…. that the declared purpose of the crew was to “boldly go where Man has never been before.” My adventure today has not been anything like as bold as that, but I really have been setting out, quite deliberately, on an artistic adventure.
On several previous occasions I have confessed in this blog that I have to acknowledge that I am less than confident with the use of colour, in comparison with my sense of form and composition. It has been in my mind for some time to try and do something about that. The opportunity has now arrived. The new project I mentioned recently, working around the mediaeval idea of “the four elements”, has been maturing steadily in the background.* I have been jotting sketches and collecting reference images here and there, gathering it all together in a notebook. Although I have been very busy over the past week I have been able to form a fairly clear idea of the direction in which I want the image to take.
The idea is to develop a configuration of four circles, each divided into the Yin and Yang symbols, indicating the contradictory nature of our ideas about these “elements”. A prominent part in the design will be played by the spectrum, and this requires a conscious decision to make myself aware of the colour wheel, and the organisation and relationship of complementary and opposed colours. It is beginning to shape up quite well, but I’m still very nervous about it. Wish me luck.
*Earth, air, fire and water.