Horseless Carriages: Update

Hi there -

We have been busy. Trip over to the Cratin Cottage on Klinger Lake in Michigan, then down into the city for a fascinating lecture by Lech Walesa. But I try to steal a bit of time to work on Horseless Carriages.

So let me try to get you up to date.

As you may recall this composition started with a photo I took of one of our favorite objet d'art - or neat thing. A cool little carriage, with a tiny carriage on top:

I then pulled that image into Photoshop and removed all the background stuff to create a "cartoon" version of the image which could be used as a template for various "designed" version of the carriage. That template looks like this:

And that version was replicated for the current design.

Then I created various designs for each of the 13 - no hidden significance there - just happened to fir in the larger design. Here is an example of a "designed carriage":

The next step is to paint each of the designs with my various versions of markers. I have shared some of those with you. There are two types of design.  Here is one of the "full dress" versions in which all the elements are painted:

The other version is the "Pinto Version" named not for the bean, but for the patchwork ponies characterized by their patchwork hides. Here is an example of that version:

I have completed 10 of the 13 carriages, and designed the last 3. But face some new challenges, or opportunities, depending on my mood at the moment. I think I have mentioned that the whole design is 36x46 inches, too big to fit on my drawing table.So I have moved the image to the floor of my bedroom which is the only unoccupied space in the house large enough - excepting the tables upon which we occasionally eat - to accommodate the image:

So I tiptoe around the edges, masking the pieces I am not working on with a blanket and weighing down the edges with books and whatnot. For those of you who have, or have had, small children, know that they can contort themselves into pretzel-like shapes on the floor for extended periods of time and bounce up with no seeming discomfort. This is not the case in the current situation. I realize that I am not painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel here. But Michelangelo was 33 years old when he started that task - completed it 3 years later. Well, I've got more than 4 decades on him. So, yes, this hurts, hence I pace myself, and down the occasional flagon and advil to self-medicate.

But that's not all! You may have noticed that there some significant white spaces between the carriage pathways. But fear not! I have a plan - developing, but still a plan: flowers.

The idea is to fill those with spaces with flowers. They are still in the "design" stage. But here are couple evolving ideas:

This is the basic idea, which will, of course become a full circle:

Each flower will have a unique petal design. Here are the ones I am currently considering.

And here is an outlier that I might consider, based on some rose-like designs I have used in the past - like for the bathroom in the strange refurbed factory Christine and I first rented in Raleigh.

OK, now for the last challenge/opportunity.  Many of my markers are several years old. The ability to smoothly apply color with a marker demands a smooth flow of the ink. It will soon become mandatory for me to test and replace some of my markers. Sooooo many markers, the task seems daunting. But as Buzz Lightyear says - "To infinity and beyond!"