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Getting Back on Track

Yes, I am still here!  What happened to me since my last post?  Well, things like chocolate chip cookies, writing poetry, planting seeds, fresh baked bread, spring flowers, bird watching and so on.  Of course, I have been stitching too, though my color and design project is definitely going to be a two year endeavor.  Other than the neutral palette pieces that I have previously introduced, I have pieces started for the second workshop (monochrome) and the third workshop (complementary color).  Additionally, I have selected fabric for no less than six collages dealing with the fourth workshop, complex complements.  I’m getting back on track with posting once a week here, so please check back for profiles of my continuing color adventures.  I will discuss the monochrome workshop next week.  Meanwhile, here is a picture of one of my neutral palette collages with some stitching:

The first workshop also incorporates an investigation of balance as it relates to art design.  This is the example for radial balance, where the design emerges from a main focal point.  This particular collage also uses informal or asymmetrical balance, even though I have another collage for that type of balance.  I am finding that some pieces of art straddle more than one category of certain design elements.  In these cases, a piece of art will usually be a better representative of one category more than another.  When I finish my intended sample of informal balance, I will post it alongside this radial balance piece, and I’ll compare and contrast the two.

Until next week, I will keep stitching, and searching for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.

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Considering Composition

Good design is important in the making of any artwork.  The elements of design are the visual art equivalents to grammar, spelling and punctuation in writing.  Take a look at these two images that I took of the same landscape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which one makes a stronger overall composition?  Consider each image as a whole, then break down the parts and compare the location of each part in the two images – the pine tree, the graves, the shadows.  Are the elements balanced in relation to each other?  Does the distance of the objects have any effect on the overall image?  What about the use of space – the size of the grassy lawn, the different gravestones in each image.  What objects are emphasized in the two images?  To sum things up, which one is more interesting to look at?  Which one holds your interest more than the other?  These are all things to consider when making and original piece of art, whether it is abstract or representational.

Meanwhile, I am having fun with this week’s index cards, check in on Tuesday to see the results.