PEP tangles - my Zentangle Inspired Art blog

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

MCC Card Design Workshop Wk 2 - Contrast & Harmony

Links: Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

This exercise involved selecting a sketch (from a batch of them provided by Glenda) with which to make two cards, one using principles of harmony & the other principles of contrast. I had quite a hard time with this & don't like either of my projects. At one time I would have binned them & started again & repeated the exercise until I had something I was happy with, but that would always leave me rather behind. This time I am determined to keep up so I shall rest content with what I have done: a course is all about learning - not about completing something perfectly & I can always revisit these topics once the course is complete.

principles of harmony in colour & shape

close-up of star panel














principles of contrast in colour & shape


   
close-up of star panel














One of the reasons that I struggled was because I was probably too literal in my interpretation & trying to achieve harmony with both colour & shape in the one & contrast again with colour & shape in the other at the same time as making a comparison between the two. My creativeness was stifled by trying to do the exercise "properly." 

Another reason for my battle was that I selected the paper because I knew I had a stamp to go with it & that then bore consequences for harmony & contrast. The harmonic colours had to be based on the purples & the shape had to be angular. The only way I could add contrast in the second project was by using the complementary yellow or gold colour & curved shapes (rounded corners, circles in place of squares, a wavy border in place of a zigzag).

Recipe
Stamp Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0170 Christmas Fusion.
Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail Clear & Detail Gold Embossing Powder (images); Memento Grape Jelly, Brilliance Galaxy Gold & Encore Gold (inking various cardstock edges).
Colouring Copic Ciao Marker for colouring small square gems.
Cardstock Pale yellow & assorted purples in various finishes from stash.
Paper Graphicus Guild Membership Pack.
Punches etc... Woodware (circle, corner rounder & paper trimmer with decorative edge blades).
The gems & pearls were from stash.

10 comments:

Aquarius said...

Another interesting exercise with so many possibilities (given endless hours to experiment). Well done for curbing your 'throwaway tendencies' - maybe if you throw away the bin...

Miranda said...

Hi Paula, I started with a laugh because of the comment of 'Aquarius'...throwing away the bin.... and indeed the 'road' is more important than the destination, especially when it is a course. But I recognized a lot in your 'perfection'! It's great to see harmony and contrast next to each other and I very much appreciate your explanation and showing results of this very interesting course. Wish I could join....warm greet Miranda and.....

I have a stamp that says 'Embrace imperfection' well that's easy to say but hard to feel and do!

GinaA said...

Gosh Paula, you are working hard at this, you put me to shame. You produce lovely work and the Stars with circles is a great idea. Love the embossed gold.

Sally H said...

These are beautiful too - maybe not your usual style, but I feel you managed contrast and harmony very well indeed! I have a 'before bin' box and will put things into it and leave them for a few days. Sometimes they grow on me...

Lorraine said...

lol im with the others huni sorry but your bin has to go it does not deserve your beautiful work,i really love these cards today hun the colours are so vibrant and with the strong shapes i think they work so well together i think you will grow to love them too the embossing looks fab too xx

Wiccababe said...

I always learn so much when I pop over here Paula, it's so interesting to have a glimpse at the theory of design
Debz
xx

brenda said...

I'm running all behind this week Paula, so aplos I'm so late arriving here.

Two stunning pieces, fabulous colours and richness added by the gold embossing. If I had to choose I think the second piece would just pip it to the post as I love the stronger fusion of colour.

B x

Elizabeth Allan said...

Paula this exercise in contrast and harmony is wonderful! Sometimes you learn more during the process than in the project.

Annie said...

this looks very luxurious Paula, and beautiful shades of colour with the golden stars.
hugs, annie x

xxxtglxxx said...

These both look cracking to me Paula. I love the harmony card, it just flows beautifully :)

You wouldnt believe how many times I put something on my blog and feel like deleting it straight away, but dont have time to knock something else up. Its a battle with our expectations and ambitions versus the freedom to create and experiment. Like you say, its a learning process :)

keep at it, I am enjoying the course!! lol :D

hugs

xxalisonxx