"He Heard My Cry" (draft 3)

(draft 3)

Today's image is the third draft of "He Heard My Cry". I have done a considerable amount of adjusting the values with additional rice papers and a lot of pastel work. Today I will be viewing the piece on my iPhone which allows me to see it in a whole new perspective. There is something about viewing your work as a flat image and simply getting away from it physically that will show you what else needs to be done. So if you don't blog, at least take a photo of it and study it during the day.

At this point, everything is adhered to the support except the handmade paper and glass inclusion. Today I will adhere it to the 11" x 14" flat gessobord panel and weight it down to dry. I also will be considering any other adjustments. I have already set the stage for white lettering at the bottom and because I have subdued the background considerably, I will probably opt for gestural writing and white bleedproof white. I am also considering a bit of pencil lettering in that area before the white lettering is written.

Since yesterday, I have cropped the piece to its finished size and then positioned and repositioned the large bible page, handmade paper, and glass inclusion about a million times. I was very careful not to adhere anything until I determined where I needed some more marbled paper and plain rice paper. But even before all of that, I brushed on a lot of soft pastels to create some darker areas and integrate the piece with my frame. The frame has a brownish red and black color with a gold trim around the opening. The gold looks very good with all of the aged yellowish tones in the piece. So when you are creating a piece that will be framed, I strongly encourage you to select your frame before finishing the piece so you can adjust any of the values and colors for a better integration.

My frame also has a historical look to it which lends itself to this type of presentation. (In the past, I have referred to these type of pieces as my library pieces.) And if you think about it, all of the elements give a nod to the book arts and books are found in libraries. As time goes on, books may become obsolete so I definitely want to do my part in preserving the written word.

In this third draft, my entire focus was on shapes, edges, and values. And you do need some kind of focus and a goal as to what you are trying to achieve when creating layers. If you simply place paint or elements wherever you feel like it, you might succeed part of the time, but eventually it is important to have a focus on what you're doing.

One of the most important things I've learned to focus on is the fact that artwork is made up of shapes. All over backgrounds created with sponges and a dab here and there does not create shapes. That is precisely why the "edge to edge " concept is important. The minute you extend a line, shape, or connecting shapes from edge to edge, you have created several shapes by dividing the design space into two or more parts. That's exactly why the cruciform format (vertical and horizontal from edge to edge) is so effective.

In this piece, that thought of extending shapes from edge to edge played a role in deciding where to add my additional marbled papers. The placement of those papers connecting the handmade paper and old bible page to the top and bottom edge keep the focal point from floating in space. It's not that vignettes are wrong....they just cannot compete with the dynamic pieces that have well designed shapes and depth. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Psalm 100" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

Today's posting is the beginning of Psalm 100. That will remain the title for now, but as in Psalm 103:1, the title changed in the final. The first draft is always exciting because it is a new beginning and even I do not know what the final will look like. I have no preconceived idea so that I can remain open to what I see happening on the paper.

Even though I do not have a preconceived idea, I am thinking about design. Staying true to my artistic voice which is to contrast opacity, translucency, and transparency in my mixed media works, I have begun with transparency. The colors I chose were based on a mexican pot painted with these same colors. And I chose Speedball Printing Ink as my paint and brayers as the way to deliver the paint to the paper which is a full sheet of 300 lb. HP.  (The final will be 18" x 24")

The dark blue was blue mixed with a bit of black. The turquoise was right out of the jar. The yellow green was green plus yellow. The orange was orange plus a bit of the dark blue. I mixed all of these colors on a glass surface with a palette knife and added a lot of water to each pile. To make sure it was well mixed, I sloshed the paint around with my hand (wearing thin latex gloves.)

By diluting the color a great deal, I am insuring the transparency. Using 1.50", 2", and 4" brayers, I began to apply the paint to dry paper. Because of the size of the paper, I did need to make at least 2 applications of color in each stripe. It is easy to do with brayers since you can see exactly how to line it up with the previous application. My desire was to include static and dynamic lines while preserving some white areas. Those white areas will add a lot of sparkle to the piece.

My next step today will be to create some mono printed papers using the same colors you see today. I will also be adding some black mono printed papers. Using black plus white and color and in different saturations will cover almost if not all of the values on the gray scale.

