Over the past few days I have been amused to see how varied in their life cycle my agapanthus are! Some are in that cute early- globular- bud stage, whilst others are in that late green- pod stage! Consequently I have been taking a number of photos so as to capture these different phases.
Whilst I like each stage of the agapanthus life, this week I chose to focus on the green pod stage! Not only are the pods themselves an interesting shape, but the thin stems they are supported on & eventually drop off, are also interesting. They remind me of a dandelion head!
I started by producing a simple line sketch in pencil to get to grips with the shape. In the following sketches I looked at shading.
From there it was then a matter on playing, first with options for a background & then for placement & composition of the green pods.
Although I had been intending to proceed with the green & purple colour scheme for the background, with the pods in various black & whites...when I actually had the fabrics in front of me I wasn't so sure. What if I chose grey with the purple for the background????
I decided to go with my instincts!
I completed the background with grey spikes, but used a variegated green thread to at least reference the colour of the stems in real life!!
Then it was time to pin down the top layers before stitching through the design.
I'm very sorry that I haven't got any 'cutting back' photos this time. The truth is, that whilst one part of my brain was concentrating on what my hands were doing, the other side of my brain was trying to help solve a murder with Val Mc Dermid via audiobook! It was hot & humid & ...what can I say...I could only do two things at once!!
After all the cutting back, I painted on the little squiggly bits at the front, but still felt the piece needed a bit more oomph!
I achieved that, to my satisfaction, with the addition of hand stitched lines in variegated green cotton.
These pods were fun to do & I enjoyed producing them in an altered colour scheme. The shape of the pods are particularly pleasing & I'm glad I kept the squiggles in!
Next week may see me return to look closer at another stage in the agapanthus life cycle, as I feel quite inspired now! What a positive start to the week!
No comments:
Post a Comment