A LOOK IN THE SKETCHBOOK

Design and color plan of overlay for "Enter Aqua", 14" x 11"   Lori LaBerge  2018

This design brings back memories of neighborhoods I have entered. The surprise of what is around the corner and what will be discovered. The joy of finding a building that stands out from others due to shape or color. The invitation to explore and feel welcome in a new place.

This idea developed from a stairway. It was like jumping off the stairs into an imaginary world. It is planned as the overlay for a painted textile.

The left edge of this stairway struck me as a rooftop. I took to sketching.

Here the various shapes from the photo are sketched out. 

The triangle on the left is enlarged to eliminate some odd angles.

 The bottom shape on the right side is elongated to start working on balance and add a bit of depth leading to the center of the piece. The architectural aspects are coming into play.

 Some of the upper lines were eliminated and a rectangular shape started the focus of the piece.

 The bottom diagonal line is straightened while the center diagonal lines are moved so they do not meet the triangle tip and top of new straightened line. This adds a more interesting shape to the center rectangle. The smaller rectangle's top is given a horizontal edge.

 Details are added in. The half circle, a smaller rectangle on the left to break up a larger shape and lines on top of sections of two diagonals and one horizontal.

A 2-value plan is sketched up to know where lights and darks will be placed. The darks surround and enclose the lighter areas.

The final decision for color use.

All that is left is the decision as to what the hooked underlayer will look like before being painted over.

PAINTED ARCHITECTURAL TEXTILE ART

"Blueprint 2",  14" X 11"   Lori LaBerge  2018

Last week the thought of using a closeup section of one piece to create another took root. "Blueprint 2" uses a sketch of the layout of city buildings and overlaps them with lines that depict interior spaces. Here is how the studio process worked:

This is the closeup section used as the basis of "Blueprint 2". It shows how you can start with a section of one work and develop something totally different in a finished artwork.

This work was hooked as the foundation to be painted over. Values and hue were taken into account to fit with the completed work and how the paint would affect the colors. If you look closely at the finished work you can see this structure as the underlayer.

The paint starts to be applied. A division of a gray and blue section was decided upon representing both the city and the idea of a blueprint.

Various blues and grays continue to be applied.

The cityscape is finished and it is time for the blueprint lines to be painted over the top.

The finished work to be matted and framed.

LINE RELATIONSHIPS IN ART COMPOSITION

"Gallery View 2"  11" X 14"  Lori LaBerge  2018

While I worked with realism in art studio classes in college, I always enjoyed the modern. There is something about breaking things down to basic shapes that fascinates me. I enjoy the relationships, the mystery of finding something new, the experience of figuring out what the artist is trying to get across to the viewer while showing so little. 

"Gallery View  2" has been broken down to shapes from a downtown city scene. It is overall calm with the pink adding a bit of excitement. The pink area also leads one to the focus of the "painting" on the wall. The windows of surrounding buildings are left out, avoiding distractions. There is a feeling of the viewer being on their own, the only one viewing the scene.

The relationships in this work are built through the use of line. There are distinct places throughout where one line passes through multiples points of the work. The red lines below show some of these spots.

The line over to the far left starts at the edge of the dark shape up through the edge of the yellow shape and on to the edge of another dark shape. The horizontal line has the top of the right section of yellow lined up with the top of the light gray shape on the right. Two lines meet at the top of the bright green on the upper right and so on. These relationships hold the piece together as one. 

A study of masterworks will show multiple relationships of line when studied. Another way to study line is through looking at the work of master photographers. Annie Liebovitz places her subjects so various lines meet. (Ex. the profile of one figure may be lined up with the arm of another, making a diagonal line for the viewer to follow). The use of line covers all styles of art.

While not clearly seen from a distance, approaching the work shows how bright yellow was introduced throughout the duller yellow and a green with a glow to it was used to pair with the yellow. This adds a bit of a payoff to the viewer when they look closer. 

Reductionism in Art and Brain Science by Eric R. Kandel

Above is the book on the nightstand this week. The author speaks of breaking work down to its basic elements. It is a study from Turner and his start of moving toward reducing elements, through Mondrian, Rothko and others. The book questions how we view art through the brain process. The more a work is broken down, the less it resembles reality and the more creative we become when attempting to interpret it. How do we comprehend this breakdown? If there is no familiar landscape how does the brain interpret the art? Do we try to make the unfamiliar fit into the familiarity of our own world? A fascinating read.

INDUSTRIAL LINES AND SHAPES

 "Industrial Park"  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2018

This week's work shows small changes can make a difference. I wrote a little about this piece last week. The half circle took the place of a vertical rectangle. A curve was also added to the upper section and filled with dark blue. This broke up what would have been too much white space and created a better contrast against a section of the light blue. The dark colors envelope the lighter ones leading to an interesting lighter shape running diagonally through the piece.  