Color may be the most emotional of the design elements, but contrast is the most critical design principal. So today I have introduced a contrast of line (static and dynamic), a contrast of hue (or color), and a small contrast of saturation. Tomorrow, there will be even more contrasts in these same areas with an additional contrast of texture.

Also notice that all of the bands of color go edge to edge which grounds them to the design space and creates many great divisions of space. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Hidden Dreams"

($50.00......6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Dreams are often hidden behind urgent things." The tyranny of the urgent can obliterate the best of dreams. God clears the path for dreams to be fulfilled...especially when those dreams were placed in our hearts by Him.

This photo reference really does visually describe something that is hidden. Before I began painting landscapes in oils, I thought it would be very difficult to come up with a quote everyday that would actually go with the painting. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, I have been very surprised by the way that our created world mimics life in so many ways.

The division of space in this space is quite interesting and is one of the reasons I like choosing scenes where the focal point is more in the foreground than in the background. The trees provide the diagonals and unequal divisions of space that make a piece much more interesting than the standard horizon line.

Noticing what you gravitate to goes to the heart of why it is so important to create pieces on a consistent basis so that you can personally observe and analyze the particular point of view, techniques, and personal mark making that makes a piece identifiable as your piece. If you select small pieces to work on, you will get a lot more practice at making the many decisions that must be made in every piece of artwork.

After a period of time and many pieces under your belt, the process will become much more fluid and that is the point at which you will really begin to soar. Another key ingredient, though, is actually learning how to critique or analyze your own artwork and be able to verbally describe why something works or doesn't work. It's quite like being the student and the teacher simultaneously. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Nature Poem"

($125.00.....6" x 6"....oils on a gessobord....floated on a linen mat in a custom frame.)

"Turning leaves are a nature poem." This piece is another oil painting created in Boone, N.C. I tried to capture the color of the leaves as well as the fog that hung over the mountain in the background.

It doesn't matter whether or not a collage is being created or an oil painting with a palette...the principle remains that paintings are made up of shapes.   In this piece, the shapes have many soft edges due to the subtle shift of values. Of course, the tree trunks helped create the divisions of space and consequently the shapes.

Normally, I like to work larger and then crop the image, but in this case, I had to work with a predetermined size.  It them becomes necessary to think about all of the elements of the composition in advance. Taking photos will help with this kind of work so I have taken app. 1500 so far. 

Photography is a great practice in your design thinking. And cropping the image on the computer before painting will assist in getting the composition right, especially when the option of cropping for the final painting is not possible.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Folding and Unfolding"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....300 lb HP mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)

"Everyday life is like the folding and unfolding of a flower." We have a hibiscus next to our front door. This quote was inspired by watching this flower unfold in the morning and then close again at night. Isn't that the way our lives play out?

If you are like me and tend to be methodical in your approach, it will be to your advantage to choose how to divide your space based on a technique that allows for the most choices. Cropping still remains a powerful choice since the tendency will be to line things up in a contrived fashion. The division of space in this piece is interesting because each block is a different size with interesting edges.

Originally, I worked on a half sheet of 300 lb HP. I consciously staggered the text pages and even laid some of them down at a slant to offset the straight horizontal and vertical look. The thing to remember is to have just a few pieces adhered at a slant. Otherwise, it can end up looking contrived. Other shapes can be altered by adding more text and image as the last layer. This step absolutely insures better integration and harmony. The color contrast in this piece is a more subtle split complementary contrast by "graying down" the yellow with a bit of purple. This allows the blue to take the leading role. 

There are many ways to handle collage. One of the best ways to experiment is to create your artwork like you normally would and then cut up those pieces into interesting fragments that can be put back together again. By doing this, you will have a brand new look with space divisions that look very spontaneous. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Important Issues"

(unavailable)

"Don't let the most important issues get pushed to the edge." I once read a book called "Tyranny of the Urgent. It was all about those incessant details that eat up all of our time. Sometimes those details must be pushed aside to make room for the important things.

