole series of characters. I drew this little triangle with a pattern and a face on it, and I liked it so much that I made a whole bunch of different characters.”
Dye is looking to go into surface design and she hopes to create and sell patterns that can be used for different objects including fabric, journals and backpacks. Dye turns to fashion and illustration magazines for ideas, along with past experiences.
“I draw memories of friends and fun times; something to tell a story with,” Dye said.
Right now she is working with International Friends to help host events and lead Bible studies for exchange students at the University of Kansas. Dye meets with a conversation partner every week, giving them an opportunity to practice his or her English more.
“I’ve enjoyed meeting all the people from different countries and helping them work with English,” Dye said. “It’s kind of been a fuel to my love of patterning and folksy clothes.”
To create a pattern Dye starts with a shape and works to balance the right combination of color, shading and depth. Her favorite medium to work with is linocut, where she carves the surface of linoleum to create a stamp before coating it in ink and pressing it onto paper or fabric.
“I pick shapes that I really like and figure out ways to repeat them,” Dye said. “You want to look for depth too. It’s really more complicated than you’d think.”