The ruminations of an artist on art & life...art quilts, beading, knitting, drawing, painting, printmaking, bookmaking are all my passions, I love to explore creating....

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Painting Flowers

I have been obsessed this past week with painting an intricate flower design in the Jacobean style---a large design (17"x 24") in 9 colors. This is an assignment for my Fabric Design classes.

Here are some examples of the details---a small part of the overall design which I have completed so far. These photos were taken at my work desk inside--so the colors are not quite true. First I painted a "ground"--the background color (a beige, with some green in the color)---covering the whole 17" x 24" area, then I traced my design onto the ground, then began painting the design. The designing of the pattern and palette took several weeks--with many changes. I painted several "roughs" of small areas of the design, and revised my colors from these roughs--several times. It was a relief to finally get to the actual over-all painting, once I had my colors all mixed to match my approved roughs. The paint is gouache. The outlining is a red archival Pigma felt tip pen.




QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." ---Rachel Carson

4 comments:

Mary Timme said...

Haven't been by in awhile and wanted to say hi. I learned something today as well. Interesting what you are going through to get your design towards it final stages. That is a lot of work you've put into it. Nice palatte and would be a wonderful fabric or paper. Is that what it is supposed to be for?

B. said...

Beautiful, Aurora! The design and colors bring me right back to my childhood. Creating my own Jacobean style pattern has always been one of my life goals, so I envy you your success :)

Anonymous said...

It looks totally awesome!

Robin said...

This is totally awesome, Aurora! You will be a successful fabric designer... I have no doubt about it! Thanks for writing about the learning process and sharing your beautiful work!