This is a much darker piece than I typically like to do, but the details at the edges (hence the quote) gave me a green light. I would have preferred a bit more white in the large brown color block, but with pouring medium...what you pour is what you get. I still like it very much because I'm a Burnt Sienna type of gal and this piece has a bit of a "western feel" to me.

So the point I'm trying to make is not to give up on all of your pouring medium pieces even when the colors don't land exactly where you want them to. What does work in this piece is the contrast of size in the color blocks. Brown obviously takes up the most space, but that sets the stage for the Burnt Sienna and Pthalo Green to be the "bling" in the piece with a sparkle of white in both areas. The unequal distribution of color is probably more important than if I had all the same of amount of colors showing equally. And, of course, those two special areas were the perfect place to add a bit of line work to bring attention to those areas and also be an echo of the shapes of those two color blocks.

In fact, that large brown color block compels me to look at the bright colors where there is also some detail. It's quite fascinating to notice why the human eye gravitates to particular areas where there is a "push pull" effect going on with color, values, and division of space. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Right Door"

($40.00....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Choosing the right door produces the best opportunity." We cannot always know what's behind every door, but some doors are so dilapidated that it becomes obvious not to go through that one. Choices are everything...literally! It is best to choose the right door.

This is an odd piece in the way it came together. There are actually two backgrounds, one adhered to the other. The top piece was torn, creating an erratic edge and then painted magenta. In person, it is very bright because of the silver and gold leaf, but the brilliance cannot be seen on a computer screen.

The door was painted with gouache and a palette knife and I felt like writing a very erratic line of lettering. Sometimes, I just get tired of everything being regimented and feel the need to break out into a "scrawl".

You can also see a clear division of space with the magenta producing a nice edge and several other shapes. This piece is all about texture which fits my mood today. It's different and it's funky and fits in perfectly with a relaxed Saturday.  So there you have it. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Energy and Power"

($40.00......6" x 6".....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Deadlines create focused energy and power." Deadlines are generally viewed either positively or negatively. In my own personal experience, I've discovered that deadlines are a change agent that force me to work with focus and power.

This piece is permeated with energy and power because of all the diagonals. The direction of the diagonals all seem to be directed at a central focus where the black is intersecting from three sides of the piece. This is the power of cropping. At first I didn't like this piece because it seemed a bit overwhelming. But when you consider the quote and look at the piece, it makes perfect sense.

If you have never tried working on smaller pieces like 6" x 6" or even smaller, I strongly recommend doing so, especially with pouring medium. It will give you many ideas for larger abstract works and simply transferring the same division of space to another medium altogether. I recently took a week long class in kiln formed glass primarily using glass powders and frit. It was amazing to me how many of the same textures and glass collages were so similar to what I was already doing in mixed media. We all want our work to look spontaneous and gestural in nature with lots of movement, but that will never happen unless there is a spontaneous working method.  Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Light Penetrated Darkness" (sold)

(sold)


"The light penetrated the darkness literally, figuratively, for all mankind...stretching into eternity." This pivotal moment in history gave us redemption. What a day of thanksgiving!

This piece has a different application of pouring medium. It was applied more like a watercolor with no marbling effect and also the use of gray which I haven't used as much in the past. I did work on paper at least twice this size which left me some interesting cropping options. The image could have been "dead center", but by placing it in the lower right corner, I increased the drama 100%. It is so easy to stay in the mindset of the same old formats, but my encouragement to you is to branch out and try some "riskier" options. There is literally something different in every corner which is so much better than a vignette. Remember that paintings are made up of shapes which is another advantage of cropping. Image and strong color, or both, should be touching at least two sides of the design space. You will lose the viewer much quicker by placing things in the center. It is simply not interesting enough.

The paper the image was printed on also creates a rectangular shape, but the color flowing over it onto the negative space (or background) binds them together yet the shape is still visible. This all sounds so easy until you are in the middle of the creation which is why it is important to practice on a regular basis. Just think about it and soon the corners and shapes will come into focus.

"Amore"

(sold)


"Neutrals plus one hot color equals amore." We could all use a little more love and today it is visually showcased in a sea of neutral color. Brilliant Red Violet is a very hot color and if you add a little gold, it is quite luxurious. It's Friday. Show a lot of love!

