As I was looking at my photo library, I realize I had these never before posted images of the creation of one of my favorite quilts. Here is the evolution of Windsong...
My black and white laser printed drawing is beneath the fabric and away we go beginning with that part we are usually most afraid of. I do this for 2 reasons and this approach has worked for me every time.
Most important... 1) we are most rested and patient when we first begin... so why not tackle the important part of the important image right out of the gate. 2) The second reason which so far has not come into play... is that IF it just doesn't work ... I can begin anew.
This is a white horse as you see so to capture the white highlights at the topside edges of the horse head and mane, an edge of the brownish background negative space goes in to place
Ofcourse this horse is not blue... but since shadows are generally cool, I used blue and even a bit of purple to create contour and dimension.
This piece was painted across several days making certain I took many a break to refresh my energy and patience.
I think painting is mentally much like snow skiing in that I always knew in my skiing when my legs were getting tired and should not take on another run. Skiing on tired legs and you fall. The same is true in painting ( or even quilting) .... if too tired, you will likely screw something up.
The background is to be a dense thicket ... and I am making it up as I go. I layer colors and play with negative space where I can to keep lighter edges here and there.
I carefully did some layered setacolor washes in the upper background.. eg put one down, let it dry and heat set... then layered another neutral color atop and water splatted for interest. I always do this kind of thing with an embossing or hair dryer next to my painting area to stop any unwanted movement of paint into already defined image/s.
He is unquilted here, but looks okay to me. This piece was done in recall of memories of childhood days on our farm in Oklahoma. We did have horses on our farmland and there were routine winds moving across the plains. As such, soft winds seem a comfort to me. A windblown mane of a horse is a thing of beauty to me.
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