Tapestry Illustration

I'm rarely afforded down-time between client briefs, but when I am I like to illustrate one of the many ideas I've left languishing on a shelf in my studio. Contrarily, this illustration developed from nothing in that pile or any real agenda, but rather from an exploration of new methods and materials.

I'd found myself with an abundance of pink and blue acrylic paint, so decided to water some down and using old rags, swipe contours of the mix across large pieces of canvas creating free-form swirling and flowing marks and shapes. Once that had dried, I used a marker pen to trace around some of the more prominent edges left by the fabric, creating a series of outlined abstract constructions.

I cut down and scanned the resulting canvas pieces and digitally composed a 'landscape' of the line work, creating an organic, fantasy scene, ready to populate with more deliberate forms such as wildlife. Paying homage to the original use of fabric in creating the forms, I allowed other relevant rhetoric to creep into the scene, including buttons and sewing needles. To give the piece its mood I inverted the colours, resulting in an almost batique-like image - again, another incidental nod towards how fabrics had played a major part in its development.