Tags
Compass, Hand-painted concrete floors, Interior design, Lisa Brunetti art, Mosaic work, Problem floors, Timeout for Art Compass, Tromp L'oeil on floor, What to do with an ugly floor
“I don’t want technology to take me so far that I don’t have to use my brain anymore. It’s like GPS taking over and losing your internal compass. It’s always got to be tactile, still organic.”
Andrew Bird
Years ago I worked in a design studio for a company that produced custom carpets for hotels, movie theaters, casinos and private businesses. Every so often we received an order for a hand-made rug, and the pattern had to be drawn on a huge canvas that was stretched to correct proportions in the warehouse. To my amusement, most of the younger designers were graphic art whizzes, but their drawing skills were horrid! I quickly became the hand-made rug specialist, and I would leave a note on my desk, “Gone to the briar patch! – ‘Brer Rabbit.’
How I loved the challenge of using my math and drawing skills to transfer a complicated design onto a giant canvas, then color code the areas to be filled in by another person!
I still enjoy using my internal compass to draw a complicated design on a forlorn concrete floor and watching the room slowly transform! These photos illustrate one of several projects that tested my drawing skills this week.
Hmmm, perhaps it’s a flying saucer?!!! 138 cm wide! (4.5′ )
Slowly the mosaic strengthens.
Washes add depth and contrast for the lighter colors.
There’s a plan, and the darker areas have a purpose!
Strengthening colors…
Analytical drawing skills required!!!
More analytical skills at work!
Slowly the image strengthens…
Day Four – Compass for the Magic Carpet! – Stopping point for the night!
Another view:
It looks a bit like an eyeball, don’t you agree?!
Shadows strengthen the design and make it more believable.
In Progress – Over four-feet wide! A Mosaic Compass for the Magic Carpet!
Tomorrow/Thursday, I will finish the shadows then apply mosaic patterns on the white areas. Special touches of art will accent the four cardinal points. I’m saving the best for last!
Do you think that this compass will compliment the magic carpet?!
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™.
Thanks …
This is incredible! The shadows really point this to a whole new direction (no pun intended).. Can’t wait to see it when it’s done. I love anything circular or oval, especially when mixed with other geometric shapes. This is exciting.
thank you! sometimes there is no substitute for precision, and this is one that requires exactness! i am enjoying the painting process, but it drains my energy!
Gorgeous work of art! Outstanding! 🙂
thank you amiga! thanks, also, for the tweet!!!! have a tweet day!!!!
Busy weekend for me, I hope you’re having a great one! xx
What an artwork! I would be so proud to own it. Your talent is immense, Lisa. 🙂
thank you so much! this when i peer over at this image that is building, i am prompted to step into the circle and start dancing!!!! it’s strong yet fun!
This is wonderful, Lisa!
thank you, cindy! it’s time consuming but i am very pleased with the progress!
Aha! We were right, a compass. I love the design and the shadows and depth really sets it off. I have to learn how to do the washes. Were you able to get the app for directional points (North)? We’ll be posting our two for this week with the debut of Iguagecko this weekend. Just finishing some touch-ups.
I couldn’t fool both of you! The work is going well, but I am drained after a painting session.
Xavier stopped by and used his gadget phone to show north, which was a sprinkling of degrees more ‘left’ than either of us thought. We always think of north as going up and down the coastline, but of course north is often tweaked over the ocean instead!
I love John’s eagle drawing and also love your bright-colorful butterfly painting! You two are prolific artists! How are you feeling this morning? This cool weather has my throat a tiny bit scratchy, and I STAY a bit too cool for my liking. Brrrrrr! July was surely one of the coolest on record for this area?
It’s beautiful and I do think it is like an eye. And perhaps a physical representation of our third eye.
Hey! Thanks for that suggestion of a third eye! You are so right! Now when I look at the image, a third eye will always be looking back at me!
🙂
There is no machine that can compare with the heart of an artist. Nicely done.
What a beautiful comment, worthy of a future Timeout for Art post! Thank you!
Brilliant!!
thank you, hugh! the work saps my energy and challenges a select area of my arm muscles, but it’s worth it!
amazing as always Lisa!
thank you! this one’s physically demanding of precision, which saps my energy! painting is easy, but drawing with paint is work!
Just gorgeous!
thank you amiga! you can understand why/how this one is draining my energy!
Wonderful compass, Lisa! I like the colors and the shadows really give it depth! Hurray for traditional navigation devices!
