Susan Elliot wants to get in the fun with this block.... I just wanted to tweak one corner....Susan sees the whole world in a block since she is the ultimate over achiever.. I must let her play because she is a triathlon champion, leaps small buildings and writes the most thought provoking blog on the net... I do not agree with her idea of putting a trunk on the tree....
But she does make a good design point that is a great trick to note.. Occasionally you will end up with two focal points that are about the same weight visually... and would like one to be more important.. You can do this simply by putting something over even the tiniest part of one focal point which makes it recede....Again with the magic of photo shop I followed Susan's suggestion and you can see how it works and now the koi are the main focus... by extending the blossoms to cover a bit of the crane's tail, the whole balance of the motifs is changed... Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest impact...
Here was Susan's comment about yesterday's post....
OK. I want to play too. I would actually extend the cherry blossom tree down to the base of the block giving it a trunk and a few more branches...likewise, I’d follow your lead and add bamboo to the left...I would have some of the cherry blossoms cover over the bird so that it recedes a bit — I would "pinken" up everything around the pool and deepen the area where the pool is...because, to me, the koi are the most fabulously spectacular element and the rest should support that...IMHO...nobody asked me either but it was fun...
I'd be willing to bet that spell check has never heard of "pinken". We both are in total agreement that the koi are spectacular... Now I have deleted these blocks from Photoshop and must get back to serious packing...
I don't know much about crazy quilt, but every now and then I read a comment that Susan makes on someone's CQ post that tells me she knows A LOT about CQ visual design. She is as amazing as you are, Gerry. You two ladies are sure to be a match at the retreat.
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by this work, these catfishes are spectacular, and I am very happy to follow this quilting crazy!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful day
I am glad you did a follow up on this block I have a question. If the crane had initially been placed so it was flying towards the center of the block would that have made a difference in where the eye was being lead?
ReplyDeleteDeb
to have both you AND Susan comment on a block is a truly special thing!
ReplyDeleteI hang on every word and soak up every little tid-bit!
Boy! I really must be knee deep in a field of rudbeckia to have missed this post!!!
ReplyDeleteThat was fun to think about. And BTW, if I had time...which I don't...I would add a trunk to the tree but just a bit --maybe just a 1/8 of the trunk with the branch coming out of the side of the block to support the branches. I don't like the branches just hanging there....
Wouldn't it be fun to play this way?? I'm trying to piece a few blocks for the adventure that have challenges built into them....just for discussion. Thanks for writing up this post...