Friday, December 19, 2014

A Color Story - Off the Wall Friday

Ahhhhh - our Christmas Rush is over and I have some time to create.  Well, just a little time, since it still is Christmas. . . not to mention all the things I let slide the last three weeks.  Yet, it wasn't a bad idea letting my next project "cook" a bit.  I've been thinking of values and colors - so I pulled out my color pencil collection.

As an aside - for a "Non-Drawer" - I have a pretty big collection of color pencils. I mean doesn't everyone need 5 different sets to the tune of 200+ pencils?  And what set do I like the best and its my go-to set - yep - you guessed it - my Crayola Pencils.  Not only were they the least expensive  ($6) but they color smooth, sharpen nicely and the 50 pencil set has a nice range of colors.  Just perfect for utility coloring of the design process.

So last month I came up with my sketch for Sacred Threads.  Since you should always make visual decisions visually - I've been coloring up some mock ups.

UGH!!  Can you say edit??  Too many colors - but I do like the way the yellow moves through it.  Also not enough value changes.

Again to many colors  - the yellow creates a nice focal point - the lighter cross makes it stand out more.  Do I want the cross to be the highlight of the piece or the abstracted people?  hmmmm

I started to limit the palette a bit - I like the cross in the neutral and the nice dark background - but it all seems a bit too much blue and dark.  I wanted this to be a happy piece - needs more happy colors.


This is getting closer - I like the idea of putting the cross in the same color family as background - using three bits of yellow to create movement and focal points.  The color palette is working nicely too. I'm getting closer.

After 4 - I called uncle.  I mean my hand was starting to cramp up!  But I still want to try some more trials since I made a lot of copies of the sketch.  The thing about this process is it makes me decide what do I actually want to say and how do I want to say it.  Color and Value play a huge part in that. 

I've learned the better you plan out a project, the easier it will go in the end.  Besides there are worse things to do than color in front of the Christmas tree.

I will be running Off the Wall Friday the next two weekends - even with the holidays for anybody who wants to link up. Right now my studio looks like Wrapping Central but I do expect to get some time back in there soon!

No matter what your beliefs -
Let me just wish you Blessings of the Season.  

So what have you been up to creatively


9 comments:

Unknown said...

Best wishes for you too!!! Love seeing the artwork. Thanks for sharing.

Turtlemoonimpressions said...

Looking good Nina! I like the blue cross (more hopeful to me).

The Inside Stori said...

A very Merry Christmas to you....thank you for the year of inspiration!

quiltedfabricart said...

Thank you for hosting this link up, glad you will still have it during the holidays. Your link up helps me to finish projects. Wanting to have something to show every Friday gives me that extra little push that I need and it's now part of my Friday routine to check out some of the other blogs. You are a big part of my Friday now and I want to thank you for that :-)

Kaja said...

I have loved participating in your link up this year -thanks so much. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas.

Jenny K. Lyon said...

I like the neutral cross in #3. Thank you for sharing the WHOLE process, not just the best ones. I learn from that! Thank you for hosting the line up party-I've enjoyed the new (to me) artists. What will life be like without the 3 critiques/mo?!

Regina B Dunn said...

Very Merry Christmas to you. I think you have a promising design going there.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Jenny Lyon; thanks for showing the WHOLE process and discussing your likes and dislikes about each. I have great difficulty getting from B/W sketch to color.

Nina Marie said...

(I'm answering here since some of the comments were made by "No Reply" commenters) - I just want to say that posting the pictures on my blog gives me a little perspective about what's working and what's not. I can see how my color and value placement evolves as each sketch is done. I know that a lot of quilters do value and color instinctively but that kind of creating really isn't in my nature - especially with a big project like this. I can see where I can easily color at least 4 more of these before I get just the right combo to express really what I want to say with this piece.