
Sudden Change of Plans
I have come to the conclusion that until I can acquire the appropriate topcoat for both the Pictish Shepherd and the mysterious creature I am temporarily stuck. (Oh if only I could go shopping!! <note wringing hands and serious whining!!> ) I could keep working on the understructures but the day is grey and raining, and I need to do something that is a bit more productive feeling (I already did the dishes. That’s why I’m stuck sitting down again).
I should start thinking about what I want to do next as a picture. There were two shots that I looked at recently that caught my eye. One was a yak, but he has an odd feeling compositionally. On the other hand, the fur is so shaggy and has some interesting colouring to it that it would be fun to work on.
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I could crop the shot. I really do like that shaggy fringe. Let’s check out the 5×7 ratio and see what I can get.
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It’s ok but doesn’t grab me as much as I thought it would. (It’s likely the rain) the other option is to just pick him up and move him to the left it would also get rid of that annoying tree in the centre of his head. That would likely work better as it would let me play with more shagginess. If I work from the original composition, I think I would like to erase some of the background trees, especially the one growing out of his head (as you can tell it’s really bugging me). Let’s see if Photo pad, (that’s a free photo editing program) can do for a bit of deforestation.
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I like the diagonals now and the weight of the composition feels better. I think it was the tree on the top of his head that was really bothering me but this looks much more comfortable and I added a bit of blue to the sky (we could use some of that blue sky here today.)
Oh No, as I was getting the second shot for you I just spotted another I had found earlier that could be cropped to be really fun too.
6 the original.
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To get the composition I’m seeing in my head I have lost the 5×7 ratio. That would mean having a special mat cut which has gotten very expensive and isn’t easily available at the moment. (It’s much more frugal to work to a ratio that will fit in a mat and frame I already have so it’s 8×10 or 5×7 or one 4×6.) If you have an image, you can scale it up or down with a photocopier or use your computer and printer. With framing so expensive, if you can arrange to fit into a standard size it will help your costs if you are planning to sell your pictures. (I have not finished Xmass presents so I’m not selling yet! – it’s almost the end of APRIL!! I had better get working on those!)
8 this is 5×7 it’s not quite as intense but it still is very piercing. Yes, this would be fun.
Now let’s look at the other picture I was thinking about.
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One of her relatives is a local resident. I’m not sure which neighbour has her as a non-paying renter that I have smelt but not seen yet this year. I particularly like this image but not, the cat food. So let’s see if I can get rid of that first.
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not a great job but the offending cat food is gone. Yes, that’s better. Should it be a tighter focus? That usually appeals to me. Better check.
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I think I’m losing some of the small, fragile, youthfulness of the face when I get too close to her. It works compositionally but I don’t think it captures the hesitation and age of the upper one.
Now, which one should I choose? Let’s print out 5×7 versions of each and see what they look like. Which would you choose?
Have fun and keep felting!
8 thoughts on “Sudden Change of Plans”
Fascinating! I loved reading about how you chose your design! Looking forward to seeing more about the whole process
Thanks, trying to figure out what to work on is all part of the process. i am interested in how others chose to manipulate an image when they reinterpret it in a non-photo medium. also as i think out loud i may be able to see why these 3 images have cot my attention. they are quite different other than being animals two of which normally live in parts of Canada.(the other should move here, look at the cute shagginess!!)
Hi Jan, are you doing this for a felting or photo project? As a painter, I do use photos for reference, but I always leave things out, move them around and change up colors and never work from one particular photo. At least you have time on your hands! 🙂
Hi Adventures in felt! this will hopefully lead to a painting in wool. like the fox i have finished except for adding the whiskers. for the 3-D sculptures and the 3-D pictures i have done i used multiple photos to get different angles on what i was makeing. trying to find the under side of a poler bears paw was challenging at the time but i found 2 images to work from.
as you know, when you are painting on canvas or base piece of felt, it is your world. you are God there, you can move a tree, add a tree or get rid of all the trees if you like. its lots of fun to take an image and run with it. But if you want your viewer to believe in the reality of your landscape when you work from multiple photos, you just have to keep the scale constant and correct the origin of light so its also consistent. it mite be fun to make a landscape one day where the shadows are all confused and each tree is in a different part of the day…..hummmm……
Have fun and keep felting!
Oh we do empathise with the ‘no shopping’ – it’s soooo frustrating! Yes, we can buy stuff online but often you need to see and feel textile stuff to make sure it’s suitable before purchasing!
We love all the images – but the sweet little critter (minus the cat food) is our favourite.
A great help Jan. I can see I need to explore the features of Photopad. I usually just crop and resize and maybe a little contrast or exposure fiddling. I need to get out and take pictures.
All the photos are great Jan. I can see why you might have trouble deciding which one to use for inspiration. But I think I would go for the last one.
Great photos! I’d have a hard time choosing to, but I guess it depends on what you want to accomplish. Personally I love the cougars eyes. Have fun!