Thursday, March 07, 2013

Getting perspective

Here's where we are today. I decided to keep the green sky and add some silhouetted buildings to the sky. Umbrellas and tables are coming along. And I fixed that thing that hit me between the eyes last night after I posted yesterday's progress. Can you see what it was? No? Well, it is subtle, but the reason I have to work a little and then look a little, then work a little and then look a little.. And sometimes seeing it on the monitor screen is even more revealing than seeing it in person. It was not about the color of the sky. It was about proportion. Here, I'll explain. Here are yesterday's version and today's side by side.

Yesterday— on the left—it was kind of top-heavy. And too evenly divided into sections. The building's half point was pretty close to the center of the composition. The sky section at the top was just about the same size as the ground section at the bottom. And the building, itself, was bulging at the top. The heaviest part needed to be shifted toward the bottom, otherwise it was all about to topple over. So today—on the right—I made the ground area bigger than the sky. I moved the tables and umbrellas downward, giving the building a little more height and moving its mid point up higher. I also straightened up those sides, so the top of the building is no longer wider than the bottom. And, by the way, the today photo is more accurate color. I used my real camera instead of my phone camera. So far this is still all pinned together. I have yet to take a stitch. Once I get the basics of the chairs in place I will probably start stitching. I started on chairs today. The tables need bases too.


Beautiful day today! I loved the sunshine coming in the skylights in the studio. What a change from yesterday's gray skies and soggy, sloggy rain. The daffodils are starting to bloom.


10 comments:

  1. Enjoy watching the progress

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  2. Anonymous5:40 AM

    It's amazing to see your 'composition' come together. I don't have a very critical eye, I guess, because the first photo looked good to me. But the second one is better!! That's why YOU are the artist.....not me! (smile)

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  3. It is looking good.

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  4. It's amazing what a difference subtle changes can make.

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  5. Is the yellow building separate from the two identical orange buildings on each side of it (i.e. 3 different buildings), or is it all one building with the yellow section coning out into the foreground and the orange section more recessed? I'm enjoying your process, thanks for sharing. The work on the perspective really helped. Love the dark blue instead of the expected black.

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    1. They are probably separate buildings, but built wall to wall without spaces between. Honestly,that was, for me irrelevant. As I started filling in the adjacent buildings I just wanted them to be there and not detract from the yellow building. I felt that making each one different from the other might do that. Maybe making them the same is distracting? Perhaps I need to consider changing them up a little. Something else to think about... Thanks for that question.

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  6. Love the process and am looking forward to seeing the final project

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  7. This is probably a dumb question, but I'm assuming that the top picture is fabric and pinned. What I would like to understand is how you you have everything edged in a dark fabric. Is there a dark piece of fabric underneath all the individual pieces to give that effect? And if so, how do you manage no fraying? Is an adhesive lay applied prior to cutting?

    I really am enjoying watching your process and totally agree with all your choices.

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    1. Hi Gretchen. See an explanation of the dark outline technique here: http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-black-outlines.html

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  8. Hi Terry,
    This piece is absolutely fabulous....I love every stitch on it...Thanks so much for sharing..
    Please stop by my blog and enter for a chance to win the lovely bracelet..
    .all you have to do is become a follower :)and for a 2nd chance advertise the giveaway on your blog..
    Thanks so much
    Hugs
    Maggie

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