Working on the Lace

The lace is in, Phreddee the cat has some fur, and the rose petals are brightened up (but not enough yet).  So next I'll turn my attention to Phreddee which will be a lot of fun - what I've been waiting for, in fact.  Oh, and then there are the rose leaves and stem.  That green is important to pick up the green in Phreddee's eyes.

The carpet was quite tedious, but I believe that the patience required to add layer after layer of dots pays off.

To do the lace, I first finished the carpet and glazed over the curtain area with cream.  Wherever the curtain folds over itself I added a second pass of glazing to represent the two layers of fabric.  Then it was on to the pattern.  I outlined all the flowers and leaves with pretty hard pressure, then filled in with lighter pressure leaving the vein areas untouched.  With the sharp edge of the pastel I laid in rows and rows of cross-hatching to represent the loose weave of the fabric, then added random dots to try to suggest a little more of the lace detail.  Working on such a fine subject with the thick pastel stick is frustrating since I'm such a detail person.  So I had to keep reminding myself that in the end the lace curtain would be part of the background - not the main area of interest.

With the focal point of Phreddee's eyes being so far into the upper right corner, I have a little bit of a worry about the composition.  After all, this flagrantly violates the "rule of three."  (Rule of Three: imagine dividing the image in thirds with both horizontal and vertical lines.  The focal point should be on or near one of the intersections of these lines.)  To me, rules are guidelines and not laws.  And I'm hoping that the secondary focal point of the torn rose will balance things out.  As I look at this photograph, I'm thinking I need more petals trailing off to the lower left.