Friday, March 30, 2012

Playing with texture

Lately I am leaning towards a lot of texture in my work. There are a number of ways texture and dimension are created.

For this bracelet I used peanut beads which bring their own texture. Here woven with right angle weave the peanut beads make a very textural, firm two sided design. Weaving with them takes some getting used to as they are heavier then the one holed seed bead, and the hole is somewhat inaccessible being in the middle of the two sides of texture. It is hard to 'catch a knot' between threads except on an edge. I found that using a sharp made it easier to weave through the interior beads.

This little bit of necklace is destined for a largish pendant and so will need to be reasonably long. It is tubular right angle weave and the texture is enhanced by using two sizes of beads, in this case size 15's for the side beads and size 11 for the top and bottom.

This little fanciful bit with the beautiful matte lavender takes advantage of a number of textural additions. The cubic right angle weave, the faceted 2 mm crystals on the edge and the size 15 3 cuts that were used to embellish between the cubes. It all adds up to a lot of texture in a small package.

I'm approaching the home stretch on designs for Bead in Motion, although there are still a few projects in their early test beading or component making stages, all of the projects have been conceptualized and most have been completed save for a few minor tweakings.

So now it will be back to illustration. I find that they are both very different tasks, and it seems best to focus on design or focus on illustration as a rhythm is achieved when I do either for a longer stretch. When I switch back and forth it is like teaching myself illustrator all over again. Well not exactly, but when I illustrate full time I am able to keep that muscle memory alive and take advantage of more efficient work flows. So except for some in between beading here and there I will be re-entering the illustration phase.

Today's task, Lilliana for my Bead and Button class. I'm using my own version of cubic raw for the top band and it will require some fancy 3 d beads to show it properly. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Beki said...

Much luck wished your way for the 3D CRAW diagrams. I cannot wait to see the outcome. My own trials at creating an easy to follow diagram for this stitch have given me some great laughs! ;o)

donna said...

All of these photos are lovely peeks at your bead projects. It never ceases to amaze me the beautiful colorways that you constantly come up with. Best of luck with your three D challenges ahead. I know at some point your hard work will benefit me, as I plan to buy any kits you offer in the future.

Ingrid said...

Cool ! I've got tons of peanut beads in a drawer, i'll save them until your book is out.
I love the combination of shiny and mat beads,
All the best
Ingrid