Smaller pocket watch hanging from a vine

 I decided the pocket watch was too large and distracting and it needed to hang from something organic like a vine. I changed the sketch. It still needs some more refining. Now I have to decide if I’m going to do this or skip submitting anything to the exhibit. I’m not sure if this is a good composition. I would hate to waste my time on a poor composition. Maybe there are too many elements. Is the pocket watch needed? What about the raven? What about the doorway? Maybe the face is too centered. Maybe the watch should be embedded in the tree. Maybe the face should be old and wrinkled.

After I finish my sister’s gift I will pull fabrics and see if anything works. Plus I need to decide if this composition is good or not.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Playing more with one of the ideas

 I’ve done some more playing with the design with the single Raven.

Here’s an updated sketch. I’ve added a tear to the Raven and found an image of a pocket watch to copy and paste into the  sketch. I wanted it to be very large to fit the surreal theme. Plus that would make it easier to create in the quilt.

I wanted to make the background darker so I edited that in a photo app called Art Studio. I also added the moon in the vortex.

I wondered what it would look like with Roman numerals, a more realistic moon, and more blue gray. I found a pocket watch and moon to copy and paste into the image. I turned it blue gray in photo editor on iPad. 

Maybe some gold eyes?

So there’s a lot to think about here. A lot of this depends on what fabrics I have. 

Is this surreal? Am I moving in the right direction? 

Today I have to work on my sister’s gift.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Change of plans

 I decided to do some sketching on my iPad last night instead of looking at more possible surreal images from my stash of images. Just note that I’m not great at sketching on my iPad. 

First I sketched the upside down trees with the face and the flying birds. This is somewhat different than the image from yesterday.

Then I decided to try sketching something  bit different, but kinda based on this idea. This is what I got. Again I’m not great at sketching on my iPad. Nor am a great at human faces. If I go with this idea it will have to be refined. 

Then I thought I’d make the woman cry. I suppose I could change the time on the pocket watch to right before midnight. Midnight is when humans run out of time. 

Any thoughts on these?

Thanks for reading. 

Chris

 

Design choice #2

 I created this image many years ago. I’m not sure what photo app I used to create it. I started with a photo of bare trees, turned that upside down, and added the birds with the app. Here’s the image.

The image achieves a surreal effect because it confuses our sense of space.

Here are the reasons why this composition feels like a dreamscape:

Conflicting Perspectives

• Inverted Elements: The bare trees hang downward from the top of the image. This forces us to question which way is up. Is that water at the bottom?
• Spatial Distortion: Birds appear to be flying through the branches and the water simultaneously. This blends the sky, the ground, and a water surface into a single, impossible plane.

Textural Contrast

• Graphic Silhouettes: The sharp, dark shapes of the birds contrast heavily with the organic, chaotic lines of the branches.

Monochromatic Palette

• Grayscale: The muted, desaturated tones strip away the familiar colors of nature. This creates a haunting, ethereal atmosphere that detaches the scene from reality.

I asked AI to transform it into a quilt to see how that would look. It’s certainly beautiful.

I asked AI to take the original image and make it more surreal. This image really excites me. How about that face lurking in the tree branches? I’m not sure how to pull it off, but the challenge would be fun. Plus you know how much I like grayscale. I have a lot of hand dyed gray fabrics to work with. Again these images would just be inspiration. So you can see my decision on what to make gets more complicated.

What do you think of these images? I like the one with the face as well as the original one without the face. 

Thanks for reading.

Chris