Jan’s 3rd Quarter 2017 Challenge Part 1

Jan’s 3rd Quarter 2017 Challenge Part 1

My friend Jan really got into the 3rd quarter challenge. She worked on it most of the summer and fall. If you have read other posts by Jan you know she is a great story teller. So, I had to break this into 3 posts. This post and the next 2 will take you on a journey with Jan from concept to finished challenge.

3rd quarter challenge part 1 the Plan

I was instantly intrigued by the third quarter challenge. I have always appreciated the aesthetic of Japanese prints and the Hokkaido wave had been particularly interesting to me. A bit strange when you consider I really don’t like getting wet. Ok, I am a bit hydrophobic. When I look at the Wave I don’t concentrate on the impending death of the fishermen in there precariously tipped boats, the fact that mount Fuji may be plunged into unpleasant wetness at any moment but that the repetitiveness of the design on the inside of the wave reminds me of a Japanese umbrella. Umbrellas are good. They keep you from wetness. A giant umbrella in the middle of the ocean sounds almost appealing, as if you might stay dry surrounded by all the wetness.

OK, I have a theme. Now who would need an umbrella in the middle of the ocean? Hmmm. An octopus!

The Great Wave off Kanagawa also known as The Great Wave or simply The Wave, is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It was published sometime between 1829 and 1833 in the late Edo period as the first print in Hokusai’s series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. It is Hokusai’s most famous work.

As you may have noticed I tend to do flat pictures with a bit more thickness than flat pictures usually have. So the concept of taking a print you like and using it to inspire something from it but not make a copy will not be a problem. OK wave as umbrella, and octopus holding umbrella. Other elements of the print to work into the finished pieces. The sky, the other littler waves and maybe the boats with fishermen, or maybe not the boats with fishermen. I have nothing against fishermen, I really do like to fish. But I’m not to fond of boats. They are just tempting fate. Why leave nice solid ground if you don’t have to? So let us leave the boats for a later consideration.

I had a plan and all within half an hour of reading the email. A quick sketch (I thought I had lost it but found it inside my new needle felting box. This is why the original idea and the preliminary execution differs quickly. I lost the sketch by putting it somewhere safe.)

Then a trip to the wonderful internet to “acquire” reference photos and do a bit of research.

I’ve got the wave (I found 3 graphics of the wave one with the fishermen very easily visible) so let’s get umbrellas.

Now for some octopuses/octopi.

Phase 1 Planning is complete.

12 thoughts on “Jan’s 3rd Quarter 2017 Challenge Part 1

    1. Thankyou! i hope you will still be saying that at the end of part 2 becouse there is a part 3!

  1. Great start, I look forward to seeing how you pull this together. Also, an interesting concept of an octopus with an umbrella. 🙂

    1. The Octopus seemed the best solution to having a huge umbrella in the Ocien just off Japan. which is known to have been attacked by numerous unusually large creatures. just think of Mothra and Godzilla. who is to say there isnt a Octopod version? i hope you will enjoy the final result!

  2. I love that you took the idea and ran sideways with it. I don’t think I ever would have thought to create an octopus with an umbrella from this inspiration.

    1. i have admired this print before for its layout and flow (not the wetness) so i had noticed the repetitive patterning and thot it felt like an umbrella. i wish i had a bit more time to make variations on the umbrella theem but maybe i will try another felt umbrella wave some time. this was a realy fun print to use as inspiration.

  3. Looking forward to reading about the rest!

    As a side note, I saw a documentary on Japanese art recently and it talked about the Wave. They said that we Westerners see it as fishermen facing impending doom, but it’s not so for the Japanese! Because they read from right to left, the wave is actually moving away from the men – meaning this painting is about having escaped doom, and therefore is about hope. I hope this is interesting! 🙂

    1. i was a bit worryed the guild would get a bit bored but thay seemd to like seeing the progress from month to month

  4. I greatly appreciate the poster translating my wifes’ writing from Dyslexic to English. When I do it my spelling goes all to pot.

    1. i did worn you that i could distroy an undergrads spelling in 4 esays and a post grad would implode on 5. since you have lasted spellchecking since around 1988 and its only going now you are doing prity well to still be able to tell the diference between English and dislexic. but you are welsh so you may have an advantage reading dislexic to begin with? you did agaree that spellchecking was part of your husbanly duies that and snow shuveling both of which i apresiate

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