This week I’ve managed to add more background. You can see some buildings taking shape, along with another onlooker. Even though
this piece is done in neutrals, I still want each element to be unique. For me, that means giving each it’s own set of fabrics. Thechallenge is to find a wide variety of fabrics from which to choose. Although I just started cutting and fusing fabrics, I’ve been thinking about this project for over a year and have been collecting fabrics for at least that long. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I actually have all of what I think I will need to do this piece.
As I choose fabrics for the background, I’m thinking about how to give it life and make it interesting. Some of my previous backgrounds have been just solid pieces of fabric; a kind of blank canvas from which characters pop forward. I think that has been a weakness of my previous work and I want this to be so much more. At the same time, I want it to stay in the background and play a supporting role, not compete for the viewer’s first attention. To this end, I have chosen to narrow the value scale. I won’t work from white to black, but, rather, from a very light to a very dark gray. In this way, the contrast in my values will not be as dramatic as in the foreground. Also, I’ve chosen cooler colors. The grays that I have picked are on the bluish side. They will take a back seat to the warmer neutrals that I will use in the foreground.