I have been working steadily on my Big Piece, and I thought I would give you a progress report. The photo is a little too dark in the upper right corner, because the lighting in the room is a bit inconsistent.
At this point, I feel pretty happy with the distribution of lights and darks, and also with the flow of the red squares. I haven't resolved the lower edge yet, left and right, but it will involve making more light and medium blocks. The lower couple of rows are still single blocks, but the rest of it has been joined to form five or six large sections. Some changes would be simple to make at this point, others next to impossible, as you might imagine.
Tomorrow our Text'art group is meeting at my place. We have invited Diane St.-Georges, a local artist and instructor, who is experienced with giving critiques. We are each bringing several pieces so she can advise us on composition, colour, etc. I am looking forward to hearing what she might have to say, and I will post again so I can share that with all of you. Diane's medium is acrylic and collage, so I think our fabric pieces will be something of an eye-opener for her. Marion Perrault is joining us for the day, and that will be fun because Marion and Helena have collaborated on so many pieces. We will be thinking of you, Linda Forey, and wishing you could be here with us.
Meanwhile, please feel free to jump in with suggestions!
Developing well. This is one of those designs that keeps growing. The area where it will hang will put a stop to that. Great!
ReplyDeleteWe have just ended a lovely get-together at my place. Everyone was very helpful when it came to suggestions about my new project. Diane St.-Georges advised me to add more soft red squares so that the eye will travel around the piece and back to the focal point, though I have to be careful not to form straight lines with the pathways of the extra squares. She also suggested integrating the dark side and the light side by adding more lights to the dark and more darks to the light. This will help to give a little sparkle to the upper right. There is a barrier between the left and right halves that can be eliminated by changing a few strips. Can you spot it in the photo? She even suggested using a yellow square as a complementary, to reinforce the focal point, but I am a little doubtful I will do that. These are all changes I could do without too much trouble.
ReplyDeleteHer time with us was very helpful. She used critiques of our various pieces to explain some basic elements of good composition, and her comments were kind but always astute and on the mark. She showed an image transfer technique using photocopies, acetate and tissue paper, which would then be applied to canvas or fabric with acrylic medium.
As always, it was fun to get together with our Text'art group, and a nice change of pace from our usual routine.
What a priceless opportunity. It is invaluable to have the views of a professional from the art world and to have an honest opinion. Too often we are too cautious to give each other our true thoughts for fear of being hurtful. She sounds a lovely person in being able to explain thoughtfully the basics, giving suggestions and the reasons why.
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting watching this progress - I am now looking forward to seeing how it grows.
Hilary
Heather, Your piece is really growing, in all senses, I'm looking forward to seeing it in person, and sorry I couldn't be at the last meeting. I like the suggestions of some soft reds to take the eye around the piece, also the mixing of some of the light and dark blocks, but I agree with your caution about introducing a new colour, yellow, into the mix. I feel it would interrupt the flow, and peaceful quality of the piece.
ReplyDelete