Taking Aim

[Cutting Cathy]

Ok, I have to admit, I know nothing about designing and have NO artistic abilities!! There's some things on this thread that I understand, but a lot that I don't. (your talking to someone who can't draw stick people!!) But awhile back I had posted some pictures of our ice storm damage. There were several people that commented on this particular picture and that it would be a great pattern.... I can't for the life of me figure out how this could be made into a pattern.

P10100492.jpg

I just don't understand how you would be able to "separate" the white snow on the branches of the trees with the white snow on the ground. To me it would be just one big mish mash of white!! Hhhmmm, interesting thread. But please try to explain this like you would to a 10 year old!!! Like I said, NO artistic abilities!!

Cathy in NE

[CanadianScroller]

The ice storm picture paints a real snapshot of the devastation of nature and lets us know who is really in control.
Part of this is due to the dreary sky, the pale palette and the lack of contrast even between the snowy background and the dark bark of the trees.
I agree Cathy this is a real challenge.

I will not say it cant be done, but I wonder, like you, how usable a pattern will be.
We have to define the trees, some are erect and some have fallen.
One defining feature is the placement of the ice on the limbs. A problem with that is the ice is the same colour and texture of the background

The ground is smooth and white so it shows no detail, the sky is virtually the same. This part is easy we don't have to do anything here.

There are 4 distinct layers in the photo, foreground, middle, middle back and distance.
We could cut 4 layers and build the pattern up from that. Each one would be a physical layer depicting a different depth in the image. Something like paper tole.

This would have to be done manually.

We could scan the photo based on tonal value, each tone being a different layer to the puzzle. There is an example of a three tonal scan image done with inkscape.

We could adjust the overall tonal value and reduce this to 2 colours and we get the start of a fretwork stencil. This was done with Serif PhotoPlus.

Personally I would use a layered method, I think it would be extremely difficult to cut an effective fretwork pattern, given the subject matter is all tones in a monochrome palette and increasing contrast only leads to decreasing the ability to recognize the image.


Someone else jump in and rescue me and prove me wrong now Thats whay this thread is about

[CanadianScroller]

I had another thought, You could make 4 copies of the photo, glue them to thin BBPly and then cut the different trees out of each picture creating the same paper tole effect.

If someone can create a fretwork pattern that can be cut then I would have to say hats off and the drinks are on me.....I sure hope they can't that is a whole lotta drinks.

[Gill]

I think there comes a point where you have to say that some images are unsuitable for adaptation to a scroll saw project. This is one of them. Although it could be tackled as a layered project as Carl suggests, an awful lot of the detail would be lost. To me, it is the quality of the tones seeping into each other that give this image an ethereal beauty. I'd be mightily impressed if anyone could reproduce that in solid wood.

Gill

[CanadianScroller]

I like your wording Gill, not suiable doesnt mean impossible, it means who is willing to put the time and effort in to get it to work

The other thing is the thread has been taking the direction of fretwork, There is so much more to scrolling than that.
I imagine a similar image could be converted into marquetry, or segmentation.
It would take some skilled cutting though

[CanadianScroller]

New thought on the picture, How about a layeredscape with woodburning accents.
I agree Gill that if we just used fretwork the cut and dry image would lose its ethereal beauty,
If we used woodburning and covered the whole image with a whitewash we could mute the details.

OH NO I am becoming a finisher

[Gill]

Step away from the edge, Carl. Things aren't that bad... we'll soon have you back in the workshop and you'll forget all about those nasty hot tools... this nice man in a white coat wants to have a friendly chat with you.



Actually, it's a salient point. When you buy or download a pattern, it's often a bare line drawing. Yet when you buy a proper book or CD, there's plenty of advice on how the finished project should look. Of course, you have to balance the notion of prescription - a pattern is seen by some as merely a template that they can embellish with personal touches.

Gill

[WyvernWench]

Hey ... can anyone play this game???

I don't think you need to resort to using white paint. The idea of the ice storm is already evident in the curve of the branches from the weight of the snow and ice. Plus there are no leaves on the trees or on the ground. So obviously it is winter! Also notice how the branches that touch the ground do not lay on the ground but instead flow into the snow and ice becoming part of the ground ...

Also notice the little pine tree in the center of the photo ... you can see the snow on the branches. So, in my opinion, representing the snow/ice idea as a white field is not necessary.

I think the first thing I would do with this photo is reduce the amount of information .... get rid all the excess little branches.

Is it Ok if I play with this one ..... Please?

Susan

[miamw]

Originally Posted by WyvernWench

Hey ... can anyone play this game???


Is it Ok if I play with this one ..... Please?

Susan

Sure, I don't see why not. I gave it a shot and IMO failed. Let's see what you can do with it.

[kerry_nf]

Not an easy pattern to render or cut for sure. I put it through a few steps and came up with the one attached. As you can see there is still a ton of work that needs to be done to clean up the floating segments...and I'm not sure that by looking at that pic one could easily say "yeah, those are trees after an ice storm."