2011/01/16

How to Look

I've been gazing at some of Ben's photos, in preparation for my bit in the TinyTiny Collage Project; not collaging yet as I had enough disappointment/disillusionment/embarrassment with the sketchbook experience, so just gazing at the moment.  (Shivers, my pages still look horrible; these winkled, rippled pages will haunt me longer than the no-good unfinished scarves under my couch.)

I know I look at vastly different visual sources in pretty much the same way when I'm meant to select portions of interest: I look at tiny segments, my preference being macro shots, and point out either interesting lines or shapes, or color combinations.  The method works; lines and shapes make great motifs which can be repeated, turned, overlapped, etc, making, as we all know, patterns/repetitions relatively easily recreated on the loom.  I get through my assignments with relative ease. 

But there has got to be other possibilities: other ways of looking at visual sources, additional ways of analyzing and utilizing/manipulating areas of interest beyond the straight-forward "transfers", other ways of basing textile designs on visual clues.  I need to  investigate and learn new ways of looking.  

Fav pics of the day are the reflections on the table and the different blues in these two pics.  I like the gradation on the left side of the top pic, as well as the shapes and the lovely value contrasts in the right side.  I am also drawn to the sharper reflections in the left side of the bottom pic, but it already looks like a piece of checked cloth and is too easy a choice.  See what I mean?  

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