I think I’m narrowing it down

I played some more today and think this might be it. Some of the earlier images had too many tears.

Of course the trees need to be significantly simplified. Aside from the fact that it would be nuts trying to cut out all those tiny branches, they are just not needed. The image would be better if only the essential things remained. I think I might make the eye about 10% larger, but not change the tear size.

The other thing to workout are the triangles. How many should there be and how obvious. I won’t know that if and when I make this piece.

Here’s the image.

Here’s a crude sketch. I have simplified the trees.

Of course the other eye question is how open should it be? 

Here’s the image with the eye a bit more open. I kinda like a bit more open, but am not sure. I go back and forth on that.

I think some different materials are called for. 

Jennifer Sampou nightfall sky fabric for the background.  

Wool for the large tree and cliff.

Gold silk for the iris and tears. Maybe some Angelina fibers for some highlights.

I might stencil the triangles so they blend with the sky.

Superior Magnifico thread for the ripples. Or maybe a metallic thread.

Thin flat cotton thread for the dark areas so it disappears.

This was submitted so now I wait. I made progress on my sister’s gift today. 

Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading so many blogs lately.

Chris

Maybe it’s just me….

I find that sometimes I go back and forth with ideas when trying to nail down which is the best composition and which has the most impact. That certainly has been the case with the surreal art show.

I started with this idea and was happy with it, but I never leave things alone. I still like this idea, however. 

Then I created the crying eye in the sky image. Then that started the question about whether the eye in the water and the upside down tree were needed in the composition. And actually I still like this one.

Since I liked the gold eye and tears in the original image I wondered how that would look in this one. Meanwhile I removed the upside down tree and the eye in the water.

So how should that eye look? This one really stands out and could be seen across the room in an exhibit.

The original gold open eye with tears is pretty shocking so I tried one that’s less intense. I don’t like this one. Still too startled. I had to decide if I wanted startled or sad. I decided on sad.

I also played with this image where the tree branches wrapped around the eye more. I would leave out the small boats in the water. This would be a nightmare to create with the fog. Plus it’s overly busy.

I tried several eyes that are partially closed and got this one. It would not be the typical wide open surreal eye. It would give it more character rather than just being stuck on the sky. Still things to refine in this image. 

This would be the description of the last one…

Nightfall’s Vigil

This quilt is about a deep sorrow for our planet and the environmental destruction happening around us. The landscape acts as a mirror for that grief, with the gnarled tree roots clinging to a fractured cliff while the earth itself weeps gold. The golden ripples are a reminder that even in the twilight of what we are losing, there is a precious, vital beauty we still need to watch over and protect.

Maybe too many ideas is not good. Maybe it gives me too many things to think about. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to do. Other times I flounder around with what to do.

Am I the only crazy one?

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Sad instead of startled

I changed up the eye to look more sad instead of startled.

Here’s the startled image. That eye did bother me a bit.

Here’s some images with a sad eye.

I guess we wait to see if I even get my proposal accepted before I worry about the eye’s emotion. Should the eye be scared, angry, sad? Maybe just neutral? I think the eye was neutral when I started this idea. But then there would not be any tears. 

Or one small tear starting to fall.

Thanks for reading. Time to work on my sister’s gift.

Chris

Do I need gold eye and tears?

 Here’s the design without the gold.

Here it is with gold eye and tears.

Here’s a video of the image.

Gold eye?

Thanks for reading.

Chris