Journal
Here's my journal for the week, inspired by all the beautiful leaves that have fallen from the trees. It looks nothing like what I had envisioned, but I certainly learned a lot in the process.
I started by gathering leaves during a walk and photocopying them onto Extravorganza. I was surprised to discover that the leaves really didn't look too distinct and the colors were a bit faded. As a result, I placed the Extravorganza over a piece of bright yellow fabric -- to liven it up a bit. It looked great. I also placed a piece of handmade lime green paper under it; it created a background that made the leaf lines more crisp. I decided to use gel medium to adhere the Extravorganza to the fabric and paper.
Perhaps this is where I made my "mistake". The colors bled and the paper looked dull. I don't know what happened; do you? At any rate, I stitched on some wavy lines in a beautiful lime green thread and outlined a tree in a vibrant burnt sienna as a fill-in since the fabric couldn't carry the piece. Both of these got lost. I tried to darken the body of the tree with paintstiks(no success) and fabric markers (marginally better). Finally, I tried color pencils on both the paper and tree. At least this helped make things more visible. I finished it with some orange stitching with sashico thread.
I was stumped at each turn with this piece and it looks nothing like what I had originally set out to create. I had hoped to create something that expressed the richness and vibrance of all the fall colors. I'm really not sure how I feel about the end result. I think it has a sad feel to it. The colors look mushy and dull. The green paper looks too big compared to the tree I ended up stitching to use up space (a mistake, perhaps, to try to free-hand sketch a tree?). Ah well; thank heavens this is a journal.
I started by gathering leaves during a walk and photocopying them onto Extravorganza. I was surprised to discover that the leaves really didn't look too distinct and the colors were a bit faded. As a result, I placed the Extravorganza over a piece of bright yellow fabric -- to liven it up a bit. It looked great. I also placed a piece of handmade lime green paper under it; it created a background that made the leaf lines more crisp. I decided to use gel medium to adhere the Extravorganza to the fabric and paper.
Perhaps this is where I made my "mistake". The colors bled and the paper looked dull. I don't know what happened; do you? At any rate, I stitched on some wavy lines in a beautiful lime green thread and outlined a tree in a vibrant burnt sienna as a fill-in since the fabric couldn't carry the piece. Both of these got lost. I tried to darken the body of the tree with paintstiks(no success) and fabric markers (marginally better). Finally, I tried color pencils on both the paper and tree. At least this helped make things more visible. I finished it with some orange stitching with sashico thread.
I was stumped at each turn with this piece and it looks nothing like what I had originally set out to create. I had hoped to create something that expressed the richness and vibrance of all the fall colors. I'm really not sure how I feel about the end result. I think it has a sad feel to it. The colors look mushy and dull. The green paper looks too big compared to the tree I ended up stitching to use up space (a mistake, perhaps, to try to free-hand sketch a tree?). Ah well; thank heavens this is a journal.
Comments
it sounds to me like the paper beneth the extravaganza bled and altered the color of the fabric. The piece is still quite lovely though I understand not what you had envisioned...especially as the trees are so brillant now. But, the good news is you can do anothe one!