Sunday, January 24, 2010

Tool of the Trade


While i was reworking the design fractures Kathy suggested i use an overlay to see if i liked the changes before making them on the artwork itself. What a great tool! i highly recommend it especially for complex designs. You get so bogged into the work itself you can't see the forest through the trees so to speak. So i made up a piece of .005 overlay plastic and sectioned it off into thirds. By laying this over the top and stepping away i was able to look at the whole area (but also break it down into smaller areas) to check for unity and variety. I could marker in some changes and tell right away whether it might work or not. Best of all i can erase all marks and use it again and again. Thought i would share this with those of you who may not already use an overlay.


I have started to add the glazes and hopefully will be ready to share soon.

5 comments:

  1. It's good to see this posted. Such an effective method for evaluating the different sectors of your work. Can't wait to see what you paint next!

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  2. Greetings Carolyn,

    What you have discovered through Kathy I have made use of on a painting that took 2 1/2 years to complete and since the last stage was the most critical, any error would cancel out all the years spent on the canvas.

    However in the words of my high school art teacher Mr Crawford, 'where are your thumbnail sketches?'

    I believe that sketching out ones ideas is important, but not all paintings can be worked out ahead, especially abstracts. However yours is structural abstract and doing thumbnails will help. Yet I shall also come to your defense and say that what looks good on a small pieces of paper does not always translates to a larger canvas.

    On the end, I am suggesting sketching out various ideas and then taking the best three to five and translating them on to the overlay to see what works best.

    Warmest regards
    Egmont

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  3. Egmont, Carolyn completed dozens of thumbnail sketches before settling on a few to develop into small scale paintings. These are experiments in composition, and part of a long road toward completed works that will meld together both planned and intuitive painting. We're just beginning!

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  4. What a wonderful idea! I scanned back through your blog just a bit, and I think it is very interesting where your work is going. I will follow along.. (PS - You are so lucky to have Kathy in your area!!)

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  5. I remember you saying your art was going in a different direction this past fall. Then life happened and I never did get the opportunity to see what you have been up to. Your work is amazing!!!!I am excited for you!

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