Friday, August 14, 2015

Bad Bargello, Bad Mad Miters

Sometimes a good idea just goes bad; everything does NOT always turn out the way you planned!  

I started this piece to have something "easy" to work on after cataract surgery & before I got my new Rx glasses.  I had already planned it out and chosen the colors.  Well, I can't blame this mess on anything but bad luck and bad choices.

Ok, so learning experience!  What's wrong with this piece?  Several things.  
1) The Bargello pattern I chose for the background is much too large.  2) The triangle is too small for the size of the rectangle in which it rests.  3) The overall color scheme of the background is much too dark.

1) This Mad Miters has 5 centers in the background and 3 in the triangle.  I have used this pattern many times, but in this case it doesn't work.  Because there are 5 centers, the spaces are too small to get enough of the pattern in except in 2 sections.  I had to use a different pattern in the triangle because those spaces were waaaaay too small to even consider that pattern.  
2) In order to work well in a Mad Miters, the triangle must be equilateral, that part is OK.  But it is much too small.  I think it should have been at least an inch taller and an inch wider, 2" would be better, but then it may be too much triangle.  Perhaps a square would work better.
3)  The Watercolours I used as the basis for the background was a lousy choice!  In the skein it appears to be navy and aqua, however, it turns out there is very little aqua, making it mostly navy.  Also, as often happens with very dark shades, it is too thin to cover well on 18.  I originally had planned for the triangle to be more of a chartreuse base, but that looked really terrible and I had to find another Watercolours to work in there.  It isn't too bad, but it is definitely NOT what I was looking for.

Back to the drawing board for a Mad Miters with a triangle in a square or rectangle!

3 comments:

Sara Leigh said...

A good learning experience that you'd rather not have gone through? For me, your analysis of what went wrong and why was very informative. I love bargello but don't know enough to strike out on my own.

pamelaric said...

To each his...or her...own. I think it looks like malachite and I totally love malachite. I might like an outline around the triangle, but I really like this AND the colors.

Jocelyn in NZ said...

I like pamelaric's idea of outlining the triangle - how about trying a red-orange colour, complementary to the Aqua?
And I love the background with so much navy in it - lovely and moody.