'Steppin Out'

Originally I had an idea to make a turquoise plate with some sgraffito lines through the slip in sort of a wave pattern, perhaps with a couple of circles. After I brushed the slip on the two dinner and lunch plates, I just couldn't bring myself to cut through the slip. For some reason I've been trapped in my old ways, in my old color patterns. The thought popped into my head to let myself use colors I don't normally think of as being used together. Perhaps use colors close to one another on the color wheel.

I'm 'steppin out' of my comfort zone using turquoise, red, yellow, and black together. Well the turquoise isn't out of my comfort zone because that's my favorite color, but the red, yellow and black are, especially used with the turquoise. Yesterday I really liked these and I still do but I think I can tweak the design a bit. By making the 'lights' a bit smaller and the triangle (which reminds me of a roof line) slightly larger and leaving more open space. Perhaps increasing the red color. My line quality isn't the greatest I think I need some newer brushes, the ones I've been using are very inexpensive and are starting to break down. I'll be checking into some newer ones and practice will also help me improve. As I looked at these I thought of making several mix and match styles of plates. One with just the triangle colors; a bowl with one light in the bottom of it and perhaps one on the outside.

Above is my original idea for the new plate design. Today other shapes and color combinations are coming to mind. When I showed these to Gary he said, you are finally learning. He's been after me for years to "use more color" "use brighter colors". Perhaps I was afraid of color, afraid of using colors not often seen together. For years now I've been craving something more modern, more retro, more bold, but that feeling was trapped inside me somewhere. If I can just let myself go, go with the flow long enough, I think I can let those feelings, those colors, those patterns out. Look for more 'steppin out' coming soon. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.