Moon over Water Really done (Honest!)

After consulting with my art teacher with a discussion of composition and left-right balance, this is the real final version. The sliver of cloud over the moon added a lot to the picture. The light far in the horizon is more evocative of another fishing boat, instead of a "mistake"! I think this can be sent in for EGA Challenge for this year.

Moon over Water Done Again (Really!)

Based on the comments of my friend, I thought about how to layer the sky. I painted silk gauze and burned the edges to represent clouds. The dark clouds look better than the lighter color ones on the left.

Mockup with a black mat - I think it makes the fishing light more striking.

Dark cloud details.

Moon over water Done

I used the iPhone camera and that eliminated the barreling caused by my old Canon Point-and-shoot.
For the moon I ironed the template onto freezer paper, fray checked the edges, cut it out and stitched it using invisible thread. I picked a section of the silk that has a couple of small nubs to give the moon some shading.

The fisherman with his fishing light looks nice also, the light and reflection were stitched using Japanese flat silk.

The only part I don't like is the reflection of the water. But I don't know how to improve on it. I'll send it in for EGA Challenge and see what the judge suggests (which is the whole idea)...

Silk Moon over Water

I used dupioni silk because of the horizontal weave of the fabric, but it didn't show up much. The hills were done with black silk gauze, and they look nice. However I don't think the reflection looks that good.

Closeup of the hills.

I may leave the sky alone. I'll have to ask my art teacher if the design has too many competing focal points. If I want to send this piece in for this year's EGA challenge (theme is layering) I want to add a layer to the moon as well. It's a good thing that EGA challenge is not pass/fail; I do it for the expert critique that helps me improve.

Moon over water

I designed a piece for Master Craftsman Step 3 - Color Contrast, to show simultaneous contrast. When I showed it to Suzy (my art teacher) she pointed out that it is not a good representation, which after thinking about it, I agree. I am however quite fond of this one so I decided to stitch it anyway, and to come up with something else for my Step 3 piece.

Here's my test piece on cotton:

Moving the raft, and a different approach on the left side:

At this point the test piece is in sad shape so I'm starting on the silk piece. Always nervous when painting...