This fabulous color is one of my favorites. Fortunately, it is available in Golden tube acrylics, Fluid Acrylics, and Winsor Newton Gouache. It can be fugitive so if you are working on a larger complicated piece that you want to last a long time, use Quinacridone Magenta or make sure the color is encased in a medium or use varnish with UV protection at the end. The permanence of Quinacridone colors has been tested and proven to stand the test of time. (If you google "quinacridone", you can find out all kinds of interesting facts about these colors.)

Raw Umber is a good companion to brilliant red violet and is the perfect choice to make it look deeper and richer. Of course, I must mention for the third or fourth time since blogging that the best raw umber gouache is Graham. Windsor Newton has a rather "wimpy" umber that is not dark enough.

One last note about this piece is the corners and the division of space. It is very important to think about those two things when cropping from a larger sheet. It makes all the difference in the world whether you have a "ho hum" composition or something very dramatic. Just a few more things to think about.

"Slow, Silent, and Invisible"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Growth is slow, silent, and invisible, and then the flower appears." Growth is all about process and most of us would like to skip the process and go to the reward. With flowers beginning to bloom, it is a great reminder that growth is slow, silent, and invisible. That's the process and no one gets to jump over that and experience the reward without the time, effort, and energy.

Echoes are those design elements that are repeated in some other part of the piece. They are very important in creating artwork because the eye has this insatiable desire to make connections. For instance, if there is violet in the piece, the eye automatically looks for other areas with violet. By echoing the color again (in this piece I echoed it again in the flower in a darker value). I also echoed the subtle curving line by writing the quote in a similar line created by the blue green line underneath the flower. However, if there is an abundance of detail and other things going on, a straight line of lettering is probably the best choice. Simply following the line of a shape can look contrived rather than convincing.

Other echoes can be created by having lines, shapes, and colors disappear and reappear. For instance, I created some erratic lines on the paper before the pouring medium and they are creating a subtle dynamic with their appearance and disappearance.

Another important reminder is to take your shapes from edge to edge which allows for more dynamic shapes than having something stuck in the middle of the design space. The flower, for instance, was placed so that the brown and blue green curving lines are connected to the flower and integrate well on those moving lines. The flower printed on transparent tissue is also better integrated because the blue green and brown colors can be seen right through the image. These are just a few of my design thoughts for the day and something else to ponder or think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Creative Power"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" clayboard panel)


"Creative power erupts from the fire of passion." Try doing anything without a deeply felt passion and it shows up in the work immediately. It is the passion that compels us all to go that extra bit to make something as good as it can be. There have been many negative connotations to the word "passion", but today we are looking at its absolute necessity in the creative process.

This piece was created by laying down horizontal bands of color on very wet 140 lb. HP watercolor paper. I wanted to see what would happen if I laid the color down and did nothing else to redirect the flow of color. Just by virtue of the paper being more wet in one area or the table not being completely level...it went its own way. You can clearly see how pure the colors are when there is no external factor (like a marbling tool or plastic fork) affecting the flow of the paint. There is minimal blending of color. This is good to know if you want very intense color and very little gradated effect going on.

The shapes of color are also more defined with a more prominent display of hard edges. One line of lettering was all that was needed because the piece is so intense. It is still amazing to me how one line of lettering going from edge to edge creates another division of space and is an elegant touch to a dramatic piece. Just a few more things to think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Closed" (sold)

(SOLD)


"Hang a "closed" sign in your mind on any thought that sends you on a detour." Detours are never fun. It generally takes a lot of time and effort to get back on the right road again. That's why it is so important to place a "closed" sign on those thoughts that can derail us. Most of the time we don't like to see the word "closed", but in this context,  it's a treasured word.

In order to have photographic images on hand that provide a lot of interesting shapes, it is necessary to change your mind on what constitutes a good photograph to provide the first layer for this type of piece. Taking photos of the typical scenic images that might be a good source for an oil painting is a different kind of photography. For this type of piece, you need to be looking for odd images that have some interesting shapes. All artwork is made up of shapes so the best candidates for this type of image will be the ones with many different sizes of shapes, overlapping shapes, shapes of different values or colors, and shapes that have edges on a diagonal. It's quite like going on an Easter Egg Hunt for shapes rather than eggs.

