Wednesday, March 23, 2016

New Piece! Sort Of:) Purple Gate Study


The other day it occurred to me that at the rate that I work it's going to take me awhile to gain a lot of insight into my artwork. There is nothing wrong with a gradual unfolding of course and everything comes in due time. However, if you only sketch once in awhile, for example, it may take quite a bit of time to gain proficiency. 

The little sketches with paper that I have been making are one thing I have been doing to try and learn. To step things up though, I started working without a drawing and without much of a plan, save for a color idea and a particular design challenge. I knew that I wanted to reference a purple wrought iron gate that I see on my drive to Linden down the road. I also had the larger aqua piece and so I started with that first. I tried working with three colors. I worked with painted papers from previous projects and tried to assemble enough of a value range. I worked on my ideas regarding proportion, trying to deal with shapes and colors, starting with larger shapes first and working down to details. I also wanted to focus on using both parts of the cut out, both the positive as well as the negative shapes. As I worked the piece, I adjusted the value differences, their locations and tried to balance everything as I went along. I had the most difficulty with the "D" shape in the middle. The original color and value I selected was a dark  orange-yellow brown. The contrast of that value against the white was zippy but it proved to be too zippy in the end.  ("Zippy" is a painterly technical term for way too much of something! You want some zippiness but not too much zippiness.) 

The next challenge for me is going to continue to be working with larger pieces first. I also want to work on the overall orientation of the pieces. I like a sort of rounded feeling to things so we will see what happens:)

OK, enough for now. Back to work! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Libby

6 comments:

  1. You are amazingly prolific, Libby. These cut paper studies are fascinating - do you think you'll show them together in an exhibit? Love this one!

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    1. Thanks Judy!

      I am trying to do as much as I can-not always easy:)

      It would be fun to show the pieces together somewhere but I hadn't given it much thought. Just here on the blog for now:)

      Thanks for the visit. Hope all is well.
      Libby

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  2. Dear Libby - another awesome piece. I love the purple gate. Amazing how something we see on a daily drive can inspire something in us to represent it in a unique way. Your colors really work well together. Well have a great day. I will be looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve for your next project. Hugs!

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    1. Debbie,

      Inspiration is really everywhere isn't it? I don't always use what I see right away either so being patient and sort of squirreling things away seems to be important:)

      Thank you as always for your visit and comments. I hope you have had a good week.
      Libby

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  3. I really enjoy reading your thought process on the building up of your composition. I think the challenges you set for yourself yield great success!

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    1. Thanks Carol!

      I try and have little assignments for myself each time I make a piece. Sometimes I know ahead of time and sometimes I find out during the process. I hope that I learn something with each piece. I hope!

      Thanks for the visit.
      Libby

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! I reply back in an email if you are signed in and I can see your address. Otherwise I will post the reply here under your comment. I tend to cut and paste my emails too so that others can experience the back and forth which I think is integral to blogging.
Libby