When I started looking for shapes, it wasn't easy to find something with a simple outline in my heap. I had hoped that the oyster shell, with all its nooks and crannies would be interesting but it was the inside contours that were interesting and not the outline. However, I have included my first experiments with the oyster here before I went on to discover the delights of the clam shell.
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| Page 46 |
The actual outline of the oyster was a little disappointing so I looked at altering the size of the outline, but still no improvement.
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| Page 47 |
I made a stamp from foam. The print is encouraging, but not what I'm looking for.
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| Page 48 |
Again, I can see I'm on the wrong track - a spiral stamp made with string on card.
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| Page 49 |
I went back to my photos of the clam shell and at last I have a shape I can work with. The outline was created from a stamp made of string on foam.
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| Page 50 |
I made a solid shape out of foam and used it as a stamp.
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| Page 51 |
I made the shape into a variety of sizes and cut out pictures from magazines.
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| Page 52 |
I folded the shapes on page 51 horizontally to create a 'mountain ridge'. I stitched along the line multiple times without thread.
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| Page 53 |
I went back to the solid shapes and arranged them on the paper and stitched round without thread. I then shaded with diagonal lines to emphasise the shapes.
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| Page 54 |
This is the reverse of page 53, showing only the stitch outline.
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| Page 55 |
The solid shape with diagonal lines of Inktense pencils, lightly dampened with water.
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| Page 56 |
A variation on page 55, this time with the solid shape superimposed and then removed.
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| Page 57 |
I took the clam shape and folded it then replicated in 4 colours.
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| Page 58 |
The new outline formed on page 57.
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| Page 59 |
I introduced counterchange in blending colours.
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| Page 60 |
I'm not too sure about this one, a bit too cross-eyed for me!
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| Page 61 |
This is one of my favourites. The colours are very soothing. I cut it into quarters in the hope of rearranging it and getting a more interesting design. However, nothing worked so I glued it back together and wrote across it. Very happy with this one.
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| Page 62 |
The writing is all about coral reefs, coloured over in Inktense pencils,
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| Page 63 |
I went back to the solid foam outline and drew round with Inktense pencils repeatedly. I find the overall effect quite pleasing.
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| Page 64 |
I made a stamp from the design on page 57. My first attempt at printing in repeat was rather messy, so the sample above is quite small, as I discarded quite a large section.
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| Page 65 |
This is a better repeat print, printed onto a coloured background.
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| Page 66 |
Another variation on the clam shape, with some interesting patterns emerging.
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| Page 67 |
I painted the original shape in counterchange and then drew a Pavona Cactus coral as a line drawing, (sourced from the internet).
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| Page 68 |
I traced 3 new shapes from page 67 and drew them in 3 different sizes.
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| Page 69 |
I coloured papers, cut them out and arranged them on a black background. I then stitched the clam shape in backstitch in the centre. There didn't seem to be a strong focal point, so I added a small, black clam shape in the centre and nestled it in amongst the shapes.
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| Page 70 |
Afterwards, I traced round the coloured shapes to remind myself of the overall design.