Thanks, Ruth! You certainly respect the old school of navigation! The magic carpet now has a compass AND a worthy anchor!
Brilliant design Lisa! Just love the circles and geometric shapes, it’s 3-d effect will go perfectly with the magic carpet. Your eyes see beyond the normal – I’m in awe of what you accomplish ~
It’s wonderful when two artists equally respect each other! I am in awe of your mastery over pastels as well! At some point when you and I have absolutely nothing pending on the drawing boards, we should tackle the same subject and see how the results differ!
Sounds like a deal!
Lisa, this is incredible. I am curious as to how you created the circles. Did you use a string and a pencil to determine the radius and then the circumference? The math involved saps my energy just looking at your compass. No wonder you are exhausted. I never realized how much math is involved in art. I am in awe.
hey! buenos dias/rabbit rabbit!
I have an old broken transparent t-square, and it has a little hole on one end for hanging on a nail…. (!).. i hold the straight edge in place/through that hole with the butt end of a plain pencil, and i mark the spot on the straight edge, then mark the points around the circle. having a second person to do this task would make it much easier!!!
(i used an inverted drinking glass for the center circle.)
establishing the four cardinal points was easy; then i took a long piece of paper and folded the 90-degree edges to make a triangle, which gave me a 45-degree straight edge to mark the secondary points. i studied many many compasses online to decide where to put the next set of points – or to omit them! i was tempted to omit them but knew that the end result would be more interesting. i used the little ‘gold’ band on the inside of the blue circle as a reference point for each ‘tip’ and worked from there to the center…
like drawing a complicated mola design, sometimes i get lost in the maze of lines!
also like drawing a complicated mola design, once the ‘map’ is finished, the painting goes well. however, the precision is quite challenging to my arm muscles! z
Wow! I had to read this to my husband to have him explain it to me. 🙂 I am definitely more of an algebraic person, than a geometry person. Artists tend to have an easier time understanding geometry. I think that’s why it is so difficult for me when I begin a sketch. I need to switch from my left brain to my right brain. Thanks for the details. I’m always curious as to how to begin a huge project such as your compass. 🙂
ha! where to start? with a center dot! then came a circle.. any circle as long as that dot was the center… the second circle area was the outside edge of that terra-cotta colored band. then i marked the location of north with that same transparent straight edge… the rest was ‘spacial’ in determining the bands and design, and it evolved!
“I still enjoy using my internal compass
to draw a complicated design
~
on a forlorn concrete floor
and watching the room slowly transform!”
I like to find words like
FORLORN or FROLOCKING
– original German roots…
~
forlorn concrete floor
now will be frolocking
dressed in a new LB-design …
you just made me laugh out loud!!!! thanks for the very short primer!!! z
thanks amigo!!
Only four days and you have brought the forlorn floor to life…once again. Absolutely beautiful, Lisa. Taking time to do the layers of washes gives it a floating, transparent look, allowing the detail to pop out.
Poco a poco! I’m pleased with the results so far, and hopefully it will keep going well! Thanks, amiga!
Lisa, this is beautiful I was wondering in the other post what you were up to. I bet the compass points will really make the design sing. I just know you have magic in store.
Thanks! I smirk; hopefully the end result will measure up to what’s in my mind!!! Thanks so much!
Terrific job! You are so talented, Lisa. 🙂
A compliment for sure. Stunning!
My pencil drawing for this week: http://ruthbaileyart.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/time-out-for-art-drawing-a-line-or-knot/
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My compass is out of whack today. But, I really tried. lol http://retirenicaragua.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/timeout-for-art-compass/
your compass is incredible, though sometimes we question and self doubt and aren’t sure if it’s right or not!!!
This is an excellent example of how a seemingly ‘ordinary’ design can be transformed in character and artistic interest.
This is so fascinating! You leave me speechless with your talent. 🙂
wow! I am so impressed by your skills you do it all Lisa is there something you do not do hahaha love the compass it just goes with the carpet and all our travels.
I did not post this week I have back pain but will try to do something next time
ahora vamos a viajar!
That is amazingly 3 dimensional, I feel you could pick it up and take it with you on the magic carpet. Love the colours
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you’re such a gift, amiga! thanks!
I have been inspired back into sketching, the chooks are only outlines, they would not stand still…
A fitting complement to the magic carpet!
Are you saying that isn’t really a mosaic, and that you draw all those straight lines without using any instruments???? Geez….you are a genius my dear friend!!!
Amazing! I love this post and watching the developing compass! Yes, this works well with the magic carpet!