This particular signage was seen hanging on the door of a store. I was disappointed that the store was closed, but quite fascinated with the hand made sign that looked like a primitive collage created mostly from newspaper. Notice the division of space created by the sign and the way it was cropped for the photo. I did create a monoprint on Arches Text Wove with Ink before printing the image. Gesso and Black Charcoal Powder helped to add interest and mystery to the piece. Just a few more things to think about.

"Lines of Choice"

($40.00.....6" x 6"...mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Life is like an aged photograph etched with the lines of choice." Choices are the most powerful tool any of us has to alter the course of our life. This is especially true in a free society where we can choose to come and go at will. It is the cumulative effect of choices that make a life rich or destroyed. It's a choice.

As a visual artist, it is impossible to run away from the power created by division of space. It doesn't seem to matter what medium it is or whether the subject matter is realism, abstraction, or somewhere in between. The fact remains that all paintings of all types are made up of shapes. Those shapes create the way the space is divided. One of the most prolific daily painters (Carol Marine...oils) has compelling images because of the way her still life set ups are cropped and painted on the support. She has a great many diagonals plus the straight forward and confident brush strokes are also laid down in many different directions creating a rhythm which is mesmerizing.

The problem with all of us is that it is way too easy to shut off our brains and not intentionally think about these things. The result is often the same old thing with a still life placed in the center with negative space all around or the shadows and draping going off of the page, but always looking at the set up from the same angle. It's time to think because if any of us finds ourselves doing what thousands of others are doing, the viewer will tune out. There are simply too many compelling visuals out there so we must consider creating work that is not seen every day. In other words, to set ourselves apart somehow....some way. It is just something to think about. The division of space in this piece was created in layers with the lines playing a key role in how the space iwas divided, but it start with the division of space created by the photograph.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Thoughtless Words"

($40.00....6" x 6".....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Thoughtless words muddy relationships like black ink dropped into clear water." If you have ever said something in haste that hurt someone or someone has said something that hurt you, then the engulfing nature of this image completely mirrors what you might have been feeling. The good news is that the Bible has the proper response from Proverbs 3: 3..."Do not let kindness or truth leave you. Tie them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart."

This image is a perfect example of a caution when using very dark colors with pouring medium. In this image, it covers about 75% of the design space. It is a bit disturbing, but mirrors the quote perfectly so I decided to let it stand. But under most circumstances, it would be better to have the white area take up 75% of the design space with the black taking up only 25%. Color is the most emotional and powerful design element. It is the one element that does more to set the mood of the piece than any other element.

However, if you use much lighter colors with only a touch of black, brown, or some other very dark color, it is possible to get by with more of the design space covered. It's quite an interesting phenomenon to observe how colors react alone or with other colors. One of the best ways to observe colors is by paying attention to the colors used in an interior room. There are many periodicals that have countless examples of different combinations. The secret is to use the same percentage of that color as what you see in the room or image. As we can see in  today's posting, the percentage of space a color occupies can affect the mood completely. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Jewels"

($60.00....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)


"Jewels of insight are the reward of deep thinking." The skill of deep thinking may be a lost art, but those who stay the course and practice their thinking skills will have many jewels of insight. Select a quiet, meditative environment and think away!

This visual is a mental image of what I feel like when I am thinking. It's a bit contorted, takes many twists and turns and then the jewels of purple, gold, and green appear as wonderful insights, providing the reward of deep thinking.

The power of cropping is quite evident here. You can see two unequal white areas and then the diagonal band of moving color. That's why I encourage everyone who tries this to leave areas of white or light and very diffused color in parts of the design space. Covering the whole thing with dynamic color can be overwhelming and discourage the viewer from looking more than (5) seconds.

I did break my rule of having the lettering straight when there is this much going on, but in this case, it is a way of having the lettering "go with the flow" so to speak. There is nothing I like better than camouflaging the lettering within the piece and that is done by following the flow of lines or edges in the piece and using the color that is prevalent.

