Developing zig-zag panels for drawing outdoors

I developed these zig-zag folded paper panels because I wanted to make drawings outdoors. I needed to carry long lengths of papers to my chosen outdoor sites, stabilise the sheets on the ground so that the wind would not blow them away, and then take them back to the studio when my drawing session was over. I had found out, when working in the studio, that folding and fixing folds with sewing allowed me to store long lengths of paper conveniently. But it took me a while to figure out how precisely a long paper panel needed folding and sewing. I tried out many options and in order to save time and materials, I made little dummy folds of small sheets of paper that I propped up with sewing pins so I could imagine how their three-dimensional aspects would work out. I tried to be quite systematic about the different variations that seemed to suggest themselves and I always take photographs of different stages of my work so I can later think about it and evaluate its progress. These zig-zag paper panels are part of the ‘mobile working kit’ (MWK) which I have developed during my doctoral research project at the University of Chester, where I explored the relationship between the self and outdoor environment. I have described the MWK in detail in my thesis (https://chesterrep.openrepository.com/handle/10034/629532) if you are interested to find out more. The zig-zag panel are described and contextualised in a separate section which is found from page 134.