Try Again!

Often, I have an idea and it just doesn't work the first time around.

Source Image

I watched a short video about Michael A. Cummings. I decided not to try and imitate his style. Too complex for an ATC. instead, I wanted to use this image as my source.

Attempt #1

I planned to quilt the image, but I did not have the right colors of fabric. So I tried drawing... poorly.

Final ATC

I liked the portion of card that had five straight lines symbolizing fingers, so I tried again, keeping things more abstract.

On February 4, I tried to so a study of one simple figure (the cart-wheeling girl with a red dress) from Jacob Lawrence's "Harriet Tubman Series, panel 4."

I just tried to copy a portion of Jacob Lawrence's painting. It didn't work.

2. I changed her direction and added wings, be still tried to reproduce a fairly close image from Lawrence's painting.

3. I tried the same concept, but this time I painted with acrylic gouache on black watercolor paper.

4. I decided to freehand-cut mulberry paper and make it as a colláge . THIS one feels right....

Weaving FAILURE...

I am not sure how many HOURS this failed ATC took... but it was more than three...

I was inspired by Kente Cloth Designs, and I thought I could use a fine-gauge plastic needlepoint canvas as a makeshift loom. You can see the warp threads: the vertical five black, five yellow, five black, five yellow threads. At the bottom, I tried weaving green triangles. FAIL. Next I tried doing just a basic weave, first in red, then in green. Then I just experimented, using some stitches to lock the yarn to the canvas.

After SO much work, I didn't want to throw it away, so I added a needlepoint border and hoped for the best. I have never done much weaving. I understand the basic concepts, but I do NOT understand how the triangles are created on Kente Cloth. I know that certain type of weaving have very fine warp threads, and the pattern is created with the weft. More research needed.

I MAY try a paper method, from Mrs. Lundgren's Art Room.

I may try to improvise a simple loom. To be continued...

How Many Tries Does it Take to Get it Right?

The final card STILL isn't perfect. That banner was harder than I thought it would be!

I posted this ATC with expectations of getting a couple of trade offers, and planned to do better for the NEXT cards in the series.

But it didn't happen.

Go figure!

But I had fun making this card, and I think this is a fun photo of the "first three failures."

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