Abstract Art Extract
This week we are going to derive design techniques from the work of two different schools of abstraction:
i) Those artists who have developed their signature styles by focusing on color.
ii) Those artists who began with a specific image and changed it in some way.
Artist who have used color as their primary tool
Once you have chosen your design, and the value pattern you prefer, the next step is to figure out your color scheme.
I find it really helps to see all the nicely folded fabric I have chosen laid out on the cutting table – to see if it all looks good together and if there is a nice flow of color. Sometimes I will arrange the different hues in a sort of rainbow effect to check the flow.
The most important thing, however, is to have a Dominant Color – that does not necessarily mean a color that dominates your quilt! But rather the color you use the most of, the color that creates the general mood of the piece. And it is absolutely fine to work with one dominant color for years. I can never figure out those workshops where you are told to bring fabric in a color you do not like!! That makes absolutely no sense to me. Imagine a cooking class where you are told to bring ingredients to which you are allergic!!!
If you have a favorite color, it is likely you will have it in a lot of different values, and a lot of different levels of saturation or intensity. You will also have it with warm undertones and with cool undertones. All of this is good!!
Fitting a color to the mood
Choosing the main color to fit the mood of the quilt is fairly obvious; in many workshops I have asked people questions like: ”which color reflects calmness and peacefulness?”, “which color shows gaiety?” “what is the color of mystery?” and so on. It is amazing how concordant the responses are. Decide what feeling or atmosphere or mood you want to be most obvious in the piece and then think what color or colors would best express that.
About Abstract Art for Quiltmakers: This class is stuffed with exercises for designing many different kinds of abstract quilts… plus a great introduction to the wonderful abstract paintings of female painters so often overlooked. You will end up with enough designs for a whole year of quiltmaking! Read more...