wing dress update: accentuating the contour

oh good my updates are getting frequent-er!
or so i thought, til i realized it's
already been a week since the last post

someone must be pressing the
fast-forward button
behind my back...

(stop that!)

but i haven't given up on
beating the time somehow
...by doing what?

well what else could that be
but my wing dress project

below:
bringing up
(or is it "down"?)
the over-all tone by
few shades darker



now, on the first piece, i
experimented what i haven't 'til then that is
to give it a "high-contrast" fade-into-white look

below:
putting on the half-done first wing dress
see the contour obscured (intentionally)
by the "fade" look



i liked that very much but
realized doing it on this second piece
may not be in its best interest

see, what i especially like about this current design is
the general shape of feathers,
placed to suggest some sort of...velocity, a sense of it

so to accentuate, not to obscure, such feature
i decided to get it few shades darker all over
and minimize the white-out look

below:
toned down, pinned down
and almost good to go



thanks for your visit!

wing dress update: all‘s well 'cos they end well

hey let's start off the post with a
heartwarming topic of deads

(((big smile)))


bugs are strange creatures
fascinating and so different from "us" that
even the self-acclaimedly "open minded" ones like myself
often get scared when they are alive


i've been lucky enough to see the human deads few times but

(cheerful 'nough? good!)

they looked nothing but a lifeless shell with
what made them once shine "left" for good


but look at this bug carcass
his departure made him approachable to a wuss that is me
with his beauty intact in his remains...



now that i am sure i've chased away half of visitors

(((wink)))

let's proceed to the talk on my beloved project, the wing dress


below:
i've worked on "shading" to this extent
circled is the area where the design is still not complete

in other words, the struggle zone, i'd call it



being a sucker for embarrassment
i can't stop sharing the recent boo-boo i've made in the zone

below:
before moving onto "shading"
too small, too round, too timid-looking



fast forward to the current
i seem to have been hang up on the idea of
having round, short feathers in front that are like scales

below:
trying out the idea again
this time
drawing directly on bodice to better grasp the balance



then tacked them on wall to check on the look
and to clean up and draw detailed lines

in other words
i reversed the process from when i made the boo-boo


below:
is this...good?



cleaned, pinned back on the bodice...
and the answer to that is
....whopping yes!!



hey this post
ended on a cheerful note...

...noticed?

(((big smile again)))

wing dress update: s u m m e r !!!!!

summer arrived again to
northern half of us



what i've been doing on my
wing dress project...

the placement of the feathers is
pretty-much done except for
the front of the dress

below:
feels like something's not quite enough



next:
so i added few feathers
just to see different ways to
mess up my work...

that's
thee tongue trio



and next:
evidently i seem to favor the
short feathers placed like scales

this one seemed like a good one
made me almost happy even, but...



...when i pinned the panels together
it was all wrong, too...

smallish
and
bubblish

like fish eggs on seaweed

(((ouch!)))



so i decided to put that on hold and
moved on to the next task

ya, shading



one thing i am trying to learn from the first piece is
to make the contrast of light and shadow
not too tedious

meaning
dark be darrrrk
don't make the contrast
itty bitty
light-dark-light-dark affair
for that would make it look
very "busy"

below:
dark getting darrk



anyhow

i hope you people will have a fantastic summer
(or winter)
and
thankyu for your visit!

wing dress update: (untitled due to...)

today i have acute melancholitis on my tongue
this means
talk is curtish as i share with you
the latest on my "wing dress" project


looking at one of the photos from
the last post on the subject
made me realize
i don't like the back side...

ya, right there...
stood out like a sore...feather



the following three:
the latest as of yesterday
almost done with feather placement

design's much bolder than the first piece...





what's left is pretty much this:
adding some sense of speed
of velocity, of "swish"-ness

like this



time to pull the covers way over my head
and dream of flying

thank you for your visit!

wing dress update: like a caterpillar crawling...

early summer...
when days are long and every little path is
filled with fragrance and stray caterpillars
while young sparrows hone their flying skills
and make me fear for my life...


watcyu been doing all this time
betraying ya own project...

well
i been

sniffin the mood enhancers...
(that's jasmin, fella)



hanging out with friends on the beach...



have had some crafty (mis)adventures...



experimenting in culinary lab
finding cosmos in a kitchen bowl...



...and this!

evidence of hard work



my wing dress project has been
taking place in secrecy

below:
making progress in an incubator













below:
latest, as of may 29th, 2009
almost ready for the next task



if you are here for the first time:
the above pattern that is drawn on paper
will be traced onto fabric of my choice
then
be painted in, using acid-type fabric dye


below:
...and when would that be? he asks



see you
in a while

thankyu for your visit