Arlington 2017 Completed

Arlington 2017, my winter focus, is completed. Sew the tapes on, make the hanging stick and it's off to the new owner. I thought I would review what I got out of the the entire project.

Arlington 2017, 12" x 22", 10 epi

1. Working with an idea
- I started with some photos the client had taken of her father's funeral. How do I express this in a fairly small piece? The solemnity of the day, the beauty of the park and a sense of hopefulness...I like that challenge.

I started with a watercolor

2. Manipulating values
- I dye nearly all the yarn I use and the control of values is important. How can I lead the eye where I want it to go? Can I show the soldiers in the foreground against the caisson?

3. Technique
- How do I show stars on the caisson with so few warps? Will I be able to 'collage' the three themes of the piece - the funeral procession, the bugler and the Capitol, how will that sense of distance work?

4. Green
- I have had a lifetime of trouble with green, wearing it, dyeing it, working with it. It's tricky.

A commission is a great opportunity to work within the parameters of another person's wants and needs. I remembered the many portraits pieces I used to do from photos and how each one was different.

I enjoyed this recent challenge.

Now it's time to experiment once again....

Latest warp cut, who knows what will  happen next....

Sketching in May

Self Portraits
Such a great subject, after all I'm always around. There's a mirror in the bathroom and plenty of art tools just about anywhere you look, especially on the kitchen table

I felt the need to immerse myself tonight, perhaps the whole weekend. I painted some papers I tore from an old book with gouache, then did a couple portraits with a marker.

 I like the way the text shows a bit in places. No planning on the painting.

Tombow ink pen, brush with water to bleed

crayola crayons layered many times

A few more in my sketchbook. I enjoy working with crayons, a friend of mine had given me one of those solid bars of crayon shavings melted together. I worked it back and forth and added the black in the end.

Who knows where any of this will go, it really doesn't matter, the play is the thing.

One last one, waiting at the Philadelphia Airport a couple weeks ago.
There is always something to draw.