Want to know what's going on with your artwork? Take a photo and look at the photo. I don't know why this works, but it does. Sometimes there is something not quite right, big as life, right in front of you and you don't see it until you take a photo. Seriously.
Do you see a difference between these two pictures?
When I posted pictures of the stitching I did yesterday something hit me. The first picture was what I was seeing and it was dead. Something was not right. The lines of stitching were too regular and static. I went back today and added enough additional lines of stitching to break up that regularity and, for me, it changed the whole feeling. Now I am stitching with more awareness of creating a more syncopated, organic rhythm in the stitching. I'm glad I saw that when I did.
I put in a long afternoon of quilting on this piece today. Tomorrow I'm helping Sofia with a sewing project, so I won't be stitching on my piece for another day or more, but I see the end in sight.
Posted with Blogsy
I too, take photos to check work as it progresses. Looking at it through a mirror can be just as useful (and quicker!) sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even SEE the stitching lines in the first piece until I saw the second. I thought, 'the first one isn't quilted yet' and then went back to check. Huh.
ReplyDeleteTaking that photo makes a whole world of difference! It has something to do with being able to focus on just the image. Just like color is influenced by surrounding colors, cutting away that extraneous background noise helps to see what is truly there. Love the difference adding the extra stitching made. It takes the piece from being quilted to quilt art!! I so love watching your process :}
ReplyDeleteYou have such a terrific 'eye'. Your piece is coming along beautifully.
ReplyDeleteSofia is so fortunate to have you for a teacher. What a wonderful way for you to spend time together!!!
I often take a picture to see it from a different perspective. Standing back from it can do this as well. What I think up close looks good...from halfway across the room it looks completely differnet.
ReplyDeleteI always used to hold a painting in progress up to a mirror, now I take a photo and look at it on screen.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it has something to do with being able to step farther back from the piece but still be able to zoom in on the detail. Photos do help a lot. In fact, when I link up to a blog, sometimes I see something in the thumbnail that jumps out at me that I didn't notice before.
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