working out the color value ~ bighorn sheep collage

the fabrics above were part of the buffalo florals, and some of you have asked me who they are by… i wish i knew myself!  unfortunately, many times the selvedge is removed when you buy the kit because generally you only get a 4-6″ piece.  so i have done lots of searching for fabrics!  my best place to search is etsy.com.  the best way to search is by fabric line if i know it; then by company or designer name. usually that means i’m searching modern fabrics  from companies such as art gallery, westminster, free spirit, and andover.  i’ve found a few that way, at least!  

seen below are a couple designs from art gallery that i have found very helpful in almost all my collage work.  they are neutrals, but can be light or dark values depending on what you put them next to, and their texture, or line design within the flower makes them visually a good choice as well.

“gossamer” by pam holland for art gallery fabrics seen above in two different colors; taupe and gray

i hope that helps a little bit? 

onto mr. bighorn! uhh.. those horns.  i came down with a head cold last week, so i’m blaming that on my less than appealing design decisions!  lol.  left overnight, i knew by the next morning they all had to come off… it just didn’t have enough any dramatic appeal! and the prominence of the horns was sadly lacking. {i’m thankful to my husband who gives me honest feedback, too!}. 

so…keep those fusible papers handy, so you can re-stick your flowers back on them… fyi.

and it came to me in the middle of the night, and i knew what  needed to be done. or at least i hoped. they would be all pink.  

yup.

pink horns? really?  i wasn’t sure, but since i had them  in lots of shades and texture of pink, coral, peach… they seemed to work, and i started building.

but what about the contrast on the curl part of the horns?  well.  i went with blues.  now at least now there is a contrast ~ vital to the overall design.  and this is why.  because the curl of the horns is one of the most recognizable characteristics of a bighorn sheep, and without that distinction… the design is a flop, in my view.  i was trying to keep them neutral with cream tones and dark browns, but it just didn’t work.  

so i went bold and pink.  and blue!

{and i knew i needed to rework those eyes, too}  ugh.  kinda scary, i think.

notice that i added small bits of florals above, {these are the “millefiori” from the kaffe fassett fabrics}.

much better.  the horns and eyes still need a little tweaking.  one of the other factors that is somewhat interesting, is that a bighorn sheep horn has lots of linear texture that go across the horns, and so i did my best to select florals that had a lot of line texture. here’s a photo from google images that i used as slight reference.  {notice the heart shaped nose!}

 and at least i had a good selection of pre-cut floral motifs that had that texture {at least in my creative world}, and i think it works.  best of all, i really like it!  

a little more contrast is needed; perhaps additions of smaller flowers used in the horns to tie the whole design together… but i’m a lot closer.  

also he needs a hint of  tail… and although i chose to draw him laying down, the large white tail area is another feature i would like to include, or at least allude to.  so i’ll be working on that before finally fusing and then quilting mr. bighorn.

enJoy!
xo
leslie
soli deo gloria!