Original sketch for comparison to finished piece

While working with sketches and photos of newer homes, I still love industrial buildings. They lead to discovering numerous lines and shapes.

 Diamond shapes interlock on fencing, an oval is formed on the top of the barrel, while horizontal piping follows the length of the building. I like the sky shape left by the L shape of the building in this photo.

Various chimney shapes, taller, shorter, round, square. The side vents have one horizontal and a larger one vertical, lending variety. The piece developed from this photo is below:

"Paint the Town Red"  11" X 14" Lori LaBerge 2010

 Wide circular shapes on rooftop contrast with the wide rectangular shapes. Small openings are seen along the side of the building. Barbed wire runs across the top of the fencing.

 Cranes and piping add height. The horizontal rungs of a ladder are on the side of  tall brick form. The wide width of the smaller tank with domed roof in front gives it a horizontal appearance. Shapes are shown in relation to each other.

Vertical and horizontals of the metal bars in front resemble an erector set. There is a variety of spacing on the form that climbs the side of the building. Various box shapes make up the building itself.

LARGE ARCHITECTURAL TEXTILE: IN PROGRESS SHOTS

 As yet untitled work in progress  48" x 48",  Lori LaBerge   2017

Work on the first square continued and a second was started. The color planning allows for squares located diagonally from each other to be in the same color scheme. This was work completed as of Wednesday. The majority of colors are fairly bold and the light green adds some softness.

The mixtures of wool add more interest as the viewer gets closer to the work. The rust contains a bright, a texture and a dark yarn. A main color (the texture in this case) is usually chosen and then leftover strips from previous projects are used to add variety. In rare cases, there may be some dyeing needed when the right color strips are unavailable.

For the turquoise, a mottled light, a plainer medium, and a textured dull gray-turquoise were used.

Small black circles were hooked with the purple. These smaller circles will appear on three of the four squares, with the upper left square containing a redder purple meandering throughout rather than having the black involved. This adds a bit of a surprise as the expected similarity to the other squares is not there.

Straight hooking is being used for the black and white sections. Black and white together is bold. The straight hooking adds to the boldness, showing stability (horizontal) and strength (vertical) while framing the center areas.

While I find myself delving more and more into the reasons for my choices, I don't get bogged down with it. Sometimes a choice is simply: "I just liked those colors together." or "I felt like hooking straight after hooking meandering patterns for so long." Not everything is complex. It is important to keep in mind the effect of your choices, but it is also important to enjoy the process and just let go once in a while.

ABSTRACT "CONCRETE BLUE", ARCHITECTURE AND COMPOSITION

"Concrete Blue"  14" X 11",  Lori LaBerge  2017

We took daily walks while visiting California. One day we passed a bright blue building. It stayed in my mind not only due to the color, but also the angle on top. I drew a sketch on scrap paper that night and transferred it to a sketchbook upon returning home.

The challenge was to make an interesting composition out of the scene. It is all about relationships to lead the eye to the white and blue areas. The red lines above show how the top and bottom of the lilac wall section are angled to lead to the bottom of the white rectangle. The top of the light rust section leads to the top of the blue wall. The area on top where gold and green meet leads down to the left side of the white.

The lighter values form a sideways "Y" shape leading to and framing the blue building while the darker values are laid out in a triangular format. A curve at the top breaks up use of straight lines. 

Frank Lloyd Wright said, "Architecture is the scientific art of making structures express ideas". I am led to think about how the 2D abstraction of architectural forms should be approached. In reviewing some of my sketches, there is a depiction of the relationship between the focal point of the work and the shapes around it. The question then becomes "How do those shapes enhance the focus?"

GEOMETRIC TEXTILE "URBAN BLUSH", PAINTED ROCK FUN IN SPRUCE PINE

"Urban Blush"  11" X 14"   Lori LaBerge  2017

This week's work keeps with my love of roadways and architecture while lending itself to a variety of interpretations. 

The repetition of the red sections, the black partial circles, the gray color, curves, straight lines and diagonals keep my eye moving throughout the piece. There is quite a bit going on yet it retains its simplicity. The bottom of the white half circle comes close to the edge, creating slight tension. The red also adds tension, yet the analogous color scheme created by the addition of pink creates a sophistication which is amplified by the neutrality of gray, black and white.

Los Angeles

"Urban Blush" brought back the sense of both excitement and sophistication I feel when I visit cities. There is so much to see and it is a struggle at times to take it all in. Excitement abounds in all the activity and sophistication shows itself in the architectural surroundings. It is a different feeling from the humble architecture and quieter lifestyle found in rural areas. "Urban Blush" definitely contains the city feeling.

