Phase 5: Final Focal Print

Hi everyone, although it turned out that I fell short of producing all three focal prints, I have really enjoyed this class. Vectorizing watercolor is such a fun technique and I'm so glad that I now understand the ins and outs, thanks to Bonnie's excellent lessons, as well as having a clearer understanding of all the elements that make quality focal print. Glad too to have made an inspiration board that I can draw on even though the class is ending. Tonight the Passover holiday begins, which will mean a busy stretch of family activity, so I am going to post my focal print right now. I would love to develop this further with more motifs drawn/painted from my inspiration board. Loved seeing everyone's work, and have appreciated the encouraging comments. (Note: I have some prior experience with the Illustrator pattern tool, and used it to develop this as a half-drop repeat. The process was a bit tricky because in pattern mode moving elements with lots of vector points turns out to be slow going, but not impossible.)

Workshop #3 Phase 5: Final Focal Print(s) - image 1 - student project

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Phase 3: Beginning Designs

We have a busy family weekend coming up, so I wanted to get an early start and post my progress today. I will continue sketching on Monday at the latest. I am imagining this as a watercolor collection — the pink flowers pictured here were done in a much looser style than I have used in the past, which is a good challenge for me. The pear is something I did over the summer and consists of careful washes over a very light pencil drawing - more typical of my style. It did scan in well and I think it will work as a motif with the other elements. Because I could not wait to see how scanning and image tracing would work, I went and gave it a try. What a total thrill! I changed the colors and created a quick layout, shown below. Looking forward to seeing everyone progress :-)

Workshop #3 Phase 5: Final Focal Print(s) - image 2 - student project

Workshop #3 Phase 5: Final Focal Print(s) - image 3 - student project

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Phase 2: Inspiration

Here is my assignment for week 2, I am calling this collection Sonnet. I liked Bonnie's suggestion to write a brief story about the collection, in addition to creating an inspiration board and brainstorming 10 related words. Spring has not yet sprung here on Long Island, NY, so I'm grateful our local supermarkets had a nice selection of goods for me to photograph :-) This collection draws on my memories of living in London for seven years with my husband and kids, and the fact that I love historical fiction set in Tudor England.

Sonnet Story

The lady-in-waiting steps into the misty garden half an hour before twilight. The ground is damp and the air is fragrant. There are droplets clinging to the roses, and more rain is coming. But for now everything is quiet and washed with soft light. She plucks a pear from her favorite tree, and takes a bite as she hurries towards the gate. She’ll have to be back quickly before they notice that she’s gone.

10 Words: Lyrical, soulful, perfumed, applewood, twilight, brocade, earthy, rich, fresh, rejuvenating.

Workshop #3 Phase 5: Final Focal Print(s) - image 4 - student project

Amy Cohas

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