With seven days already invested in this project it would seem that I was nearing the end. Well, not quite! My studio is always full of surprises and today was proof of that. Time to take a look at what transpired.

Day 8

When I turned off the lights in my studio at the end of Day 7 I was feeling pretty pleased with the status of my original art piece. Progress was coming along very nicely and pieces seemed to be falling into place. Just because I turned off the lights and left the area didn’t mean I had turned off my brain. Anytime that I am engaged in the process of designing one of my original art pieces my brain is continually analyzing my previous and future decisions. I even find myself dreaming about them. Now isn’t that obsessive! 🙂

Day 8 proved to be the beginning of a total overhaul. Before we unpack that adventure I would like to share with you one of the blocks that may see a few changes.

Under Scrutiny

This is the block I was referring to. Ever since I created this wonky-looking thing it’s been hanging on my design wall surrounded by all the other pieces. Many of them had already seen additional changes, but this one had not.

I had taken a special liking to it because of its color combinations and because I was thrilled to be able to incorporate an orphaned section from one of my previous original art pieces. The leftover remnant is located near the center of the block. It’s the four diagonal teal strips.

Here’s where it came from. In Crossroads, AP # 10 I can see segments of the strip repeated in at least 13 different areas. This just goes to show me that a scrap this size is well-worth saving. Someday it will find a new home and for this remnant that someday finally came.

My fondness for this block made me think that perhaps it needed some special attention. Who knows maybe it should to be singled out as a possible solo piece. Whatever its destiny I just knew I wanted to add more color through the addition of borders and not just one.

The fabrics resting beneath were among the many combinations I pondered. After considering my various options I made the decision to use all of them. I will show you how it looked in a later photo.

When Is A Circle Not A Circle?

The answer is, “When it’s fractured into wonky shapes.” In one of my other posts I talked about following Cindy Grisdela’s book Artful Improv: Explore Color Recipes, Building Blocks & Free-Motion Quilting to create improv circles for this original art piece. My initial attempt yielded three new wonky circle blocks. I had so much fun making them that I decided to make three more.

My wonky circle blocks were added to my design wall as building blocks for my current original art piece. They were strategically dispersed throughout in hopes of achieving a cohesive design.

Every time I stopped to take-in the piece as a-whole I found my eyes drifting toward those wonky circles. This tendency for them to draw my attention got me thinking. As the wheels turned I began to wonder if perhaps they were too eye-catching to be a part of this design.

The best way to make that decision was to pull them from their places and set them aside. So, that’s what I did. The photo above shows them all together in one area. I really liked the visual impact they made. In fact I liked it so much that I decided they were going to stay that way. Thus, another original art piece was formed.

Something’s Wrong

Before we move on to look at my revamped design wall I would like to take a little time to show you what’s wrong with my wonky circles.

Lately in my posts I’ve been showing some of my photos both in color and in mono tones. The reason for this is to demonstrate how I analyze my original art pieces for their overall impact.

Pictured above is my newest original art piece both in color and in mono tones. Each block in the color photo has a variety of incorporated colors. Some of the blocks appear to have a well-balanced arrangement of tones while others do not.

At first glance there are five blocks, in the color photo, that appear to fail. Block 5, in the bottom left corner, is the only block that appears to have the right combination of lights, mediums and darks. Now if I look at the mono tone photo I would say that all of the blocks fail the test.

In block 1 the border is the problem because it bleeds into some of the wonky circle colors making them less distinct. Block 2 the two colors in the top right corner blend with one another as well as the border. In block 3 the border should have been darker and five of the colors used in the circle sections blend together too much. I think you get the picture.

When I was creating these blocks I didn’t take the time to analyze the values of my colors. From what I have seen now it obviously would have been a great idea. Too late now! They are supposed to be wonky, right!

Even though my wonky circles don’t pass the color value test I still really like them. Over time I’m sure I will overlook their extra wonkiness. These are all great lessons to learn. Up next is a peek at my design wall.

Design Wall Review

 

Here we have photos of my design wall from Day 7 on the left and Day 8 on the right. Comparing the two side-by-side shows obvious differences. The Day 7 photo shows a very busy conglomerate of unique building blocks while Day 8’s arrangement is much more compact, yet segmented. I also created and added new blocks to the mix. Here’s a test for you: How many new blocks can you find in the Day 8 photo?

What If?

After leaving my studio yesterday I started to think about the arrangement on my design wall. While I really liked the individual building blocks I wasn’t too sure about their placement. Since I hadn’t yet stitched any of the units together there was no reason for me to leave them as is. Believe it or not I took them all down and started from scratch.

A Clean Slate

Actually, it was kind of refreshing to have a clean slate.

Without looking at photos of my previous arrangements, one by one I began adding blocks back to the wall. Some of the blocks were singled out for other purposes. I’ve already shared that the wonky circle blocks had been set aside to create a new original art piece. Also singled out were the block I talked about at the beginning of this post and the largest block of the mix. These two additional pieces are being designated as individual original art pieces too.

Isn’t it amazing that from all of this work I now have authored four original art pieces!

A Quick Analysis

Without going into detail, I want to take a quick look at my color vs. value test for today’s design wall.

Hmmm, let me see…well, I already know that the wonky circle original art piece doesn’t pass the test because I discussed that one earlier. The art piece directly below seems to be fine. The block directly below that could have had a few light tones added to bring definition between the dark and medium fabrics; otherwise that ones not too bad. The last section on the design that contains the balance of my blocks needs a lot of work. Too many of them blend together. I guess I have my work cut our for me. Oh well! No worries! Tomorrow is another day.

Thank You!

Day 8 has now come to an end. Time to leave my studio and make supper.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today! I’m so glad we had the opportunity.

Talk with you soon!

Before you go, don’t forget to answer the question!