Light and Shadow

I will be away today when all the challenge pieces are revealed so I am writing this in advance and will have to wait for a week to see everyone else's interpretations.

Similarly to Annabel I started with a bit of brainstorming and eventually settled on an interpretation of an image I had taken at the Eden Project in Cornwall. 

This pattern caused by the sun shining through the structure of one of the biomes had caught my eye on a visit this year.  I tried a few manipulations in Photoshop and altered the colours.

I eventually settled on the first image and printed it off onto printable cotton.  My idea was to work the whole piece in stitch in the way of Julia Caprara using a variety of random stitches.  Sadly I have had to put that idea to one side as an ongoing project as it was way too hard on my hands and left me in real pain after a short while of working.

Starting again I used the final image  and decided to work it on the embellisher, which has been languishing for far too long.  I started with a piece of old blanket and used a piece of pre-felt for the large dark area on the right.  I soon realised that this was  a mistake as it dominated the rest of the piece.  Having pulled off pieces to break up the edge and let some light in I worked across the whole piece and gradually it came into shape.  I used carded wool, chiffon scarf, wool tops and prefelt. 

I am not completely happy with the large dark shape and may manipulate it a bit more before I'm content.  Either way it needs further work and I will be adding some stitch to finish it fully.  It has struck me though that  in another orientation this looks rather like rock structures so that may be an area for further work.

While I found it a bit daunting to start to work with this theme I found as time went on that more and more ideas were arriving.  There are so many interpretations of Light and Shadow and I feel that I have barely scratched the surface with this challenge.  (Maybe that's the title for another challenge - Scratch the Surface?).  I'm looking forward to stitching into this piece and to the next theme.  I'd like to thank Annabel for inviting me into this group and to Marion for taking on the admin.

Well...

I still don't have much in the way of energy, but I've been thinking about this challenge, both in general and particular. In general, I wondered how to approach it, and finally decided that I would take it as it comes, but wherever possible, I would use the challenges to work within my existing themes. I think that it will encourage me to go further than I would otherwise go, and would give me a set of works that fits in with the body of work I would be making if I wasn't so damn tired...

So... I then wondered about the specific challenge. The first thought was to find a shadow and express it somehow... look for the shadow of a door, or a set of shelves, or a window, and explore the colour and patterning around it. That didn't really go anywhere, as I didn't find any likely shadows... there were plenty around in the house in Strathpeffer, but this house is not so interesting for that kind of thing. Then, I found myself thinking about work projecting shadows; working with silk organza in grey and white, structured to cast shadows on itself, and on the wall. Might still do that, but it has been done before, and by better artists than me. Which isn't really a good reason for not doing it, but...

Then, this afternoon, I was looking for a particular image for a different purpose entirely, and came across this one. It's part of the ongoing work I'm doing for the 'Outside In' series, exploring depression, and how easy it would be for people to recognise people with mental health issues if they showed what they felt, inside, on the outside, instead. I think this will fit in nicely with the challenge theme, and at the same time, contribute to the development of the series. Or, not using artist speak, give me the kick up the bum I need to get on with this work. All comments welcome.

Light and shadow. First thoughts.

When I set this challenge I had an immediate image in my mind, of what I would like to do, and whilst those thoughts have lead to something I intend to work on in the future, there's not enough time in the challenge for me to do such a complicated and involved piece. (well, perhaps not that complicated and involved, but it's summer, and I'm out and about a lot eating cake in various places and not paying enough attention to things artistic!) And someone said I was supposed to be having fun. Oh yes, me.

So, today I thought I'd better start again and in a more inventive and constructive way.  As ever I always begin with definitions. Very useful to get the dictionary out at this point and look up the exact meanings of words.

Light: The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. A source of illumination. Little weight, not heavy. Not strongly or heavily built, low in density, small in quantity, gentle or delicate, not bold, not solemn or unhappy, and this one, which I didn't know, promiscuous.

Shadow: Dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface. Used in reference to proximity, ominous, oppressive. Sadness and gloom. An inseparable attendant or companion. A person secretly following another. Envelop in shadow: cast a shadow over.

So, clearly, lots of fun to be had, and where on earth to start or what to choose. One of my first thoughts is for the way light plays in paintings, because I love the power painters have to play around with light.

My understanding is that the eye picks up refractions and reflections when light bounces off of things, and the brain interprets them.

We can only see because there is light bouncing around, and latest research suggest we might see things differently especially colour.  Without light we are, of course, blind. We would be living in a shadow.

The way the light bounces off of things and reflects gives us colour as well as shape, leading to the well-known idea that black and white aren't colours. White is all of light with no refraction and therefore no colour, and black is absence of light and therefore can have no colour. (Thought: Light and shadow, therefore equate to black and white)

Using light and shadow

A circle turns into a ball. The ball can be given the illusion of all sorts of things by adding shadow.

There are such interesting shapes in buildings that cast shadows.

Using light and shadow gives a 2D piece of paper or cloth the illusion of 3D or of distance and size; it tricks the brain that the eye is seeing something it's not, and I love that; it's so clever.

Edward Hopper is known for using light and shadow to good effect. He creates emotional responses and feelings as well as illusions.

Next stage is to find a large piece of paper and brain storm. Write down all the things that come to mind and see what springs forth.

(slight pause, whilst sketch book found and coffee made)

Plenty of ideas emerged over my cup of coffee, but I'm still not madly enthused by anything yet; slightly liking the idea of a shadow being a degree of absence and not absence itself.

The sun is calling me and so is the need for some shopping, so I'll keep the next stage for another posting, when hopefully I'll have a better direction and clearer idea of what I'm doing.


Thanks for reading!