I have been working on Ann’s abstract challenge throughout the quarter but haven’t had that much time to put into it. If you didn’t see my earlier posts, here is the first one and the second post. Basically, I took one of my sketches and then “abstracted” it in Photoshop Elements. I’m not sure it is really that abstracted but it is certainly a change from the original sketch. I was planning on felting a piece but just didn’t have the time. Instead, I machine stitched a piece and can use it for my stitch class homework too.

This is the original sketch in my studio journal done with watercolor pencils.

Here is the photo after being “abstracted” in Photoshop.

Here is my interpretation on fabric. The colors are off as this was taken indoors. I fused a lightweight cotton to heavy Kona cotton and then stitched the outlines of the trees. On the foreground trees, I stitched outlines of the black marks on the trunks. I then colored in the piece with permanent markers and added the shadowing with colored pencil. I forgot to take any photos just showing the stitching.

Here it is in my sketchbook. I stitched around the edge and trimmed it. This is closer to the true colors of the piece. I like how it turned out but it isn’t really that abstract.

Here’s closer view so perhaps you can see the stitching. You can click on any of the photos to see a bigger view. I really enjoyed this challenge and for me, it was a challenge. As I said in my prior posts, I don’t feel comfortable doing abstract work. And I’m not sure that this piece would be really classified as abstract but it is certainly different from what I would normally do. So thanks Ann for the challenge!