Well, in just a few more week I should have this piece completed. But I need to keep a sharp eye out for those elements that could really throw the balance of the final piece totally out of kilter. The placement of objects, textures, colors, design, and the telling of the story all have to balance out in the end. Of course, the fun part is that I’m not exactly sure where I’m going all the time.
Since this photo was taken I have a good deal of the outer-outer border done and it is finally balancing but you can see how tricky the process is. That’s why I worked some of the upper right border along with the lower left. The motion of the design was challenging my eye and those corners helped stop the universe from spinning!
The teal blue in the upper left corner seems out of place at this stage but it amazingly came together when the lower right frame was completed. The the “weight” of the upper left balanced out with the dark border of the lower right.
I’d like to talk a little about the balance of the textures – which are my favorite element. I have a mix of hand painted threads, solid colors, about 11 different sized squares and dots, and metallics to work with. Striking the right balance with textures is always on my mind becuse you can definitely over-do it. So the right side (not finished here) is very solid. That solidness is a foil for the textures and allows them to play a major role in the final piece. If it was all texture there would be no “white space” to rest your eyes.
Another trick to maintain balance in the overall design is to “break out of the box”, in other words, don’t contain every detail within your frame. Break out once in a while for visual interest.
BTW, take note of how many of those scribbled lines that I started with were actually followed. Not many!
So, in the next few weeks you just might see the final piece come together and I hope you’ll enjoy the end result!