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| Getting closer to my vision |
Been thinking how to proceed on the fountain wall, how perhaps I could fuse the one fabric I was sure about placement and sew those grout lines. But that would mostly be avoiding the obvious - that I needed to audition those new fabrics I bought and see where they might fit in. I'd held a few up already and noticed how it changed my perception of how the stitching in the middle section was showing up. When it comes to color and value, so much of it is relative - relative to what is placed next to it.
And not just what's next to it, but the proportions as well. At some point those large pieces of fabric folded somewhat to size and all your imagining won't tell you how it will read when cut in the proper shape. So today I started cutting in order to audition more accurately. I started with the fabric I was sure would go below the original Stonehenge fabric I knew would be at the top. But now that it was cut, it no longer read slightly darker, but slightly lighter, not what I wanted at all. So thank goodness I didn't jump the gun to fusing and stitching before I had all the fabrics worked out. Those two fabrics got switched, just like the two fabrics in the middle section I was so sure of.
I'm making progress but I still don't think I have quite the right fabric for along the bottom, and I tried several things. I may need to brave getting the Dye-na-flow paints out, or the watercolor pencils to customize the not quite right fabrics to make them just right. I know what I need (or think I do) but am not seeing it in my stash or my local shops. Can't really trust shopping on line.
3 comments:
Decisions, decisions, oh my. Fabric values and the perception of them can be very tricky. The time of day and what kind of lighting....natural vs artificial can also change the values. I swear even the angle at which you view them plays a role. If you need that bottom fabric darker you could try over dyeing with some strong tea. I have not used the paints you mentioned although I do have some. I guess make a small test piece.
Hi Sheila, I love your postings about the middle of your projects, I can follow each doubt and decision, so when you show the finished piece I have already follow all your difficulties. Sorry for not being able to help here.
I liked the tip of Chris about dying with tea, although I myself never tried but I have seen some pictures on Internet.
Waiting your next post.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks guys. I don't want the bottom section darker as much as I want to introduce more reddish brown & perhaps blue/grey like is in the batik at the top. I don't think tea dyeing will get me there, and I don't want to get out the procion dyes - feels like too much work if I can get paint to work. I might be able to sponge my way to a solution!
Chris, you are so right about viewing angle - I've noticed that too as I've looked at this from different corners of the studio. And I've realized something else - the left side of whatever is on my design wall is always lighter than the right because of the single overhead light fixture placed in dead center of the ceiling. In a perfect world, I'd have even lighting, but this is the best I can do at the moment.
Lucia, I'm happy you like the way I share with my readers my process. I know it is encouraging for me to find out that artists I admire may struggle as much as I do. Most of us have to work pretty hard for good results that the viewing public might assume "just happens" because we are artists.
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