Sometimes life pushes our goals a little farther away. I didn't sleep well and my wife was sick, so I ended getting up late. Though I was able to draw, I didn't have time to take photographs of the picture and do the food shopping. The need for food won today. I got home from Fred Meyer at 1 :15 pm and had to be at my job at the casino by 2 pm, so I got the food to Sue, who then made me a quick bagel and I was out the door posthaste to make it to work on time. Work was slow, and my mind wandered to what I might do to finish this drawing and how to approach my next project.
While I won't have the photos until tomorrow's blog, I can tell you that the lettering is now in place. Having completed all the elements in the upper corner it became evident that I needed to make the outlines of the knot work darker. The bright colors of the figures, the pink background and dark blue lettering draw the eye away from the cross, thus the lines of the knotting need to be emphasized to balance the composition and make the viewer conscious of the delicate crossing patterns in the cross. Though the size of the cross makes it possible to see it across the room, the details are appreciated best from six feet or less away. It is, after all, an elaborate document and not a poster.
My mind is now allowing itself to think of my next project. The design process for Thus Spake the Prophets is complete except for small changes that come to light as the color work progresses. Part of my mind seems to always be involved in designing, and I have been looking earnestly at the Lindisfarne Gospels for design inspirations for another picture involving a tree and a great number of singing birds. Typically I will also look at the Book of Kells, and more recently have been investigating other Northumbrian and Irish illuminated manuscripts.
So tomorrow will see more artistic progress, and a trip to the doctor to try to give Sue the upper hand against her menacing cough, fever, and crashing headache.
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