Struggling Artist

I’ve never had formal art training and dimension is something I’ve struggled with throughout my art career. I bought myself a book on how to draw and practiced cubes and spheres and cones. It didn’t help, I still don’t know how to draw and dimension and perspective continue to perplex me.

I’ve tried to develop my observational skills and discern which techniques create the illusion of dimension. Traditional quilts like Tumbling Blocks use color and value. One of my favorite quilts from the International Quilt Festival at Houston was “White Holes” by Peter Hayward. He used size and color to create dimension that was absolutely mind-bending! 

  

And then, of course, there are techniques like texture, trapunto and actual three dimensional (3D) molding of fabrics.  I’ve finally settled on creating a piece that actually has dimension. Water is my theme for this cycle which means I’ll be building 3D water.  I hope I can pull it off!