We often walk through town in the evenings. The other day we found this:

A painted rock was sitting on top of a larger one. The local areas are participating in a painted rock find. You find a rock, can keep it or place it elsewhere, and paint a rock to place somewhere in town for someone else to find.

Painted rock,  Lori LaBerge  2017, done for painted rock find in Spruce Pine.

Above is the rock I painted. It will be placed somewhere downtown on our next walk. Bright colors were used to attract local kids to art and a metal washer was glued on top much as I stitch washers to my textile work. I am hoping to see a lot of children participate in this project. This is being done in various places throughout the U.S. 

NEW ARCHITECTURAL GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT STARTED

Work in progress,  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2017

A title for this work has not been decided on yet. It is based on city buildings. The white half circle developed from the shape on top of one of the doors on a building, though I placed it sideways. The black circle was divided into 2/3 on the right and 1/3 on the left.

The textured gray section has bits of red running through it to play off of the red sections of the work. There is a bright turquoise and a duller turquoise running through it, also. This gives the gray a bluer look overall. It works well with the red and I'll see how it works once the pink is added.

The idea was drawn out in a sketchbook. There are plenty of erasures before I get to something workable. The photo shows where I had originally placed a triangle in the back. If I think a composition is headed in the right direction, even if future changes may be needed, a check mark is placed next to it.

 Color planning on work,  Lori LaBerge  2017

Photoshop was used to work with color planning. A left section of the black was added to the original sketch along with an angle on the bottom gray.  I wanted to repeat the angle from the red for more cohesion. This will be added to the hooking as I work.

The piece reminds me a bit of mid-century modern design with the bold shapes and wild colors. Mid-century modern was set from approximately the 1940's to the 1960's. It focused on graphic design and included furniture and architectural designs. It was a time when pop art and other ideas were developing. 

Enjoy some wild mid-century artwork and color by clicking here. It may bring back some memories if you were born in the 50's or 60's.

COMPOSITION WORK ON NEW ABSTRACT PIECE

We took a stroll along Fisherman's Walk in York, Maine during our trip and this stonework caught my attention. The gold color was beautiful and the shape itself was something I felt I could work with.

The first step was to sketch out the basic shapes from the photograph. I like to do a rough sketch first to have something to work with. The section that would be gold looks a bit lost in this sketch and needs to be larger. There is also more happening on the right hand side leading to a lack of balance.

First the whole size of the piece was compacted to fit a 14 X 11 format. I added a circle on the left along with a break in the lower section. The straighter bottom was changed to a diagonal adding a sense of movement, relating to the walk we took. 

A line creating a small rectangular shape was added near the top to balance out the shape in the bottom left and the far right shape was narrowed. The right hand shape was also curved a bit on the bottom (as was the lower left shape) to provide a break from the straight lines in the work. This reminded me more of the curves that were along the walkway. Color ideas were then noted. 

"Maine Gold" in progress,  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2017

Hooking was started. A plain gold was combined with a textured gold containing a bit of red for the stonework section. The dark green consists of four different greens while the lighter mint green is from a spot dyed piece of wool. One more day and the work should be completed and ready for finishing.

ABSTRACT FIGURE PROGRESS, SKETCHING PLEIN AIR

Work in progress,  Lori LaBerge  2016

Keeping things straight

When working on a piece with a specific shape to it measuring is important. In the photo above the ruler is placed against one of the angled edges to make sure everything is aligned.

Correction needed

When I measured the other side, it was off by about one line of hooking where the light yellow and light blue are seen creating a bowing effect. This was filled in to keep the angle of the side of the piece in alignment. I will keep measuring at certain intervals as the piece is worked on.

Plein Air sketch,  Lori LaBerge  2016

We had some beautiful weather here this week so I decided to sit out on the deck with a glass of our homemade wine (not too bad for our first batch) and do some sketching. The sun was shining brightly leaving some great shadows to work with. I took the liberty of adding the sky to this work.  In reality, the background was filled with pine trees.

About 3/4 of the tree was in dark shadow with the left 1/4 in sunlight. The shadows were lengthy as it was morning. They were also narrower than I would have guessed. I learn something every time I work outside. Some of the best shadows are at sunrise but I'm not a morning person, so I frequently miss that opportunity.

Abstract Plein Air sketch,  Lori LaBerge  2016

This sketch kept to an abstract look. The darkest value is from the shadows that were viewed, the light value is the gravel road and the medium values are the pine trees in the background with certain trees represented by thin lines.

Here I marked off patterns. There is a repetition of sharp zigzag lines throughout the work which give a sense of action and tension in what is in reality a peaceful scene.

We will be talking about realistic vs. abstract, composition, lines, light and value in the Plein Air class I will be teaching at the Green Mountain Rug School next June.

Art exercise:

See how many types of line you can find in an outdoor landscape scene.