Even without lettering this piece could stand confidently on its own and be a dynamic visual in any environment. Just a few more things to think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"The Right Direction"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"To hit the floor running is good, but only if you're going in the right direction." If you've ever been lost while traveling and gone for miles in the wrong direction, then you can fully understand this quote. The choices we make everyday are like that road trip. Make sure you're going in the right direction.

There was a directional pull in this pouring medium that caused the color to go into two different directions. Not only did it help portray the meaning of the quote, but it divided the space into four quadrants. This type of unequal division is a very good intentional format to follow. Effective cropping caused part of the division, but running a plastic fork through the medium in different directions also helped. There is very little marbling going on because of the extreme wetness of the paper and the dilution of the nickel azo yellow in the first color to be poured.

This technique is not as complicated when working on a small piece like this one, but if larger pieces...like a 12" x 12" on up...are created, a heavier paper will need to be used such as a 140 lb. Hot Press or 300lb. HP. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"The Gift of Love" (unavailable)

(unavailable)


"Praying for a friend is the very best gift of love." When searching for just the right gift for a friend or family member, the gift of prayer is often overlooked. It is, however, the gift that will yield the largest return and it's totally free. What a deal!

When creating a piece using for spontaneous techniques, it is not always possible to plan the division of space. However, with a bit of collage and placement of the lettering, it can be much more defined. By stair stacking the quote, I caused it to connect with both bits of collage, creating an interesting division of space that goes from edge to edge. Also, by writing the word prayer in a much bolder style, I created an automatic focal point.

Pouring Medium pieces can truly stand on their own with no lettering even when the shapes are a bit nebulous. Artists are always striving to create images in a way that they look like they just happened effortlessly so this technique really does fit that bill. However, if you want something more complex, lettering and collage pair up with this technique beautifully. It truly is worth exploring. Just something to think about.

"The Ripple Effect"

($60.00......6" x 6" mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)

"The ripple effect grows wider as we focus on others."  Others are generally receptive and willing to reciprocate if we stop long enough to see that they also have needs and ideas that can contribute to our lives. It then creates a "ripple effect".

Today marks the anniversary of my first posting and the end of my first year. This is the 329th posting (July was a no go with my husband needing immediate surgery). What I've learned about process has been invaluable and I don't know of any other means that would have allowed me to learn this much in one year. Going back and looking at my first posting will give you a comparison.

Today's piece is all about contrast and the unexpected. I included a collage of a 1550 manuscript. It was printed on transparent tissue paper so the background would show through. It is the unexpected element in this piece since everything else has a very contemporary look and feel. The actual lettering of the quote is expressive with the weight of the strokes happening in unexpected places. The pencil lettering is simply an echo of the first three words of the quote and provides subtle texture and division of space.

One of the most unexpected things has begun to happen on a regular basis. I am no longer writing the quote first, but waiting until the image is created, and then responding to what is there. It is exhilarating and has completely changed my attitude about the way I work. Spontaneous techniques have also become a passion....hence the pouring medium mixed with acrylic paint. All in all it has been so worthwhile, that I have decided to carry on until I exhaust the benefits of doing it every day. Thanks for faithfully following and hope you will tell your friends and continue to watch and see where all of this takes me.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Small Beginnings"

($40.00.....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Small beginnings are infused with the power to change." It is easy to think that starting at "square one" is too difficult or that everyone else is much further ahead. But we should never despise small beginnings because everyone at some point in time had to start somewhere. Let your small beginnings infuse you with the power to change.

Yesterday I said that my aesthetic was to allow the image to cover a large percentage of the design space. Today that is definitely not the case. You can see that the eye gravitates right to the small image of berries. It helps to have direct complements in the image, but the larger issue was the negative space taking up most of the design space. There is a natural tendency when creating these small focal points to also feel the need to place elements in the negative space. I actually think it works best to focus on creating depth in this negative space with very subtle textural and value changes. The viewer then has some more interesting things to examine as they get closer to the piece.  (It is the equivalent to tonal range in music.  No one wants to hear music played at the same decibel level throughout.)

The division of space is also subtle with the pencil lettering moving from edge to edge horizontally and the focal point plus the addition of gray soft pastels going from edge to edge vertically. Paying attention to the division of space continues to be a primary consideration in every piece which is remarkable even with my 300th posting.  Just a few more important things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.