It's a Wrap

For reasons that are not important I'm not the biggest fan of magnolia trees.  But I'll have to admit I was quite smitten with the whimsy of these big floppy blooms that were just starting to go by.  The swoops, curls and shades of pink were just a delight.....they looked like they were dancing.

  And I do like the concept of small thumbnails.......and if I could pull it off I would sketch or paint close ups of these curvy blooms.  But I'm better at photo grids....so here are the thumbnails that were in my head as I stood there taking photos....while Paul patiently walked in circles.

The Mixed Media Thumbnail Sketching lessons wrapped up on Friday....but like most classes the real fun with a viewfinder is just beginning.  Tansy has given us a challenge project that she would like us to do....but I'm going to mull it over for a bit before I tackle it. In the meantime I'm sure I'll play around with a few other thumbnail type things.

I came away with lots of information and insights.  Tansy has a unique way of teaching and uses unusual exercises to make her points....and the last two were unexpected.  The first one was on abstraction. The initial round sketches were made while watching something moving like a babbling brook. I actually had a video that I took while I went through a car wash that I used.....yes....you heard that right....and it worked well for the exercise. 

While watching the video I used a round viewfinder to try and capture the lines and movement.  Then I used a smaller viewfinder on the first sketch to abstract out another part...then repeated that a couple times. My end product is a little iffy....but the point was received and I appreciated the exercise. 

Here's a still photo from the video....that's the best I can do. 

The final exercise was quite fascinating....and I want to repeat it when I have more time.  We were to walk a block we've never walked before looking for and doing quick sketches of shapes we decided on ahead of time.  I walked around a commercial block with lots of office buildings looking for window and door shapes...and round things.  I ended up looking at all the lines and grids on the faces of the buildings.....and round things led me to hubcaps. The next step was to take pieces and parts from those sketches and make little color swatches inspired by the shapes.  I hope to make more of just the different hubcap designs....there were so many interesting ones.

Lines, dots, and color...inspired by an office building....who would have thought!   Mixed Media Thumbnail Sketching...it's a wrap. Thanks Tansy!