The first drawing is some of the quilting lines/motifs I teach in machine quilting . The second set of drawings is a page form the book Creative Drawing: Point and Line by Ernst Rottger and Dieter Klante ( 1963) Van Nostrand Reinhold which I picked up in an Oxfam shop in England last year ( I love searching for second hand books in England- you always find a treasure). The book is directed at children/secondary students and has a series of exercises using simply line and points or dots in order to create visual interest and texture- there are some wonderful things for quilters to explore in this little book!I am always intrigued that quilters want their stitches to be really even and everything as neat as a pin- whereas for me much greater interest comes from seeing the artists individual quirks and meanderings with line- slightly jagged edges- what is the problem ? It really does add visual texture and lends to the individuality of the finished work I mean you don't expect pencil artists to each draw in the same way- if all drawings were alike you would quickly lose interest. I really do use my machine as a pencil, and in all reality think of it as a pencil. That the side effect of stitching is texture is a real bonus!
Ok now a question- what are your 5 most inspirational non-quilting blogs? I have been trawling the net and have stumbled across a few-but what i do see a lot on quilting blog is links to other quilting blogs- is there other artists/ arts that inspire you?
7 comments:
Firstly, it's really interesting to see your sketchbooks and to read your comment about finding it hard to use colour. If you can analyse that and find a solution, I'd love to know. I can use colour quite freely in my quilts but not in my drawings - some barrier there.
Five blogs that inspire? Had to think as that is different from just liking to look. Here are mine (all illustrators).
The newest discovery. A pen artist from Sweden whose mastery, detail, quirkiness and composition I admire.
http://mattiasa.blogspot.com/
Simplicity and fabulous colours -
http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/
Illustrations that make me wonder how I can tranlate into quilting techniques -
http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/
Strength of line and great compositions -
http://www.processrecess.com/
Fabulous use of colour -
http://www.laurelines.typepad.com/
I hope you get a few answers to this Dijanne! Oh, BTW there is a wealth of great illustrated blogs on Illustration Friday but it takes an age to plough through!
http://www.illustrationfriday.com/
Hi Felicity
Thank you so much for sharing these- I love them all but esepcially love your Swedish find!
I do check Illustration Friday from time to time- but I just wondered what people themselves really felt inspired by.
I am just agog by the blogosphere!
Dijanne
Visual art does tend to dominate the blogs I look at regularly, but two literary ones I visit are:
Wordplay Poetry Blog
http://artvilla.com/wordplay/
and Jeanette Winterson's column
http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/column.asp
Illustrator Keri Smith has a thought-provoking blog, and at present has a lovely little film made by her and her husband for visitors to see:
http://www.kerismith.com/blog/
Lisa Hunter's Intrepid Art Collector Blog has a wide range of interesting posts on the art world.
http://howtobuyart.blogspot.com/
There are lots of other artists' blogs I visit - too many really, but the one which generally cheers me the most is by Tracy Helgeson who talks about making, promoting, and selling her paintings as well as giving concert reports, and updates on her children, garden and chickens:
http://worksbytracy.blogspot.com/
Omega visits similar visual artists blogs as me although I have dropped off reading Keri Smith recently.
I have been trying to find good Australian visual arts bloggers, but have had trouble locating many :-( One I have in my blog roll is Linden Langdon is a Tasmanian Printmaker
http://www.blog.lindenlangdon.com/ From Linden's blog you can link through to some other blogs which may be interesting, nothing there I'm reading regularly though.
I like Sarsaparilla which focuses more on literature and popular culture:
http://sarsaparillablog.net/
Anna Conti is also very good and has a good blog roll I use every day: http://web.mac.com/bigcrow/iWeb
Cheerio
Claire
Hi Dijanne,
This is an excellent question. The first three blogs I visit every day for inspiration and the other two occasionally. I'm really drawn to those sites that are either visual or invoke visual responses.
A photojournalist from southern Appalachia: http://blueridgeblog.blogs.com
Daily georgous pics from: http://www.cornwall.cam.co.uk
The Blog of Henry David Thoreau, ...man, that guy could write:
http://blogthoreau.blogspot.com
You probably already know this person, but I really like to read it for the details of living in an exotic place as much as I like it when she posts pics:
Postcards from Cairo
http://jennybowker.blogspot.com
Lastly, there is a watercolorist and visual journal keeper that I enjoy: The Creative Journey
http://www.karensblog.com
Linda in A
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What a thought-provoking read about lines! Embrace creativity with "Promo Codes" on various art supplies. Keep inspiring us with your unique perspectives!
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