Taking Aim

[kerry_nf]

Originally Posted by CanadianScroller

I would love to see interpretations of this photo. Feel free to use the patterns, it is my photo.

I took that to mean he wanted to "see" different versions....with discussion to follow of course.

[CanadianScroller]

Thanks for making a pattern for us to look at.

These are just my comments.

I really like the way some of the sections came out.

The grass that is highlighted through the shadow of the Farm implement....nice way of saying manure spreader.... really pops out.
The black dots above the grass look like the tops of grain, and offer a nice contrast on the light background.

The front wheel has highlights and shadows letting us know which direction the sun is. With this angle set the rest of the picture can be adapted to enhance the shadows and highlights of the rear wheels.

The grass in the foreground has some detail. It may be a pain to cut but when the number of shadows decreases through the depth of the picture the details are lost, this gives the illusion of depth.

The trees in the background lose detail, it is hard to make out what they are. It is almost necessary to create tree and branch shapes by hand, or from another picture, or to eliminate them completely.
One thing I did like there is the way that the sapling on the left side of the image ties the foreground center and background all together. If this were strengthened I think it could be a good anchor.

While a vignetted background image can really add to the atmosphere of a pattern, it can also take away from it by adding confusion.

I think the pattern has visual interest in the way it is portrait with three bands of contrast. A foreground, a light mid area that highlights the implement and a darker background.
With more work in some of the areas this could work out to be an great pattern.

[kerry_nf]

Originally Posted by CanadianScroller

One thing I did like there is the way that the sapling on the left side of the image ties the foreground center and background all together. If this were strengthened I think it could be a good anchor.

That was exactly my thought too. If I were to spend a little more time on it that is definetly one piece I would enhance.

I also agree about the trees...it may be hard to tell they are trees. Working parts of a visible one randomly thoughout the very dark sections is a good idea.

[Jediscroller]

I had hoped (and may still find the time) to give this a go. In looking at the photo, some of the challenges I foresee are the showing the depth of the box on the wagon. The wheel shadows are another critical element (at least to me) with this type of pattern as well. You can add a lot of depth with some well-place negative space on the wheels. As far as the trees in the background I see 2 ways to approach these, the first would be to make this area completely void which would add a different perspective to the pic or the second option would be to draw in some trees by hand. With many of my patterns I've been very happy with the former approach. Of course, one of the key aspects would be the cuttability (is that a word) of the finished pattern as well.

[kerry_nf]

Is this thread done? I hope not...I rather enjoy this one.

[miamw]

Originally Posted by kerry_nf

Is this thread done? I hope not...I rather enjoy this one.

Unless one of us attains perfection (and shares the secret), then this thread will never be complete. We saw what happened with the last pattern. I wish there was a simple answer to finding what makes the perfect pattern, but obviously there isn't. Hopefully with this thread, we can get a little closer.

[Gill]

I keep meaning to come back and explore some of the outstanding points raised in this thread but tempus fugit . As Mia says, it's an on-going conversation that we'll continue to dip into.

Gill

[CanadianScroller]

Originally Posted by miamw

Unless one of us attains perfection (and shares the secret), then this thread will never be complete. We saw what happened with the last pattern. I wish there was a simple answer to finding what makes the perfect pattern, but obviously there isn't. Hopefully with this thread, we can get a little closer.

Mia you are in good company. Maurice Ravel was a perfectionist, I am sure he spent many sleepless nights trying to string his notes together with the right timing and accent to create each piece of music he wrote.
He said we will never attain perfection but each time we take on a project and create, our goal is to be a little closer to that end.
I really think this is exemplified in the skills we are all developing here on the forum. All we have to do is look at our first scroll piece, or our first pattern.
Each time we put wood to saw we use our past cutting experiences to guide the wood through its path.
The same holds true for pattern design. We step forward and hopefully improve with each pattern we make. Mind you if no one points out the errors or imperfections in what we do then those mistakes will continue to creep into our work.
I think the key to us all developing in this area is in the way we temper the good and the bad parts of each others designs.
While praise feeds our ego and confidence, criticisms dash our hopes and many times hurt us so much we do not want to continue on with our designs. This is just human nature.
If anyone reading the thread sees things that can be improved upon or that we have missed, just go back and quote the original thread with your new ideas and observations. I am sure this thread will never die.
Just remember perfection is just around the corner....oh wait that is a mirror never mind.

[Gill]

I hope it doesn't sound as if I'm boasting because my pattern was chosen for cutting, but I thought it might be an opportune time to link this thread about designing a car pattern into the conversation before it slides into obscurity. Just a few short posts ago we were discussing the effect of using lines to define edges and how some pattern designers draw lines where in reality there are none. Instead, there are edges between planes.

I had found this a difficult concept to discuss within the thread without having patterns for reference, one with an outline which has been created by the designer and another pattern which uses contrast to suggest an outline. However, Tim's pattern request has provided the perfect comparison ot the different techniques! Sawduster's pattern is very similar to mine and uses shadow very effectively to give his car form. However, there are also some lines such as those on the top of the roof and at the rear of the car which I couldn't find when I was designing my pattern. Yet the pattern needed these features of the car to be defined if it was to work. So instead of adopting Sawduster's approach, I included some background as a contrasting plane which defined the edge.

Don't get me wrong - this isn't a "my pattern works better than yours" sort of post. I'm trying to draw attention to the significance of our earlier discussion in how I approached the design. The patterns Sawduster and others submitted are perfectly acceptable and I'm sure that choosing between them must have been terribly difficult. Even if another pattern had been chosen, I would have still made this post just to ask people who are following this thread to compare the different approaches and ponder when it's better to use one technique rather than the other.

Gill

[kerry_nf]

It doesn't appear you are boasting at all Gill. I agree 100% with your take on it.

...so maybe what we need as fuel in this thread are more pictures for the designers to "tackle" and offer up for discussion. This will allow us to see the different interpretations and possiblly show us where each of us could improve.

Thoughts?