This is the dragon I am currently working on. I tried very hard to follow the set guides for this time...Perspective - which I don't think I did too badly with and Monochromatic, which I seem to have lost along the way. Several of the fabrics I started with didn't end up in the composition, and then I realised the dragon's features were lost and I wasn't sure just stitching would show them up. So I chose paints in the monochromatic scheme, but of course they were metallic blends. So the silvery turquoise one reads as silver when you paint it on green and the goldy green one reads gold.
The "shadow" was originally teal green (scraps from this skirt), but the dragon and the "shadow" were too similar in value. So, I painted it with olive bronze to darken it...but only the bronze shows! (I have used these before and only saw the other part of the colour!)
As you know, my dragons usually have a story. Well, I started out thinking this was a spring dragon, but when the "shadow" started looking like a lily pond, I realise it was a pond dragon! I think it still is, but it lives in the pond of the Princess of the ?, who has had special bronze lily pads made for the dragon to rest on. It is a very lucky dragon. (Or will be if I can get it right) I am still learning the rest of the story.
Anyway, I will continue to work on it and see if I find out what is missing. I am going to create more texture on the dragon body. I think I have managed to salvage the value, so I am giving up trying to get the monochromatic thing going again. Here is the photo with the colour desaturated, showing the values. Not wonderful, but alright.
I am not sure if I will keep working this right now, or hang it up in my studio till I see what it needs, if anything, before I stitch into it. I had decided these would be studies, but when I thought perspective, I found it hard not to do a whole dragon. Any advice will be gladly considered.By the way, I went for those colours because I wanted to use the background. It is one I did with flour resist. It seemed very dragon - atmospheric. It is actually much bigger... I cropped the photo. I haven't decided how big it wants to be yet.
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1 comment:
Hi Sandy - Thanks for the description of the different things you tried. It is a wonderful learning experience to get to listen in on someone else's creative experience.
While the dragon hasn't exactly turned out to be monochromatic, who cares? It seems as if it was telling you what it wanted to be and you had the good sense to listen.
I realize it is not done but it is such an interesting piece. I particularly like the way you have shown perspective with the dragon's tail. All those little scales along the spine add a very nice touch too.
I hope you will post the piece when you decide it is finished.
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