Purple coneflower No.1- botanical collage - 9x12 - Susan Black
A new botanical collage I'm currently finishing up, a new palette for me and this collage was actually inspired directly from nature, from these gorgeous seed heads spied in the park one early morning walk with Miss Deeicent (Like Milicent with a Dee instead of a Mil - oh don't we love a new Term of Endearment) both photographed en plein air in their natural babitat and as a bouquet of dried crunchy blooms (seed heads) on my studio table soon to be crunched on & dragged throughout the house by Oliver & Virgil (especially) who cannot seem to help themselves. Flowers dried or otherwise, especially in vases or jars must be tipped over (if possible) or destroyed stem by stem and strewn far and wide. Life with cats Chapter 11 page 246.
So version 1 top photo before the black line added. The security blanket of many an illustrator - the black line - the outline. Your opinion valued s'il vous plait. Version 2 with the addition of bold black painted line and more hand drawn pen line. You choose - no feelings will be hurt promise.
Bold black line
crutch ?
or critical ?
Hey ! don't forget to leave a comment here for our BIG card giveaway
Version 1, but not because of the black line. I prefer it without all the extra little trimmings.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the first one, where some are outlined (softly) and others aren't. The second one seems too "obvious," though that could be because you asked us to choose!
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ReplyDeleteLovely work! I prefer it without the black outline. Without the outline the seeds heads seem to float more naturally and the colour palette seems more integrated.
Susan, i like the 1st one, I felt it to have more dimension.I love the colours, thanks for bringing the beauty of nature to us all,all seasons. with love, mary
ReplyDeleteTruly my all time favorites! Prefer the first but you could always combine some darker "Circles" in that group of "3" to draw your eye there?
ReplyDeleteAnyway this is something my Mom needs upon completion. Tail wags ~moose
Susan, I LOVE this piece and I have to say I choose the first one. I love the linework and the darker purple used as well. Thank you for inspiring this little heart this morning. I've been cooped up all week! :D
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You may see a trend developing here, I prefer the first also. And with only one butterfly and less trimmings too! I love the new colour palette, yum
ReplyDeleteI prefer the first one--it has a softness and "quietness" to it. I would be drawn to it if it were hanging out on a greeting card rack.
ReplyDeleteNumber!for sure,Susan! I LOVE it!
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Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI vote for the first one as well, softer on the eyes, one wants to stay their longer, the second one is lovely but very defined and thus registered in the brain and then the brain wishes to move on.
On the first one, my eye lingers a bit too long on the upside down triangle on the upper left side. I understand the coffee wash look, in fact really like it, but the very white-beige triangle demands my focus, I wish it didn't.
The colors, the coffee wash, the various shades of purple are very, very nice, soothing and quite natural even holistic feeling.
Best to you.
I prefer the first one, it has a softness and quietness that compliments the palette of lavender colours... I love the transparency of the butterfly. Both are beautiful dear Susan and the photos of the cone flowers.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
I like Number one the most, as well. It's softer and somehow the colour just pops more while still maintaining it's softness. I like the one butterfly better, too. I found in the first one, I thought the single butterfly was just stunning--loving the almost transparency of it!
ReplyDeleteYep - Number one for me too! I agree w. MLou - how the lack of keyline seems to make them "float" within the layout - like flowers bobbing in the breeze. Absolutely lovely work, my dear - nice to see you pushing the envelope even further these days. Soon you won't even have any envelope left to push!
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I guess number one is the winner. I thought the same thing. Very pretty.
ReplyDeleteThe first for me- I like the softness.
ReplyDeletewell you sure don't make it easy for us to choose JUST ONE!! lol by a slim margin i prefer option 1. the subtle softness is so nice. beautiful new colors!
ReplyDeleteI must agree with everyone else...both images are lovely, but the first one wins. The palette is beautiful, and it's simply lovely.
ReplyDeleteI like version one... no black line. It's a real beauty!
ReplyDeleteI prefer the first one... more ethereal.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the great comments, critiques, etc ... and we have a resounding winner in No. 1, which I guess is why I posted this post in the first place. I do have a fortunate habit of scanning as I go, in stages, so that if I did screw up somewhere along the line I'd still have a high res copy of many stages of each illustration - which fortunately I did in this case.
ReplyDeleteI like No.1 best too, a lot better - it just feels more botanical, maybe I am finally ready to let go of the darn black outline crutch - it is a terrible crutch and many illustrators suffer from it - that feeling that an illustration just doesn't feel complete without that security blanket of a black line emphasizing the edge ?!?
But then again some designs need a little black edging - pop over here to see two more new 5x7 botanical-ish collages. I like them both though they each are very different.
http://susanblackdesign.blogspot.ca/
Thans for all the comments on the card giveaway Oliver cannot wait to start pulling names out of his hat ;-)o
sans black line. no crutch required.
ReplyDeleteI love the new color palette and my vote is for number 1
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