In this exercise, I chose to paint washes that were opposites on the color wheel. Then I decided what the resulting painting reminded me of. Next I “brought out” the image.
Red Giant with webbing, using red and green.
Sunset over Circle Mountain, with yellow and purple.
Detail drawn in with watercolor pencils and Micron pens. Cold press paper by Winsor and Newton, 4 x 6.
My new project is in keeping with my desire to work with my stash. I have been wanting to make a shawl with this purple yarn, called Leticia, by Bremont.
It is a singles yarn (for you non-knitters, that means it’s not plied.) Three fibers are blended together: wool, alpaca and silk. I own three skeins. Over the past few years, I have tried unsuccessfully to pair it with another yarn, so that I could make a two-color shawl.
Last week, while wasting a lot of time viewing yarns on the Jimmy Beans site (https://www.jimmybeanswool.com/ ) I discovered the perfect match from Malabrigo.
I ordered two skeins lickety-split and they arrived post-haste within three days. This yarn, also a singles, combines silk and merino wool about 50/50. It’s hard to describe the silky sheen of this yarn, (I was almost swooning while casting it on and knitting the first few rows.)
For my pattern, I re-visited a Craftsy tutorial by Laura Nelkin, in which she explains how to design 14 different shawl shapes. It’s fantastic, if you don’t mind doing a little math. I chose the crescent shape.
https://www.craftsy.com/class/knit-shawls-14-ways-exploring-shape-design/
My two-color shawl inspiration comes from Helen Kennedy’s Pale Moon pattern on Ravelry.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pale-moon
I love the way the mosaic section bridges the two colors of yarn. But instead of making Pale Moon, I would prefer to use Laura Nelkins’ instructions for the shape and design a mosaic chart of my own.
My first attempt at designing a mosaic pattern, unfortunately, was a failure. Apparently, there are some hard and fast rules about sequencing slipped stitches between the two colors. So back I go to my graph paper for a re-do.
After receiving this photograph yesterday, I simply had to update my post.
Thought I would make a quick painting of this photograph of a blanket flower.
It turned out to be Not Quick, and a bit of a hot mess. So I went after it with a couple of Micron pens in compatible colors.
I will try a blanket flower again. A few days ago I planted one in the perennial bed. In a few months I will paint it en plein aire.
Three years ago, I was inspired by this photograph to make a small art quilt.
I had taken this picture while on the drive back home from Wisconsin. The colors and the layers made me think of a strip pieced quilt. In 2020 I used several hand-painted fabrics to create an abstract landscape.
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/157882254/posts/1737
While I no longer have this quilt, (it was gifted to my god-daughter) I still have the photograph. Using it as a reference, I reproduced the lower right section of this quilt in watercolor.
It was a quick and fun exercise. But it got me to thinking about derivative artworks. What else did I make that can inspire a new piece in a different medium?
Daily Fiber 